From: "Blaine Borrowman" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Blaine: I respectfully (DavidH has taught me a few things) disagree. (:>) They definitely were keeping their fingers on the pulse of the common folk, I have no contention with that. But they did it because these folks were the source of their power, wealth and social status.
Judy: They weren't elected officials Blaine. The seat of Moses was something instituted by God. **Blaine: The seat of Moses--was it the High Priest's office? If so, the HP office was a political plum during the time of Jesus Christ. Whereas it was by tradition and commandment to be reserved for the seed of Aaron only, during this time it was an appointment from Herod and the Romans alike. Judy: That's mighty big of Herod since he was an Edomite and a Philistine. He only married the daughter of one of the high priests so you can see how perverted everything had become by the time of Jesus. Blaine: Although it was traditionally a lifetime appointment, the office was filled by 28 different men between 37 B.C. and A.D. 68. So, regards your contention that this was not an elected office, you are correct. However, although the power of life and death was reserved for Roman officers, the Jewish leaders had considerable influence--power--as evidenced by the fact they were able to stir up the populace to demand the crucifixion of Jesus. Judy: I'm not surprised, dosen't sound like they were too blessed does it? Blaine: The populace was basically the only thing they both feared and revered, since by manipulating it, they could apparently persuade the Roman governor to go against his own judgements, knowing the last thing he wanted was an insurrection of the populace. Judy: They may have feared losing the ppl but I don't believe they revered them because of their religious stand. They told the man who received his eyesight that he was born in sin and they knew that God will not hear sinners... which is true but the underlying assumption here is that they themselves weren't. Blaine: Their power to manipulate the populace came from the high status/ prestige of their offices as members of the Sanhedrin, and as Priests, Levites, teachers, etc., which were traditional offices in the Priesthood of Aaron. Holders of these titles and offices were reverenced by almost all Jews, even Jesus counseled to listen to the HP and elders, but to not do what they did. Judy: Well they may have fooled some of the ppl some of the time but they didn't fool all of the ppl all of the time because it was noted at least once that Jesus taught as one having authority and not like the scribes. A person with spiritual discernment today can tell if a preacher/teacher speaks the words of Jesus or is off on a tangent doing his own thing. Blaine: In their peculiar social structure, holding religious office and having high social status went hand in hand, eclipsed only by the amount of money one could show evidence of having access to--what one social scientist of recent times has called status symbols. Status symbols vary from society to society, but money always seems to be what the symbols represent. In our society, we value expensive cars--the more expensive, the more status associated with the symbol. Jewelry is the same. The more expensive, the better. A $10,000.00 Rolex does not keep better time than an $80.00 Citizen watch, but people still want the Rolex above any other, because of the status if confers upon the owner. And houses!! A house with five bedrooms and three baths carries more status than one with two bedrooms and one bath (:>) Right? But either way, the symbols represent money-- Judy: Shows where their hearts were since it is impossible to serve both God and Mammon. It's obvious where their treasure is and where that is their hearts were also and Jesus told them so. Blaine: and in the case of the Pharisees and other Jewish chief priests and scribes, the source of the money was selling religious items to the populace, and if it could be done on the temple grounds, all the better, as doing such added to the significance and importance of the for-sale items, and therefore higher prices could likely have been charged. Judy: It wasn't temple souvenirs or anything like that. I understood they were selling inferior animals for sacrifice and over charging the people for them. Blaine: The only real fear the Jewish leaders had was the populace in general, whom both the appointed Jewish officials as well as the Romans had nightmares about, since insurrection was an ever-present possibility. They all knew the Jews were an intelligent and religiously zealous bunch, very hard to control at times, especially when it came to religious issues. A popular leader, as Jesus Christ was, became the only real fear these Jewish leaders had. When Christ entered the city of Jerusalem on the colt of an ass, this had tremendous significance to the Jews. Only the seed of David did such an act as that, and only in fulfillment of prophecies known widely among the Jews. Judy: I only know of one prophecy in Zechariah pertaining to this. Are there others that you know of? Blaine: The Scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites though they were, knew they were destined to obscurity if they did not get rid of this man, whom they knew in their hearts to be the real Messiah. Judy: I'll have to differ with you once more on this point. I don't believe they knew in their hearts who Jesus was. They were stiff necked and rejected His teaching so God did not open their eyes to see. Blaine: As you said, Judy, for envy they killed him. They willingly shed his innocent blood to protect their power, status and wealth. See Matt 21:15 And when the chief Priests and Scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; they were sore afraid. Jesus was crucified the next day, by the way Judy: Sad scene, demonstrating once more the truth of scripture. God hides things from the wise and prudent and reveals them to babes... Blaine: These men--scribes and Pharisees-- were the ones who bought and sold in the temple, and were the ones Jesus drove out on two different occasions. Judy: Correction... You are right, he did do it twice... so I've learned something that I had overlooked before. **Blaine: He did it twice. The first time was right after the wedding in Cana, at the beginning of his ministry, during the Passover. See John 2:13-17 The second time was after he had entered Jerusalem on the colt of an ass, and was hailed as the Son of David. He then went to the temple, and repeated his earlier cleansing. See Matt 29:12 This was one of his final acts before he was arrested and eventually crucified. As with the first cleansing, it happened in conjunction with the Passover. The two cleansings happened about three years apart. Judy: No wonder he was watched and questioned so closely, he was hardly in the business of making friends and influencing ppl, at the temple anyway. ---------- "Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer every man." (Colossians 4:6) http://www.InnGlory.org If you do not want to receive posts from this list, send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and you will be unsubscribed. If you have a friend who wants to join, tell him to send an e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and he will be subscribed.
