Killing Jesus: A History

son Eleazar; his son-in-law Caiaphas; and his other sons, Jonathan, Theophilus, Matthias, and Ananus, will all take turns serving as high priest. They will control the sale of Temple lambs at Passover and receive a cut of every exchange made by the money changers. Outside Jerusalem, the high priests own vast farms and estates. The profits from these ventures, in addition to the taxes extorted from the people of Judea, are all shared with Pilate and eventually with the debauched Roman emperor Tiberius, who gets a substantial amount of money in the form of “tribute.”
    So it is that the lineage of Jesus and Annas has been intertwined for centuries and will be for decades to come. Annas’s forefathers served as high priests under Jesus’s forebears David and Solomon. And just as Annas now stands in judgment of Jesus, so the younger Ananus will sentence another devout man to death three decades from now.
    That man’s name is James. He is a sibling of Jesus, and he will be publicly stoned to death.
    Indeed, so fierce is Annas and his descendants’ loyalty to Rome that the final link in their claim to the priesthood will come to an end thirty years from now, when the younger Ananus is killed in a Jewish uprising for advocating a continuation of Roman rule. 1
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    Everything about Jesus’s interrogation is illegal: it takes place at night, Jesus is asked to incriminate himself without a lawyer, and Annas has no authority to pass sentence. It is also highly unusual for a prisoner to be brought to the high priest’s personal residence, rather than to the prison cells at the Roman barracks.
    But Jesus has committed a grave offense: he interrupted the flow of funds from the Temple to Rome when he flipped over the money changers’ tables. The pipeline is the personal responsibility of Annas. Anyone interfering with the profit taking must be punished. That, of course, includes Jesus and every single one of his disciples. Annas is determined that this will be a cautionary tale for anyone who considers challenging the authority of the Temple courts.
    A man like Annas is used to people bowing and scraping in his presence, but it is clear that Jesus will not genuflect to any man. And despite Jesus’s weakened condition, he is still capable of great feats of intellect.
    Perhaps some time alone with the Temple guards will change Jesus’s attitude.
    As a former high priest, Annas has no jurisdictional powers. He cannot pass sentence, particularly in matters concerning sedition or insurrection, for that power belongs solely to Rome. Thus Annas secretly orders a gang of Temple guards to escort Jesus to a quiet place on the palace grounds where they might spend some time together. 2
    Jesus, still bound, is led away. An urgent call goes out through Jerusalem. The high religious court of the Sanhedrin must assemble immediately.
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    Jesus cannot see. The night is dark, and the blindfold covering his eyes shuts out even the minimal light of the small fires.
    But he can hear extremely well, and the words directed at him are clearly meant to break his spirit. “Prophesy,” a Temple guard calls out scornfully. Jesus is staggered by another hard punch. “Who hit you?” the guard mocks.
    Fists and kicks come from all sides. There is no escape and no respite.
    “Who hit you?” the guards call out again and again, landing more blows. “Who hit you?”
    The beating goes on for hours, until the Temple guards become too tired to continue their savage game.
    By the time Jesus is led back into Annas’s home to confront the Sanhedrin in yet another illegal trial, he is bloodied and bruised. His face is swollen. Exhaustion and weakness caused by a loss of plasma make it difficult for him to stand, let alone form the coherent arguments that might save him.
    Yet once again, the bound and beaten Jesus must rise before his accusers and argue for his life.
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    Jesus appears before the Sanhedrin, no longer blindfolded. It is impossible to tell whether all seventy-one members of the religious court are crowded into the room, but he has not been taken to the Temple courts, as law requires. Instead, the clerics surround him in the residential warmth of Annas’s palace home, where Jesus can clearly see the mosaic floors and the fashionable paintings hanging from the walls.
    Bruises cover Jesus’s body and face, and he has not eaten since the Last Supper. Yet the beating and the mocking have not broken his