Jesus: A Short Story

" 6 Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. 7 Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: 'The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry." 8 We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. 9 We should not test Christ, as some of them did - and were killed by snakes. 10 And do not grumble, as some of them did - and were killed by the destroying angel. 11 These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come.'

Jesus preached about His beliefs with God, and all his Glory. He went around telling people that he was the son of God. These accusations raised chaos with the Jews. He was brought to the house of Caiaphas, the high priest. They were looking for any kind of evidence, or excuse to kill Jesus. “The high priest

(3) “I deny the allegation again on the ground of premeditated and unpremeditated testimony.” And then he shows how the soldiers came from the sepulcher and told that an angel had driven them away from the tomb; and that when bribed by the Pharisees, they told that the body of Jesus was stolen while they slept.

This is a direct reference to the death and resurrection of Christ. The killing of Christ was a very public event, and

In the book of Matthew, Jesus’ story of his crucifixion plays out. His case is brought before Pontius Pilate who rules in Judaea as a judge. Usually at these events “the governor was accustomed to release a prisoner for the crowd, anyone whom they wanted” (Matthew 27:15). The crowd has two choices: Jesus, someone who had had a history of healing and teaching or Barabbas, a convicted murderer and rebel; they choose Barabbas. Pilate wonders why the crowd wants Jesus to be killed so badly. Although Pilate tries to challenge them, they start to riot. He then washes his hands and proclaims to the crowd that he is “innocent of this man's blood” (Matthew 27:24), sentencing Jesus to be crucified and Barabbas to be released.

Although Capernaum was Jesus' earthly headquarters, its citizenry ignored his prophetic pronouncements and even questioned Jesus' authority. Jesus responded thusly, "I tell you the truth, unless you can eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you." (John 6: 53) Many in the crowd, upon hearing this, "turned back and no longer followed him." (John 60: 61, 66)

Jesus is stripped of his clothing in public in order to embarrass and ridicule him in front of his followers

All four Gospels describe Jesus in his final week in Jerusalem. During which Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, confronted moneychangers and merchants in the temple, and debated with the high priests who questioned Jesus’ authority. He told his disciples about the coming days and that Jerusalem’s temple would be destroyed. Meanwhile, the chief priests and elders met with high priest Caiaphas, and set plans in motion to arrest Jesus. One of Jesus’ disciples’ betrayed him to the Pharisees for 30 pieces of silver. Jesus took his disciples to pray with him, but they kept falling asleep. Soldiers and officials appeared, and Judas (who betrayed Jesus) was with them. He gave Jesus a kiss on the cheek to help the Pharisee’s know who he was and the soldiers arrested Jesus. One disciple tried to resist the arrest, drew his sword and cutting off an ear of a soldier. Jesus was then interrogated by the high priest, hit and spat upon for not answering. Jesus was mocked, condemned, and beat up in a high court because he stated he was the son of God. Pilate washed his hands of the responsibility of what happened to Jesus, but ordered him to be executed. Jesus hung on a cross for three days, died, was buried in a tomb, and rose again on the third day. With his dying on the cross he took the sin of the world.

“Early in the morning He went back into the temple courts. All the people came to Him,

During the first decades preceding Christ's death, Christians were tolerated but not really liked by the general population of the Roman empire due to their refusal to acknowledge the emperor as a living god. This act of defiance was considered heresy by the state .The real mass persecution of the Christian people came during the reign of the emperor Nero who needed a scapegoat on whom to blame the great fire during his reign.

Jesus' decision to physically cast out the moneylenders from the temple stands as one of the most interesting events of his life, because it represents what seems to be the only moment in the Gospel narratives where he becomes visibly angry to the point of physical action. While one could argue that Jesus is frequently (and justifiably) angry with the disciples from time to time, this is the only moment that Jesus' anger moves him to physical force. Although the event is recorded in all four of the Gospels, this study will focus specifically on its rendering in Matthew, because when considered in the context of Matthew's larger narrative, one can see how Jesus' decision to cleanse the temple does not represent an aberration in either his character or theological message, but rather the natural culmination of Jesus' life and works prior to that point, and demonstrates a kind of revolutionary, anti-authoritarian element of Jesus' message of salvation that is all too often overlooked by Christians and critics alike.

Although the Bible’s description of Jesus and his crucifixion has not been changed, the perception of the people about Jesus has been changing throughout the ages. The poem “The Dream of the Rood” is good example of a unique view of Jesus and his crucifixion. The poem is referred as “one of the first and most successful treatments of the crucifixion” in Old English poetry (Burrow 123).

The film also depicted that crucifixion was typically a form of death that was harsh, violent, and humiliating, which is accurate in comparison to crucifixions in history. In the film, Jesus was spit on, and the Romans mocked him, saying that if were really the king, that he would save himself. This picture of the Jesus’ crucifixion, and the violence that forced upon him, that was displayed in the film, The Passion of the Christ was an accurate description of what actually happened during crucifixions during the ancient times (Religions).

Many Americans flocked to see Mel Gibson’s movie, “The Passion of the Christ.” On over 2.000 screens across America the viewed the “harrowing depiction of Jesus' last 12 hours in wide-screen vivid color.” (Allen 2004) People viewed images of Jesus being flogged, crucified and left to die. This violence caused some Christians discomfort with theology, and some Jews’ fear that it will “incite violence against them because of its portrayal of Jews’ involvement in Jesus’ death.” (Allen 2004)

The severity of the humiliation that was precedent to the death of Jesus is strategically diminished when it is recounted in order to