Not in Galilee. Not in Judea. Where's Jesus?

Fugitive 6: Jesus Flashes the Feast (Hanukkah)

Jesus Hides Out, but makes a Flash Appearance in the temple at Hanukkah.

A. Where's Waldo-- er, Jesus?  After September of AD 29, the activities of Jesus disappear from the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, not to reappear until late winter or early spring of AD 30 (Their last mention of Jesus in AD29 is at Mt 19:1 and Mk 10:1). But Jesus was quite busy. The Gospel of John picks him up at October's Feast of Booths (Tabernacles), while Luke's Gospel picks him up in November for the sending out of the 72 disciples (Jn 7:10, Lk 9:57).

After the feast of Tabernacles in AD 29, Jesus withdrew across the Jordan to Perea, within the realm of Herod Antipas and beyond the reach of the authorities in the Temple. Jesus may have given the parables of the Mustard Seed and the Leaven in Perea (Luke 13:18-21). A likely place for him to stay would have been the city of Amathus, east of the Jordan and a few miles north of Jericho. He could not have been as far away as Capernaum, for reasons which we'll see in part 7 of this series of posts.

B.  Jesus Flashes the Temple.  After the two parables, just one brief appearance of Jesus is recorded in Judea, during the 8-day Festival of Lights (Hanukkah) which takes place in Jerusalem on December 21-28. The temple grounds are full of people hostile to Jesus for hinting at his own deity. They challenge him to be more clear, and he directly asserts that he is the Son of God. Some intend to throw rocks at him, and others want to seize him, but--yet again--he slips out of their grasp (John 10:22-39).

C. Back to the Wilderness. Jesus crossed the Jordan again, going back to the place where he met his first five disciples back in the Spring of AD 27: Andrew, John, James, Peter, and Nathanael/Bartholomew. There he was revered by those who remembered the teachings of John the Baptist (John 10:40-42).

Jesus will make one final visit to Judea (but not to the temple) before his triumphal return on the back of a donkey. Watch for that here next week.

This is an 8-part series on the visits of the ultimately fugitive Jesus to the province of Judea. 

Jesus messing with the Authorities in Judea

Fugitive 5: Dodging Arrest at the Feast of Tabernacles

Jews lived in booths to remember their 40 years in the desert.

"Go to the Feast of Tabernacles," say his brothers.

The four brothers of Jesus advised him that if he were to be taken seriously as a prophet, he needed to be seen in Judea. The 7-day Feast of Tabernacles was at hand (October 12-18, AD 29), but Jesus said he wasn't going, at least publicly (John 7:1-9). He did indeed go, and that may have occasioned the incident with the woman caught in the act of adultery. Jesus alternately kept hidden, or appeared in great crowds where the authorities hesitated to arrest him lest it cause a riot.

Jesus was busy. John records 4 other events during this sojourn in Judea, while Luke records no less than 12 additional events. All these took place within a month or so after the Feast of Tabernacles.

A. Jesus travels to the Feast of Tabernacles in secret, making a public appearance teaching in the temple on the 4th day of the feast, and again on the final day. Officers were actually sent to arrest Jesus, but they were instead astounded at his teaching (John 7:10-52). The captain of the temple guard  was an ex officio member of the Sanhedrin, the supreme council of the Jews. Although the chief priests had issued a warrant for Jesus' arrest, the temple guard was not cooperative. There is no mention of an appeal to the Roman authorities for his arrest;  possibly that would have been denied out of hand.

B. During this visit it is possible that the woman caught in adultery was brought to Jesus, although it may have occurred during some other visit of Jesus to the temple. (John 7:53-8:11 was not in the original Gospel as written by John, but was inserted some time later.)

C. Four more events recorded by John's Gospel:

-  In the treasury of the temple, Jesus calls himself the light of the world (8:12-30).

-  The Pharisees won't accept Jesus' prophecy and plot to destroy him (8:21-59).

-  Jesus heals a man born blind on the Sabbath, infuriating the Pharisees (9:1-41).

-  Jesus relates the Parable of the Good Shepherd (10:1-41).

D. Twelve events recorded by Luke's Gospel:

-  Jesus teaches on the cost of following Jesus (9:58-62).

-  72 disciples are sent out to the villages and towns of Judea, and return later with their testimonies (10:1-24). Jesus wanted to follow this up with a personal visit to each of the villages, but there was not enough time left in his ministry to accomplish that. Instead, the risen Jesus gives that as his first command for what his disciples are to do.

-  A teacher of the Law hears the story of the Good Samaritan (10:25-37).

-  Jesus takes refuge with Martha and Mary in Bethany (10:38-42). This was not far from Jerusalem, but apparently the chief priests and Pharisees either did not know where he was, or lacked the wherewithal to send out an arresting party.

-  Jesus gives a lesson on prayer, including the Lord's Prayer (11:1-13).

-  Jesus is accused of being from Beelzebub, an insulting name for the devil (11:14-36).

-  Jesus tells of judgment coming against Pharisees and teachers of the law (11:37-54).

-  Jesus deals with hypocrisy, etc., and tells the parable of the rich fool (12:1-59).

