Political tension, jealously, misunderstanding, fear, laziness, and all of the natural human sins and frailties led Jesus to Calvary.
By Mark D. Harris
Jerusalem in the 1st century AD was an uneasy place. A thin veneer of calm covered a seething cauldron of oppression, resistance, hatred, racial and religious conflict, and murder. Palestine, known to all conquerors since antiquity as a hot bed of revolution, had by 30 AD been under Roman domination for nearly 100 years since Pompey conquered Jerusalem and desecrated the temple in 63 BC.
The political arrangement was simple. The Roman conquerors wanted peace and taxes, the first to limit the expense in blood and treasure of holding Palestine, and the second to get as much as possible out of the province to finance their Imperial tastes and adventures. Lacking a natural port like Greece, resources like Asia Minor, or major wheat harvests like Egypt, Palestine had little to offer their conquerors except for being an eastern outpost against the Parthians and a land bridge between Europe, Asia and Africa. Many troops and lots of money were necessary to hold the land, so the Romans wanted the Jews to be quiet.
Continue reading “Passion Week – The Intractable Conflicts that Sent Jesus to Calvary”
