Caesar's Messiah: The Roman Conspiracy to Invent Jesus:Flavian Signature Edition (39 page)

But now, what did the most elevate them in undertaking this war, was an ambiguous oracle that was also found in their sacred writings, how, “about that time, one from their country should become governor of the habitable earth.”

The Jews took this prediction to belong to themselves in particular, and many of the wise men were thereby deceived in their determination. Now this oracle certainly denoted the government of Vespasian, who was appointed emperor in Judea.

However, it is not possible for men to avoid fate, although they see it beforehand.

But these men interpreted some of these signals according to their own pleasure, and some of them they utterly despised, until their madness was demonstrated, both by the taking of their city and their own destruction.
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In Matthew 23 and 24 Jesus expresses what has been called his eschatological, or doomsday, vision. In fact, the entire passage appears to be nothing other than a “prophecy” of events and details that have occurred during Titus’ destruction of Jerusalem, all of which can be found in Josephus’ passage above, which describes that event. The related New Testament passages follow – the passage contains, as Jesus himself describes them, the signs that will indicate that the “Son of Man” has come to destroy Jerusalem.

Jesus had left the Temple and was going on His way, when His disciples came and called His attention to the Temple buildings.

”You see all these?” He replied; “in solemn truth I tell you that there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be pulled down.”

Afterwards He was on the Mount of Olives and was seated there when the disciples came to Him, apart from the others, and said, “Tell us when this will be; and what will be the sign of your Coming and of the Close of the Age?”

“Take care that no one misleads you,” answered Jesus;

“for many will come assuming my name and saying ‘I am the Christ;’ and they will mislead many.

“And before long you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. Do not be alarmed, for such things must be; but the End is not yet.

“For nation will rise in arms against nation, kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places;

“but all these miseries are but like the early pains of childbirth.

“That time they will deliver you up to punishment and will put you to death; and you will be objects of hatred to all the nations because you are called by my name.

“Then and they will betray one another and hate one another.

“Many false prophets will rise up and lead multitudes astray;

“and because of the prevalent disregard of God’s law, the love of the great majority will grow cold;

“but those who stand firm to the End shall be saved.

“And this Good News of the Kingdom shall be proclaimed throughout the whole world to set the evidence before all the Gentiles; and then the End will come.

“When you have seen (to use the language of the Prophet Daniel) the ‘Abomination of Desolation,’ standing in the Holy Place—let the reader observe those words—

“then let those who are in Judea escape to the hills;

“let him who is on the roof not go down to fetch what is in his house;

“nor let him who is outside the city stay to pick up his outer garment.

“And alas for the women who at that time are with child or have infants!

“But pray that your flight may not be in winter, nor on the Sabbath;

“for then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world and assuredly never will be again.

“And if those days had not been cut short, no one would escape; but for the sake of God’s own People those days will be cut short.

“If at that time any one should say to you, ‘See, here is the Christ!’ or ‘Here!’ give no credence to it.

“For there will rise up false Christs and false prophets, displaying wonderful signs and prodigies, so as to deceive, were it possible, even God’s own People.

“Remember, I have forewarned you.

“If therefore they should say to you, ‘See, He is in the Desert!’ do not go out there: or ‘See, He is indoors in the room!’ do not believe it.

“For just as the lightning flashes in the east and is seen to the very west, so will be the Coming of the Son of Man.

“Wherever the dead body is, there will the eagles flock together.

“But immediately after those times of distress the sun will be darkened, the moon will not shed her light, the stars will fall from the firmament, and the forces which control the heavens will be disordered and disturbed.  

“Then will appear the Sign of the Son of Man in the sky; and then will all the nations of the earth lament, when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with great power and glory.

“And He will send out His angels and they will gather together his elect, from the four winds, and from one end of heaven to the other.

“Now learn from the fig-tree the lesson it teaches. As soon as its branches have now become soft and it is bursting into leaf, you all know that summer is near.

“So you also, when you see all these signs, may be sure that He is near—at your very door.

“I tell you in solemn truth that the present generation will certainly not pass away without all these things having first taken place.

“Earth and sky will pass away, but it is certain that my words will not pass away.

“But as to that day and the exact time no one knows—not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.

“For as it was in the time of Noah, so it will be at the Coming of the Son of Man.

“At that time, before the Deluge, men were busy eating and drinking, taking wives or giving them, up to the very day when Noah entered the Ark,

“nor did they realize any danger till the Deluge came and swept them all away; so will it be at the Coming of the Son of Man.

“Then will two men be in the open country: one will be taken away, and one left behind.

“Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken away, and one left behind.

