The conflict in the trial of Jesus is a conflict over the crowd. For a long time, Jesus has controlled the crowd, but in the trial the Jews take over the crowd. We might say that the conflict is a conflict of rival lovers: Who will become head of the bride, Israel? It fits, then, that the Jews are motivated by “envy.” Read more
“O Sacred Head Now Wounded” is only a portion of a much longer poem by Bernard of Clairvaux, a blason on the crucified Jesus. The Baroque composer Dieterich Buxtehude set the whole poem to music in Membra Jesu Nostri , and there’s a wonderful performance by the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis available on YouTube. Read more
Before Jesus goes to the cross, His last words answer Pilate’s question “Are you king of the Jews?” Jesus says, ” You say,” which means “Yes” with the nuance of “My kingship is being declared by the Roman governor.” Read more
Every commentator on Matthew notes the connection between Pilate’s handwashing and the ritual of Deuteronomy 21. Elders of a city where there is an unsolved crime – unappeased innocent blood – break the neck of a “virgin” heifer (never yoked) in a valley with living water, wash their hands over the heifer in the presence of the priests, and profess their innocence. The heifer is killed on behalf of the city, and the water washes away the blood. Water washes... Read more
A Girardian take on the dream of Pilate’s wife in Matthew 27:19. As noted in an earlier post, 27:17-21 is a chiasm, with the dream at the center. Verse 18 corresponds with verse 20, since both are about the chief priests and elders. But there is also a deeper link: verse 18 says that Pilate discerns that the leaders are motivated by envy, and verse 20 says that they persuade the crowd to demand Jesus’ blood. Classic Girard: The envy... Read more
James Scott ( Seeing Like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed (The Institution for Social and Policy St) ) suggests that “legibility” is a central problem of politics. ”The premodern state,” he writes, “was, in many crucial respects, partially blind; it knew precious little about its subjects, their wealth, their landholdings and yields, their location, their very identity. It lacked anything like a detailed ‘map’ of its terrain and its people. It lacked, for... Read more
In his recent God’s Battalions: The Case for the Crusades , Rodney Stark challenges the conventional notion that Islamic civilization was more advanced than Christendom’s in the early middle ages. One part of his case is to show that much of Islamic civilization depended on the contributions of Jewish and Christian dhimmis . Nestorian Christians in Syria and elsewhere, for instance, “acquired a reputation with the Arabs for being excellent accountants, architects, astrologers, bankers, doctors, merchants, philosophers, scientists, scribes... Read more
Davies and Allison point to numerous links between Matthew 2 and 27: the phrase “king of the Jews” (2:2; 27:11); chief priests (2:4; 27:12, 20); the Christ (2:2; 27:17, 22); “all Jerusalem” and “all the people” (2:3; 27:25); warning to Gentiles in a dream (2:12; 27:19); plot to kill Jesus (2:13-18; 27:15-26); and the suffering of Jewish children on account of Jesus (2:16-18; 27:25). Rachel weeps for “her children who are not” at the beginning of the gospel, weeps, as... Read more
Within the inclusio described in the last post, there are three sections: the episode of Judas and the thirty pieces of silver (27:3-10), Pilate’s interrogation of Jesus (27:11-14), and the offer to the Jews of a prisoner release (27:15-26). The last two sections are, roughly, chiastically organized. A. Jesus stands before governor, 27:11a B. Gov’s Question: king of Jews?, 27:11b B. Jesus: You say, 27:11c C. Chief priests and elders accuse, 27:12a C’. Jesus does not answer, 27:12b B’. Pilate’s Question:... Read more
Matthew tells us that the Jews delivered Jesus to PIlate the governor (27:2), but then interrupts his story of Jesus’ trial before Pilate with the episode of Judas’ remorse (27:3-10) before getting back to Jesus before the governor. Why? The structure of the passage helps to answer that. Matthew 27:1-26 is surrounded by a (mainly) chiastic inclusio that brings out parallels between Judas and the Jewish leaders. Judas is to the Jewish leaders as the Jewish leaders are to Pilate:... Read more
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