Caesar's Messiah: The Roman Conspiracy to Invent Jesus:Flavian Signature Edition

by Atwill, Joseph

  But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"

  Then Jesus answered and said: "A certain [man] went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded [him], and departed, leaving [him] half dead.

  “Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.

  “Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side.

  “But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion.

  “So he went to [him] and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.

  “On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave [them] to the innkeeper, and said to him, 'Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.'

  “So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?"

  And he said, "He who showed mercy on him." Then Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."

  Luke 10:29-37

  OUTSIDE OF JERUSALEM

  The Gospels now record a series of stories on the outskirts of Jerusalem. These stories are full of conflict between Jesus and the Jews, and of martial imagery. The stories parallel the battles between Titus and the Jewish rebels before his “triumphant entrance” into the city.

  16) Knocking on the door

  Josephus next records the Romans pitching camp outside Jerusalem. He mentions that the Fifth Legion joined the first two at night, giving Titus a total of three Legions. These three Legions were, in effect, “knocking” on the door of Jerusalem and would soon open it.

  But now, as soon as that legion that had been at Emmaus was joined to Caesar at night, he removed thence, when it was day, and came to a place called Scopus; from whence the city began already to be seen, and a plain view might be taken of the great temple. Accordingly, this place, on the north quarter of the city, and joining thereto, was a plain, and very properly named Scopus [the prospect],

  and was no more than seven furlongs distant from it. And here it was that Titus ordered a camp to be fortified for two legions that were to be together; but ordered another camp to be fortified, at three furlongs farther distance behind them, for the fifth legion; for he thought that, by marching in the night, they might be tired, and might deserve to be covered from the enemy, and with less fear might fortify themselves;

  Wars of the Jews, 5, 2, 67-68

  Luke symbolizes the three Legions who are “knocking on the door” of Jerusalem by describing someone needing “three loaves” (the man needed “three” loaves because he had three legions to feed), who comes during the night and tries to get someone who has shut his door to open it. Jesus commends the persistence of the “knocker” who will not leave, thereby getting the door that was shut to be opened. Note that the question in the last line – "Or if he is asked for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he?” – is Flavian humor in the same ironic vein as many of the questions above. The “scorpion” was the name for the Roman artillery piece the ballista, and it was definitely going to be “given” to the Jewish rebels. The author mentions a catapult here to set up the triumphant entrance where the “stones cry out,” which follows.

  And He said to them, "Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves;

  “ ‘for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him';

  “and he will answer from within and say, 'Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you'?

  “I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs.

  “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

  “For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

  “Now suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish; he will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he?

  “Or if he is asked for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he?”

  Luke 11:5-12

  17) The house of Satan divided against itself

  Josephus then describes a “house of Satan” that is divided against itself. In other words, the different groups of Jewish rebels realized when the Romans showed up, that they must join together or their house would “fall”.

  Now when hitherto the several parties in the city had been dashing one against another perpetually, this foreign war, now suddenly come upon them after a violent manner, put the first stop to their contentions one against another;

  and as the seditious now saw with astonishment the Romans pitching three several camps, they began to think of an awkward sort of concord, and said one to another,

  "What do we here, and what do we mean, when we suffer three fortified walls to be built to coop us in, that we shall not be able to breathe freely?”

  Wars of the Jews, 5, 2, 71-73

  Luke describes a transparent parallel to the rebels’ plight – the house of Satan divided against itself that will fall.

  But He, knowing their thoughts, said to them: "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house [divided] against a house falls.

  If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? Because you say I cast out demons by Beelzebub.

  “And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast [them] out? Therefore they will be your judges.

  “But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.”

  Luke 11:17-20

  18) Man in armor who will be overcome

  Josephus and Luke next cover the subject of a man in armor who will meet someone stronger and be overcome.

  “… while the enemy is securely building a kind of city in opposition to us, and while we sit still within our own walls, and become spectators only of what they are doing, with our hands idle, and our armor laid by, as if they were about somewhat that was for our good and advantage.

  “We are, it seems, (so did they cry out), only courageous against ourselves, while the Romans are likely to gain the city without bloodshed by our sedition."

  Thus did they encourage one another when they were gotten together, and took their armor immediately, and ran out upon the tenth legion, and fell upon the Romans with great eagerness, and with a prodigious shout, as they were fortifying their camp.

  Wars of the Jews, 5, 2, 73-75

  “When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace.

  “But when a stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoils.

  “He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.”

  Luke 11:21-23

  19) The crowds increase

  Josephus and Luke each record the Jews’ massing around the son of god.

  As the crowds were increasing …

  Luke 11:29

  The Jews became still more and more in number …

  Wars of the Jews, 5, 2, 78

  20) Lying in wait

  Luke then describes Jesus being assailed by Jews “lying in wait” for him and seeking to “catch him” before his triumphant entrance into Jerusalem. These expressions in Luke symbolize the battle Titus experienced with the Jews before his “triumphal entrance” into Jerusalem.

  And as He said these things to them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to assail [Him] vehemently, and to cross-examine Him about many things,

  lying in wait for Him, and seeking to catch Him in something He might say, that they might accuse Him.
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  Luke 11:53-54

  … Caesar himself, [who spake to them thus]: These Jews, who are only conducted by their madness, do every thing with care and circumspection; they contrive stratagems, and lay ambushes …

  Wars of the Jews, 5, 3, 121

  21) The “woe-saying” Jesus

  The next parallels form a set that is obvious and has been much discussed by scholars. The first parallel is that of the “woe-saying Jesus” recorded in the Gospels and Josephus. Though many scholars have wondered as to the cause of the obvious connections between the two characters, they have not understood the typological connection between the “woe-saying Jesuses” because they have not noticed the simple puzzle that places each at the same place in the dual storyline. Josephus recorded that his character began his woe-saying four years before the start of the war, and kept repeating his mantra for seven years and five months. He also recorded that the “abomination of desolation” – which will be discussed at greater length in Chapter 13 – occurred at the point foreseen by Daniel, in other words three years and six months after the war’s beginning. Thus the “woe-saying Jesus” in Josephus died one month before the abomination of desolation, at the same point as in the Gospels’ storyline.