“Be on the alert therefore, for you do not know the day on which your Lord is coming.

“But of this be assured, that if the master of the house had known the hour at which the robber was coming, he would have kept awake, and not have allowed his house to be broken into.

“Therefore, you also must be ready; for it is at a time when you do not expect Him that the Son of Man will come.”
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I have divided my analysis of the passages above into several parts. I shall first focus upon the parallels between Josephus’ woe-saying Jesus and the New Testament’s Jesus. There are numerous parallels between the eschatological Jesus of Matthew 23 and 24 and the tragicomic Jesus described in the passage from Josephus, whom I refer to as the woe-saying Jesus. I believe that the work of Josephus intentionally creates a lampoon of the New Testament’s Jesus by having the woe-saying Jesus share his words, phrases, ideas, and experiences—and, obviously, by means of their shared name. They are parallel in one other important way. Each gives a list of “signs” that foretell Jerusalem’s impending doom. These lists include a number of identical phrases and concepts.

For example, the Jesus of the New Testament states:

For just as the lightning flashes in the east and is seen to the very west, so will be the Coming of the Son of Man.

And He will send out His angels and they will gather together his elect, from the four winds, and from one end of heaven to the other.

Matthew 24:27, 31

Then will the Kingdom of the Heavens be found to be like ten bridesmaids who took their torches and went out to meet the bridegroom and the bride.

Matthew 25:1

The woe-saying Jesus also speaks of “east” and “west,” “the four winds,” and “bridesmaids,” and “bridegrooms.” Notice that the language is used in the same sequence in both works:

… began on a sudden to cry aloud, “A voice from the east, a voice from the west, a voice from the four winds, a voice  against Jerusalem  and the holy house, a voice against

the bridegrooms and the brides, and a voice against this whole people!”

Wars of the Jews,
6, 5, 301

The woe-saying Jesus clearly predicts the destruction of the temple when he says “a voice against the holy house.” The New Testament Jesus makes the same prediction.

His disciples came and called His attention to the Temple buildings.

“You see all these?” He replied; “in solemn truth I tell you that there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be pulled down.”

Matthew 24:1-2

The New Testament Jesus uses the word “woe” eight times during his speech in Matthew 23. The Jesus in Josephus’ passage, above, who seemingly lampoons the New Testament Jesus, also constantly repeats the word “woe.”

Woe to you, blind guides …

Matthew 23:16

And from the passage in Josephus:

Woe, woe to the city again, and to the people, and to the holy house!

Wars of the Jews,
6, 5, 309

Both Jesuses are using the word “woe” to describe the disasters that will come to the inhabitants of Jerusalem when the “Son” returns. The New Testament Jesus foresees this disaster occurring with the return of a “Son of God,” while Josephus’ woe-saying Jesus also foresees this occurring with the coming of a “son of god,” this one being Titus.

It needs to be pointed out that Matthew 23 and 24 simply divide one speech, so that the parallels between these chapters and Josephus’ description of the signs that preceded the destruction of the temple, should be taken as unified.

The lampoon is made even clearer when Josephus records that the woe-saying Jesus has a passion experience very similar to that of the Jesus in the New Testament. Like the New Testament Jesus, the woe-saying Jesus is taken by “eminent Jews” to the Roman procurator, where he is whipped until his bones are laid bare. Like the New Testament Jesus he is described as a man with “divine” fury.

Josephus links his woe-saying Jesus to the Jesus in the New Testament in yet another way, by the date of his death. Josephus enables the reader to calculate this date by stating that the time when the woe-saying Jesus began his wailing was “four years before the war began” and that he continues
“without growing hoarse” for “seven years and five months.”

As noted by Eisenman, these dates indicate that the woe-saying Jesus died on Passover in 70 C.E.
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This is a precise 40-year “generation” from the beginning of the ministry of the New Testament’s Jesus—who predicted that his prophecies would be fulfilled within 40 years. Jesus ben Ananus is another wry fulfillment of the New Testament Jesus’ prophecy.

Finally, the completely unbelievable yet very black comedy end of the woe-saying Jesus in Josephus is related to the satiric New Testament theme regarding “stones.”

This cry of his was the loudest at the festivals; and he continued this ditty for seven years and five months, without growing hoarse, or being tired therewith, until the very time that he saw his presage in earnest fulfilled in our siege, when it ceased;

for as he was going round upon the wall, he cried out with his utmost force, “Woe, woe to the city again, and to the people, and to the holy house!” And just as he added at the last, “Woe, woe to myself also!” there came a stone out of one of the engines, and smote him, and killed him immediately; and as he was uttering the very same presages he gave up the ghost.