-  Jesus' teaching: news of the day vs. "repent or perish" (13:1-5).

-  Jesus tells the parable of  the non-producing fig tree (13:6-9).

-  A crippled woman is healed on the Sabbath, right after the synagogue service, further infuriating the Pharisees (13:10-17).

After these things, Jesus went to hide out across the Jordan River in Perea.

This is the fifth of an 8-part series on the visits of Jesus to Judea.

Fugitive 4: Jesus Skips Passover

What did Jesus Do Instead?

A Lifelong Custom Abandoned

For most of his life, Jesus and his family had attended the Feast of Passover in Jerusalem, making the trip from Galilee into Judea and into the temple to sacrifice a lamb. Then in the late winter of AD 27 he left his career as a carpenter, and after wandering in the desert for 40 days began a new career: Prophet of God.

But that didn't mean that he was going to give up a lifelong practice. In April of AD 27 he attended the Passover Feast again as had been his family custom. He probably travelled to Jerusalem with his family, for he had been in their company immediately before Passover, first at Cana and then at Capernaum. He may have had 5 newly minted disciples in tow.

In April of AD 28, Jesus attended Passover again, this time with 12 disciples in tow. He had other disciples, but these were the men he had specially selected to be with him and travel with him. This time in Jerusalem he got himself in a peck of trouble, first for healing on the Sabbath, then for hinting that he might be the Son of God. The first of these--breaking the Sabbath--was seen as breaking the special relationship between God and Israel. The second of these turned the whole Jewish sacrificial religion on its head and threatened every religious authority. Not only did he become persona non grata in Jerusalem, but the religious authorities were looking for a way to kill him off.

But now it's April of AD 29 and it's Passover, and they're having the feast again in Jerusalem. But where is Jesus?

Jesus is in a most peculiar place. He's not at his Capernaum home 85 miles north of Jerusalem. No, he's across the lake, in the "wilderness," preaching to a huge crowd and healing people. And a most peculiar thing happened out there.

It happened to be a year when one of the yearly Jewish fasting days immediately preceded Passover. Pious Jews would not be carrying any food with them, for this was a day for abstaining from food. So sundown came to end the fast, but there was no food to buy in the "wilderness."

No problem. His disciples had 5 loaves and 2 fish (in spite of the fast). Jesus took what they had and fed it to 5,000 men plus associated women and children, and they all were satisfied. Powerful!

But in spite of this power, Jesus was staying away, not only from Jerusalem, but from all the territory of Judea. After the Passover of AD 28, he stayed away from the temple for 18 months. During this time he visited:

The towns and villages of Galilee (of course),
Tyre and Sidon, two Mediterranean city-states of Phoenicia,
Some of the territory of the Ten Towns (Decapolis), avid followers of Rome,
Some of the towns and villages in Perea, the other kingdom of Herod Antipas
Some of the towns and villages in Trachonitis, the kingdom of Herod Philip, and
Some of the towns of Samaria, second-class citizens of the people of God.

He was gone so long from Judea that his brothers began to rag on him about it.
Tune in next week to see what Jesus did about that.

This is part 4 of an 8 part series about the visits of Jesus to Judea.

Fugitive 3: Stirring the Pot

Jesus messes with the Pharisees and their Sabbath

Second Judea visit of Jesus' Ministry (AD 28).

After the Spring of AD 27, Jesus' ministry was primarily done in Capernaum or during a tour of Galilee. Summer, Autumn, and Winter passed before Jesus returned to Judea for a brief visit to Jerusalem for the Passover in April. Three and possibly four incidents occurred during this visit to Judea:

1.  On the way to Jerusalem, Jesus was apparently travelling in company with several Pharisees. Along the way, one or more of Jesus' disciples plucked some grain from a farmer's field, rubbed it between their hands to shed off the chaff, and ate it.

The Pharisees noticed this, and later in the day they challenged Jesus about it, accusing his disciples of working on the Sabbath. Rather than responding directly to their technical definition of working on the Sabbath, Jesus instead messed with them. He cited an historical  incident, when David's men (before he was king) ate food that was reserved for priests.

Jesus' implication was that his men deserved the same break that David's men got, because Jesus was a successor in the royal line of  David. This would hint that the Pharisees were standing in the presence of the rightful king of Israel. That may have gone over their heads, as the Pharisees are not shown as responding to this royal claim (Matthew 12:1-8, Mark 2:23-28, Luke 6:1-5).

2. In Jerusalem, Jesus found a man just outside the temple (at the Bethesda pools) who had been crippled for 38 years. Even though it was the Sabbath, he healed the man, causing quite a commotion to be stirred up (John 5:1-17). John's Gospel refers to this time as a "feast of the Jews," which most Bible scholars believe to be the spring Passover in April of AD 28. This incensed the Pharisees, who spent some time and energy trying to ferret our who had done this foul deed (John 5:1-15).