  "Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces.

  "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like graves which are not seen, and the men who walk over [them] are not aware [of them."]

  Then one of the lawyers answered and said to Him, "Teacher, by saying these things You reproach us also."

  And He said, "Woe to you also, lawyers! For you load men with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers.

  "Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them.

  "In fact, you bear witness that you approve the deeds of your fathers; for they indeed killed them, and you build their tombs.

  "Therefore the wisdom of God also said, 'I will send them prophets and apostles, and [some] of them they will kill and persecute,

  ‘that the blood of all the prophets which was shed from the foundation of the world may be required of this generation,

  ‘from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berechiah who perished between the altar and the temple.’ Yes, I say to you, it shall be required of this generation.

  "Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in you hindered."

  Luke 11:43-52

  Josephus’ recording of a “woe-saying Jesus” will also be discussed at greater length in Chapter 9. This character was obviously deliberately linked to the character in the Gospels. The parallels of the “woe-saying Jesuses” are as follows:

  • They enter Jerusalem during one of the “pilgrimage”

  festivals (Sukkot and Passover )

  • They deliver an oracle against Jerusalem, the Temple,

  and the people

  • They are seized by leading citizens

  • They are beaten, and later scourged

  • They offer no answer to interrogators

  • They are taken by them to the Roman procurator

  • They are called a madman “exestokos” (compare Mark

  3:21 exeste, and also John 7:20)

  • They prophesy their own death

  • They die

  … there was one Jesus … came to that feast whereon it is our custom for every one to make tabernacles to God in the temple,

  began on a sudden to cry aloud, "A voice from the east, a voice from the west, a voice from the four winds, a voice against Jerusalem and the holy house, a voice against the bridegrooms and the brides, and a voice against this whole people!" This was his cry, as he went about by day and by night, in all the lanes of the city.

  However, certain of the most eminent among the populace had great indignation at this dire cry of his, and took up the man, and gave him a great number of severe stripes; yet did not he either say any thing for himself, or any thing peculiar to those that chastised him, but still went on with the same words which he cried before.

  Hereupon our rulers, supposing, as the case proved to be, that this was a sort of divine fury in the man, brought him to the Roman procurator,

  where he was whipped till his bones were laid bare; yet he did not make any supplication for himself, nor shed any tears, but turning his voice to the most lamentable tone possible, at every stroke of the whip his answer was, "Woe, woe to Jerusalem!"

  … every day uttered these lamentable words, as if it were his premeditated vow, "Woe, woe to Jerusalem!"

  … "Woe, woe to the city again, and to the people, and to the holy house!" And just as he added at the last, "Woe, woe to myself also!" there came a stone out of one of the engines, and smote him, and killed him immediately; and as he was uttering the very same presages he gave up the ghost.

  Wars of the Jews, 6, 5, 300-309

  Finally – each of the “woe-saying Jesuses” described a Zachariah’s fate at the hands of wicked Jews, and foresees “woe” for lawyers.

  “ ‘from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berechiah who perished between the altar and the temple.’ Yes, I say to you, it shall be required of this generation.

  "Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in you hindered."

  Luke 11:51-52

  Jesus’ statement “envisions” the following story in Josephus. Notice that not only is the fate of the two Zechariahs parallel, but each story depicts “wicked lawyers”.

  Now when Zacharias clearly saw that there was no way remaining for his escape from them, as having been treacherously called before them, and then put in prison, but not with any intention of a legal trial, he took great liberty of speech in that despair of his life he was under. Accordingly he stood up, and laughed at their pretended accusation, and in a few words confuted the crimes laid to his charge;

  after which he turned his speech to his accusers, and went over distinctly all their transgressions of the law, and made heavy lamentation upon the confusion they had brought public affairs to:

  in the mean time, the zealots grew tumultuous, and had much ado to abstain from drawing their swords, although they designed to preserve the appearance and show of judicature to the end. They were also desirous, on other accounts, to try the judges, whether they would be mindful of what was just at their own peril.

  Now the seventy judges brought in their verdict that the person accused was not guilty, as choosing rather to die themselves with him, than to have his death laid at their doors;

  hereupon there arose a great clamor of the zealots upon his acquittal, and they all had indignation at the judges for not understanding that the authority that was given them was but in jest.

  So two of the boldest of them fell upon Zacharias in the middle of the temple, and slew him; and as he fell down dead, they bantered him, and said, "Thou hast also our verdict, and this will prove a more sure acquittal to thee than the other." They also threw him down from the temple immediately into the valley beneath it.

  Moreover, they struck the judges with the backs of their swords, by way of abuse, and thrust them out of the court of the temple, and spared their lives with no other design than that, when they were dispersed among the people in the city, they might become their messengers, to let them know they were no better than slaves.

  Wars of the Jews, 4, 5, 338-344

  22) Innocent beaten worse than the guilty

  The parallel storylines then go on to a description of the innocent beaten worse than the guilty.

  “And that servant who knew his master's will, and did not prepare [himself] or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many [stripes].

  “But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For every
one to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.”

  Luke 12:47-48

  Upon which there was a very great disorder and disturbance about the holy house; while the people, who had no concern in the sedition, supposed that this assault was made against all without distinction, as the zealots thought it was made against themselves only.