I was anxious to read Zealot, The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth by Reza Aslan when I first saw the author interviewed about the recent publication. I am a lover of well researched histories and this was what Aslan had set about delivering. His attempt is to present the historical Jesus, a man who has become a phenomenal force in the human society. How this young Jewish fellow from an inconsequential part of the outlying region of Imperial Rome became so, is nothing short of mind-boggling. When I spotted the book in a bin at Costco, I scooped it up. There is scant historical evidence of this particular Nazarene on record and only trifling reference in a few written records; as in Josephus' history, Antiquities, when he refers to
"James the brother of Jesus, the one they call Messiah"
--this said derisively; the Jewish Josephus considered the Messianic claim absurd. In spite of this deficit, Aslan suggests that from copious information about 1st Century Palestine juxtaposed with the information gleaned from the Gospels (the latter penned long after Jesus' crucifixion, the earliest 40 years later), a well formed profile of the man can be achieved.
Aslan is an academician who has a robust background in religious studies and has spent twenty years researching the origins of Christianity. As he aptly states:
"The Jesus that is uncovered in the process may not be the Jesus we expect; he certainly will not be the Jesus that most modern Christians would recognize. But in the end, he is the only Jesus that we can access by historical means. Everything else is a matter of faith."
He shows us the Jesus that existed before Christianity.
Indeed, we find Jesus of Nazareth to be a zealous Jew, though not likely an actual Zealot, who stands in opposition to the Roman occupation of his nation and to those who collaborate with the occupiers. Rome managed the Israelite population through a stranglehold on the Temple priests who aligned themselves with the might of the Republic to maintain their own power and wealth. Perhaps it isn't surprising to learn that the priestly class fell to corrupt practices in order to continue as an elevated aristocracy. The Temple was Israel for pre-diaspora Jews, they were not then the people of the Torah and the local synagogue. Quite literally, from the moment of entry for a member of the Israelite community to the one and only Temple in the land, the Sanhedrin (those of the priestly class that controlled the Temple) were on the take, partly for themselves, partly to collect tribute for the Roman Empire. Roman occupation also pushed further concentration of the privileged classes of Palestine to urban areas. Peasant regions with laboring farmers (all Nazarenes were farmers first and foremost, regardless of other skills) were enlisted to provide food crops, labor and support to the insatiable gentry, ultimately causing the loss of all property for the less than well off. Increased tithes to the Temple and burdensome taxes to Rome were imposed, creating a swelling landless populace unable to provide even subsistence living reliably. This situation gave rise to bandit gangs who stood in opposition to the Empire and those who colluded with them, the seminal appearance of such 'lestai' (rabble rousers) made in the Galilee of Jesus' youth. They were the Robin Hoods of their day. This is the milieu that gave rise to Jesus, though he was not alone in the messianic cadre. (One of his contemporary competitors was known simply as "The Egyptian.") Strikingly, these other "anointed ones" are all forgotten. As Aslan puts it:
...Jesus was not a member of the Zealot Party that launched the war with Rome...Nor was Jesus a violent revolutionary bent on armed rebellion, though his views on the use of violence were far more complex than is often assumed. But look closely at Jesus' words and actions...and this one fact becomes difficult to deny: Jesus was crucified by Rome because his messianic aspirations threatened the occupation of Palestine and his zealotry endangered the Temple authorities...
With Aslan's painstaking examination of incidents reported in the Gospels, Jesus emerges as a rebel immersed in the righteousness of his own cause and a champion of the oppressed. In particular, the analysis of Jesus' final entry into Jerusalem for Passover and the audacious disruption of the money changers at their "holy" work of cashing in, illustrates a politically engaged young man fighting the entrenched status quo and cements Aslan's thesis that this man was a very real human being dealing with the outrageous conditions of the disenfranchised. He was even fully aware of the fate that awaited him for his actions and was prepared to meet it. This is heroic behavior.
The followers of Jesus, including his brother James (known among his fellow Jews as James the Just) and his apostle Peter (of the Hebrew or Mother Assembly) had differing views as to his larger mission on earth. James' and Peter's perspective differed radically from that of another Jew, Saul of Tarsus, who became known as Paul (of the Hellenist Assembly) when he was struck with fervor for the Nazarene's message as he saw it to be, though none of them (quite remarkably) questioned Jesus' resurrection from the dead. James, of course, claimed to have walked with his resurrected brother and witnessed his assumption into heaven. It was largely Paul who carried his own view to a gentile audience in the Roman Empire and he was more than a bit vested in removing himself from the followers in Jerusalem and traitors to the Roman Empire in general. Aslan explores this in detail, as well. It is eye-opening and possibly distressing to many who believe there can be no adjustment to their own narrative of Jesus as Christ.
As a practicing Buddhist who was raised in the Roman Catholic tradition, I have not given much recent consideration to Jesus of Nazareth. From now on I shall. That much of what Jesus preached can be found in earlier Jewish texts or that it is debatable whether he actually said what is purported, does not rock my world. The received wisdom of Jesus' teaching is a match for the loftier thoughts of enlightened teachers of the ages and I hold much respect for that. I do care about knowing as much of the truth as is possible. Aslan's book was as revelatory to me as Loewen's Lies My Teacher Told Me, or Terry Jones' Chaucer's Knight. These works blow the lid off of propagandized notions that are not only incorrect, but promote delusional thinking. The Jesus that Aslan has introduced to me has moved me to a greater place of admiration for a human being who stood bravely in truculent times against insurmountable odds. He gave voice to the cries of the unheard oppressed and the downtrodden and knew he'd be killed for doing so. The engine that drove him to be what he was has inspired others in a truly unprecedented and unique way, crossing all lines of race and class, and transcending its time and place. That is not only a mystery, it's a miracle. That requires no delusional thought to acknowledge. Surely one message Jesus of Nazareth delivered to us all is that the struggle against those who oppress the most in need and the least able to defend themselves can be rewarded with phenomenal greatness that will endure against all odds. I'm thankful for that.
8:48 AM PT: I did not expect to have to work today when I committed to do the diary. Alas, I was mistaken. I appreciate the comments and I'll check in whenever I am able.
12:42 PM PT: Okay, folks. I changed the title.