3. Rather than admit his guilt (in the Pharisees' view), Jesus defended his authority to heal on the Sabbath, and referred to God as his own Father. These things enraged the Pharisees, and led the Jewish authorities to secretly begin plotting to kill him, although they denied it. (John 5:16-47). Then right after Jesus left Jerusalem he defiantly healed a man with a withered hand, on the Sabbath, and in the synagogue. That didn't enhance his popularity with the Pharisees one single bit  (Matthew 12:9-14, Mark 3:1-6, Luke 6:6-11).

4.  The incident of the woman caught in adultery is a story strongly attributed to John the Apostle, but John did not include it in his Gospel. Later, another scribe preserved the story by including it in a master copy of John's Gospel. This scribe inserted it as taking place during Jesus' visit to Jerusalem in October of AD 29. But by that date Jesus' freedom of movement was curtailed by threats to arrest him. Also, it seems unlikely that the Pharisees would have asked his advice in this matter while they were actively seeking to kill him (John 7:53-8:11).

It seems more likely that this event occurred during the visit of AD 28, when collegiality between Jesus and the Pharisees was much more possible--a collegiality which is witnessed by Pharisees who invited Jesus to eat at their own house. That their request for Jesus' advice about adultery was a genuine plea for discernment is attested by history, which tells us that Jewish authorities banned the death penalty for adultery in--of all years--AD 30. Coincidence? I think not.

Tune in next week to find out what Jesus did the next year, when he was a wanted criminal.

Fugitive 2: Table-Turning for Free

Jesus Turns Over Tables and Gets Away With It.

First Judea visit of Jesus' Ministry (April, AD 27).

Four events in Judea are recorded in Jesus' early prophetic ministry, before he moved his residence  from Nazareth to Capernaum:

1. As a child in the family of Joseph and Mary, Jesus regularly visited Jerusalem during the Passover festival (Luke 2:41). But in his first Passover visit  as a prophet, he entered the temple grounds and overturned the tables of moneychangers and other merchants who were making a profit off the holy day event (John 2:13-22).

This  is sometimes held up as an example of righteous anger, defending the ability of Christians to be angry without sin. But Jesus did not just go to the temple and discover something wrong that made him angry. What he saw in AD 27 was the same scene that he had encountered every Passover since he was a child.

No, his actions were preplanned and methodical. Jesus as a Prophet could not stand by while something very wrong was going on in the temple. This was planned civil disobedience against the temple authorities (not the merchants), to point out that they were in the wrong. (Possibly, his actions could be used as a defense for civil disobedience by Christians today.)

There is no chance that the money-changers and the sellers of doves and sheep and cattle were doing something that was not permitted by the high priests of the temple. The ground of the Jerusalem temple was one of the most highly regulated places in the Roman Empire, just as it is today. More than permission, these merchants were almost certainly paying the high priests for licenses to conduct their business on hallowed ground. A significant money stream was flowing from these activities into the hands of the temple authorities.

These high priests were highly educated in the contents and application of holy scripture. They already knew that the temple was an inappropriate place to conduct business, especially in the holy days of unleavened bread--the Passover. But they had let that slide in favor of gaining income for themselves. Greed was more profitable than piety.

Still, Jesus was raising a ruckus and had to be stopped, so the high priests and temple police could protect and maintain their authority. Probably objections to the merchants had been raised by Pharisees in the past. But we can tell that the priests knew that Jesus' activities were a prophetic action, by the question they asked him: "What sign do you show us as your authority for doing these things?" In other words, "If this action comes from God's rule, then prove it."

Jesus' answer befuddled them. He said, "Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up." Jesus was talking about his own body as the temple of God, which the priests and cops missed. Probably they had rushed Jesus with drawn swords in order to stop him. This led Jesus to fear a premature loss of his life, so he told them the consequences if they were to strike him down with the sword.

They responded in confusion, "It took forty-six years to build this temple. How can you...?" Here ends the incident. Jesus must have turned his back on them and walked away. Perhaps this was preferable to the priests to striking him down, or even worse, to try him before the high court. Such a trial would have exposed the greed of the priests: better to ignore this if Jesus would just go away.

So Jesus got away with defying the authorities! No repercussions came from this event at the time, except that Jesus began to be known as a person who might be a prophet. Jesus remained in Judea for a time with no opposition that would make him a fugitive, as shown in three more events:

2. John's gospel notes that during the Passover festival, Jesus performed miraculous signs and gained many believers (John 2:23-25).

3. During this period Jesus' ministry became known to Nicodemus, a Pharisee and member of the powerful Sanhedrin council of the Jews, reputed to be the richest man in Jerusalem (John 3:1-21). Nicodemus owned farmland in Galilee, and was interested in the activities of Jesus the Galilean. After meeting Jesus, Nicodemus probably worked in the background to assist Jesus against the Sadducees--the priests who controlled the temple.

4. After leaving Jerusalem and before returning to Galilee, Jesus spent time in Judea with his first disciples. They were baptizing his followers under the authority of Jesus (John 3:22, 4:1-2). During this  time Jesus was preaching the same message as John the Baptist: "Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand" (Matthew 4:17).

One year later, Jesus would visit Judea during Passover again, but the results would be very different.
This is part two in an eight-part series on the visits of Jesus to Judea.
Check back next week for the next episode!