Voices around Easter 4 - The High Priest

One of the main protagonists in the Holy Week and Easter story is the High Priest. We can envisage him in his study in his palace and  listen to him as he worries over what might happen at Passover following Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem. The pace of events is picking up.

So now we are approaching Passover again. I have to admit that I am seriously worried. There’s a real danger of riots or worse. We’ve had enough trouble with the Zealots recently and now the Romans have the bandit Barabbas in custody. Jerusalem is filling up with all the pilgrims and there are extra Roman soldiers everywhere. Pilate’s coming up too from Caesarea, we hear. We’ll need a strong showing from our police to keep the Romans out of it.

It might be all right, but for Jesus of Nazareth. Yes, he’s in town too and the people can’t see enough of him. It’s not the problem of crowd control. We can just about handle that. It’s what he is saying and doing. The teaching, the healing. He’s just a country carpenter, but he has more than the authority of an experienced rabbi. That would be manageable too but now he’s going too far. Essentially he’s made it clear that he sees himself as the Messiah, God’s anointed one. No, he has not said as much himself, but others have. Our people have a long history of captivity and release – Egypt, Babylon, then the Greek Pharaohs - and now we have Rome, and many people believe that freedom will soon be ours, through the Messiah. They’ll believe anything that seems possible, even if it comes from a country carpenter.

But just a few days ago we’ve had the last straw. He’s attacked the Temple. He’s attacked the very centre of our life as a nation. It’s the place where God lives. You can’t get anywhere holier than that. He’s essentially said that we don’t need the Temple and its worship and sacrifices for sin. Worse still, he’s implied that he can forgive sins. Only God can do that, and he’s not God. It’s straight blasphemy. Goes against everything we believe in. …

And yet he’s a mild enough chap really. Everything he says seems to agree with scripture. Our best scholars can’t beat him in debate. But he’s really going too far. Things may get out of hand at Passover. I don’t want to get Pilate involved. That could be complex to manage, but it may be necessary. We may have to give up one good man for the people …

… and who are you? Just a minute, I think I recognise you. Haven’t I seen you with Jesus? Judas.. Iscariot isn’t it? You’re their business manager, as it were. What do you want here?