In order to truly understand the mission of Christ and to be able to interpret his teachings, some knowledge of the Jewish culture is necessary. To know about their religion, their beliefs, and the traditions of the first century, brings clarity to what Christ was referencing as he spoke to his audience.
Things that sound so foreign to us, suddenly become clear when viewed from their perspective.
Christ’s audience was vast. He was listened to by those who honored him as the long-awaited Messiah, by those who were in the valley of decision, and by those who continually plotted his demise.
When Christ said that he did not come to cause peace but division, he was not joking. His words divided the humble from the proud, the pure from the evil, the spiritual seekers from the religious.
It was not the masses who hated Christ, but rather, a select few. They were the ones who had been revered by the Jewish citizens as those who had achieved perfection in the sight of God, the God of Abraham.
The Jewish religious leaders had everything going for them, the honor of men, power, and of course wealth. They were set, until Yeshua appeared on the scene.
They were doing everything that Moses had commanded of them. They knew that Moses had been called by God. They fully believed that every commandment given by Moses was ordained directly from the mouth of God. They followed his laws to perfection.
They were the only group on Earth that held the position that they knew the one and only true God during an era when most of the civilized world was polytheistic. They were doing exactly what they had been taught to do.
When Yeshua began teaching the words that God had given him, it shook their foundation, because Christ’s teachings often contradicted the mandates of Moses. Christ brought compassion to the ones who had been ousted because of their harsh laws.
He healed those who had been cast out and labeled as sinners. The laws of Moses stated that the blind and the lepers were cursed and stricken by God with those conditions because they had broken the holy ordinances of God.
Christ showed them that those beliefs were not true and he healed them.
Outwardly, the Jewish religious leaders looked perfect, but Yeshua’s words stripped away their robes and exposed the putrid condition of their hearts.
Christ said, “if I had not come and spoken to them, they had not had sin, but now, they have no cloak for their sin.” (John 15:22 KJV)
His words exposed who they really were under all the religious facade, and that is why they absolutely hated him. They despised the truth.
It was not only the words of Christ that reproved them, it was his actions as well. Unlike them, Yeshua demonstrated God’s love and mercy through his benevolence towards humanity.
Instead of looking in the mirror and humbling themselves, the Jewish religious leaders rose up with indignation and fought against their enemy—Yeshua.
During that time, the Kingdom of God was experiencing violence, and the violent were determined to take it by force, of which they would eventually succeed.
Christ let them know that they did not love God or they would have loved him, because he was sent from God and spoke only the words that God gave him to speak. Therefore, if they rejected him, they were rejecting God.
Christ was not shy about addressing the Jewish religious leaders. He called them white washed sepulchers, wolves in sheep’s clothing, and snakes and vipers. Yeshua openly exposed them to his audience; all the while, they plotted his death in secret.
They wanted him gone. They knew that by his stripes, they would be healed, and then, they could continue on with business as usual.
It was not an easy task to carry out their mission to murder the Messiah for several reasons.
Before Rome had taken over Israel and Judah, they could have simply taken him out to the wilderness and stoned him to death, but now, they were subject to the Roman judicial system.
They had to try and figure out a way that Rome would consider Yeshua worthy of death.
That was tricky, because Christ was a law-abiding citizen who paid his taxes, and did not speak out against Rome.
When the Pharisees and Herodians tried to trap Yeshua in his words about paying taxes to Caesar, Christ calmly replied, “let me see a coin.”
The Pharisee revealed a penny, and Christ asked, “whose inscription is on this coin?”
“Caesar,” answered the Pharisee.
“Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s,” Christ replied as he looked him in the eye, knowing his evil intentions.
No, it was not an easy task to murder the Messiah.
Even more than Rome, another barrier protecting Yeshua were the throngs of people who followed him.
The religious leaders had a plan to deal with Rome. If they could just get him in front of the governor, they knew that Rome would not tolerate a self-proclaimed king who was not appointed by the all-powerful Rome.
However, the crowd was another story. It is mentioned many times in the Gospels that the religious leaders did not lay hold on Christ because they feared an uprising of the people. They feared that they themselves would be taken out and stoned by the followers of Yeshua.
It was a real dilemma plotting the death of Christ, until things lined up perfectly in their favor. It was the miracle that they had been waiting for, a miracle that they believed was from God.
The Passover and the preparation for Shabbat (the Sabbath) were going to occur in consecutive days.
According to the Jewish calendar, a day began at 6pm and ended at 6pm the following evening.
So, the scene portrayed in the Gospels of Christ celebrating the Passover dinner with his disciples, occurred at the very end of the Jewish Wednesday, and at 6pm, their Thursday began.
Traditionally, Thursday is the day of preparation for Shabbat, so with one day in between the Passover and Shabbot, the Jewish citizens were pressed to complete all the necessary tasks to prepare for their day of rest.
Every Thursday, the women would go to the marketplace to buy food. Then, rush home to prepare meals.
The men would help in organizing the home and preparing the lampstands, so they would have adequate lighting during the holy day that was commanded by the laws of Moses.
And, it was this timing that gave the religious leaders an advantage to seize the Messiah. However, it was not only timing but also the events that are customary during the Passover celebration that had an impact as well.
The Passover is a full day of festivities followed by the evening meal, where it is traditional for each participant to drink four cups of wine during the feast.
It was the perfect sinister plan. The religious leaders knew that Yeshua’s followers would all be in a deep sleep that night, caused from the excess of wine. And, when they awoke, they would be distracted by the flurry of activity necessary to prepare for Shabbat.
Yeshua’s followers would be completely unaware, because of their preoccupation with the elements of their religious requirements.
They would be oblivious to the fact that the Messiah had been imprisoned and was about to be sentenced to die.
The plan was brilliant, and as icing on the cake, one of Yeshua’s faithful followers defected and joined their team. Judas Iscariot agreed to lead them in the dark to the location of Christ, and he made good on his word.
They finally were able to take Yeshua captive. The wolves had the lamb.
Yeshua was held overnight, while being interrogated and abused by the religious leaders. Then, before daylight, while the cock was crowing, he was taken to appear before Pontius Pilate.
After much uproar by the crowd that had been gathered together by the chief priests and scribes, Pontius Pilate reluctantly conceded and sentenced Yeshua to death.
Christ was on the cross by 9am of that very morning, before many of his followers had even emerged from their homes to prepare for Shabbat.
The Prince of this world had succeeded in silencing the one who threatened his kingdom, and out of the tragedy emerged a new religion that claims that God orchestrated that heinous act to use Christ as a sin offering for the benefit of all mankind.
This is the biggest lie ever told, and I am here to shout it from the rooftop that God had absolutely no part in any of it.
To say that He did, makes one guilty of taking part in their sinister plan.