Time. Alan Sorem
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me of a vision and what it means to you. You tell me that you have been chosen to anoint the Messiah.”
Yohannon began to sputter, and Yeshua held up a hand. “You are filled with zeal.”
“Yes! He is coming!”
“Even so, this journey to Galilea to recruit disciples may be misguided. You are a southerner. In the north, we are simpler folk than your family and friends in Yerushalayim. In our lives common sense and daily routine are treasured. Excited talk about the Messiah may result in ridicule and yawns rather than enthusiasm. And we have no Roman like Pilate ruling directly over us to rouse our religious convictions. For us, other than taxes for his new construction in Tiberias and the lavish parties within his circle, Antipas rules with a light hand.”
“A hand of wickedness!”
“Oh, come now.” Yeshua smiled. “All earthly rulers have their faults.”
“Faults? You speak as though they were minor sins against heaven. Have you not heard how Philip, weak brother of Antipas, was divorced by his wife—by his wife—and she promptly married Antipas, that fox, as soon as he divorced his wife, the Nabatean princess. Disgusting! And the parties you speak of are orgies of the basest sort. Yet Antipas declares he is a follower of the Lord!”
“The fox, as you call him, will not be ignorant of your attempt at recruiting Galileans.”
“I will be gone to a safe place on the river by then. My disciples will come with me.”
“But where? Is the site in your vision within Pilate’s rule? He seeks calm and steady payment of taxes. He certainly won’t tolerate your preaching of purity and repentance! It will stir people up.”
“Ah, Yeshua. That is how I know the vision is true and that I am the one called to this mission. The river site is not in an area Pilate rules. It is farther north on the river, in Perea.”
Yeshua leaned forward. “I am astonished again. Perea is ruled by your fox, Antipas. How can you call it safe?”
Johannon smiled. “Because it is near the border of the Nabatean king, whose daughter Antipas abruptly and cruelly divorced and ejected from Galilea. She has returned to her father in Nabatea. Antipas has little stomach for war, but in Nabatea vengeance is a strong potion slowly sipped. Antipas has no wish for a high profile in Perea. It would be regarded as hostile and provocative. Besides, the Roman legion based in Perea has no desire for such a provincial spat. Thanks to the wisdom of the Lord, I will outfox the fox!”
“Your vision . . . if you succeed in bringing it to life, will you follow the way of the Essenes?”
“No. Their way is to withdraw. They forbid contact with any man who has not proven his commitment to their way of the Lord. I wish them well, but their way is not my way.”
“Yet they welcomed you, son of a priest.”
Yohannon nodded. “I went to them as a learner. One who has good credentials, including your kinship. But a man is not fully welcomed until commitment is proven. It takes a year, at the least.”
“Why did you go to them in the first place?”
“Because the ways of the priests have become an abomination in my eyes and the eyes of the Lord. I do not speak as the priests do, asking for gifts to the Temple that never reach the poor and needy. The Sadducees who are custodians of the Temple Mount care nothing for simplicity of dress but instead wear sumptuous garments which make their superior position and their self-centered holiness clear to all whom they meet in the streets and byways of Yerushalayim. They even have adopted Roman customs like reclining on elegant couches at their dinners instead of sitting upright as honest men do. Their true interest is not the holiness of the people but rather their own political advancement and financial success.
“Further, they are in alliance with the moneychangers—” He stopped. “One example. First, a question. Other than the priests on duty and the guards, who are most of the people who worship at the Temple?”
Yeshua thought. “Certainly not the wealthy. Simple people from Yerushalayim and the villages.”
Yohannon clapped his hands and laughed. “Without a doubt! Now let me tell you what has happened in recent years. Let’s say you are not a prosperous carpenter but a poor yet pious man, perhaps a worker on an estate.”
“All right, let’s suppose.”
“What is the very lowest sacrifice to the Lord such a man can make?”
“Two pigeons,” replied Yeshua.
“Exactly. Two pigeons. At what cost?”
Yeshua calculated. “Today—probably one dinar, possibly two.”
“You are a long time away from Yerushalayim, friend.” Yohannon laughed again, a bitter sound.
“More, I suppose. How much?” asked Yeshua, intrigued with this picture of life in the holy city.
“Twenty dinars.”
“This cannot be!” Yeshua exclaimed.
“Ah, but it is.” Yohannon gave him a twisted smile. “Twenty pieces of silver. Ten for each pigeon.”
“But that, that’s unbelievable!” Yeshua sputtered.
“The Sadducees have an arrangement with the money changers. The money changers kick back a pittance to the pigeon breeders.”
“Shame upon the Sadducees!” exclaimed Yeshua. “And the money changers must be evicted from the holy places!”
“Of course,” answered Yohannon. “But first we must have a widespread change of the spirit. The whole business is rotten. The Sadducees give obeisance to the Pharisees, but the joint council, the Sanhedrin, is a nest of vipers, writhing and coiling so as to outdo one another.”
“Take care,” Yeshua warned. “We in the north follow the way of the Pharisees.”
“So I have heard. Yet they also have faults. With eyes lifted to heaven they preach piously of following the holiness of the Law in every jot and tittle, thus entwining themselves in the thickets of the most rigid precepts. In doing so, they become pompous, presumptuous and prideful. They have forgotten the helpful corrections and warnings of the Prophets of old.“
“A harsh judgment,” said Yeshua.
Yohannon grimaced. “It is all politics in the end. The chief priest, Caiphas, is appointed by Pontius Pilate, so do not look to your precious Pharisees for anything that might roil the Romans.”
“But they do observe the Law!” Yeshua protested.
His kinsman laughed. “You last went to Passover in Yerushalayim when?”
“A number of years ago. Perhaps ten or more.”
“Yet your father Yosef took such joy in going to Yerushalayim before then. Your family often met with mine in joyous celebration. Why did he stop his pilgrimage?”
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