Little Hinges

"When Jesus was born, many Jews had stopped believing in their old Scriptures. They had lost faith in the promises that had been made seven hundred years earlier, about a virgin who would give birth to a son who would be called Immanuel, meaning "God with us" (Isaiah 7:14) . . . or about the Messiah who would be born in Bethlehem, the town of King David. (Micah 5:2) The people were tired of waiting for the Savior who would lead them into everlasting peace. They had lost interest in learning anything more about their patriarchs, kings, or prophets. They knew their rich history and mistakes, but their knowledge wasn't very consoling. They were sick of being ruled and oppressed by foreign powers.

Revolutionists among the people were quite influential. They were convinced that there would be no peace until they fought for it. They believed that Israel would be saved only through uprisings, blood, and death. They talked about a king who would come one day and free Israel by armed forces . . . a military genius who would shellac Herod, deliver them from foreign governments, and make them masters of the whole world!

Faithful Jews like Joseph, Mary, Elizabeth, Zachary, and John the Baptist, disagreed with the revolutionists, and resisted their influence. They realized that their ancestors had been destroyed because they had lost faith in God's power, and had started to depend on their own might. These faithful Israelites didn't want to repeat the short comings of their ancestors. They were determined to rely on God's promises, and fully believed that peace would only come from Him. They were willing to wait for their Deliverer to come. They knew that He would come for everyone. . .not just the Jews. He would be the Master of the world, and bring peace to every believer. What they didn't know though, was that He was going to come TWICE . . . first as a humble servant . . . second as the King of all kings!

Sadly, all of these doubtfuls and hopefuls were led astray by their religious leaders and by their rich and powerful Jewish citizens who collaborated with the Romans, and fattened their fortunes by betraying and oppressing the rest of their fellow Jews.

Annas, the high priest of Herod's Temple when Jesus was born, was a prime example of good faith gone bad. He was a Sadducee who didn't believe in resurrection or a future life. (He was sad, you see!) Annas lived for himself and all the gusto he could get in the here-and-now.

Herod the Great had been appointed as the King of Palestine by the Roman Senate in 40 B.C.. His principle duties were to collect taxes for Rome, and to keep the peace in a little part of Palestine called Israel. . .especially in it's two main provinces of Judea and Galilee. These two provinces were hotspots in the Roman Empire. The Israelites were known as being very difficult people to rule!

Herod was an Arab from Ashkelon in SE Palestine, and the Israelites hated him. His ancestors had been forced to convert to Judaism, but the Jews never accepted him as anything more than a cruel and merciless representative of a foreign power. He was merely an Arab puppet who taxed them unfairly for the benefit of Rome.

Herod tried to placate the Israelites by extravagantly rebuilding their beloved temple in Jerusalem, but it didn't work! They knew he paid for it, but because it was designed by Jewish architects and built by Jewish labor, they barred Herod from entering any part of it when it was finished!

The Jewish Temple had always been a symbol of the continuity of the Jewish race. It gave them a sense of belonging in the world and in their community. It allowed them to gather to their peculiar selves without being intruded upon or contaminated by the pagan world with it's multiple, fickle gods. The Israelites sacrificed animals there for God's forgiveness of their sins . . . and under the very noses of their foreign rulers, they prayed daily to be delivered from their conquerors and oppressors!

The worshipers were not allowed to bring their own sacrifices to the temple. They had to buy the lambs and doves from the priests who set up stalls in the outer courts, and charged their own people five times what they were worth!

Even more fraudulent, the people had to buy sacrifices with Jewish coins, which were available in the temple by special concession, but forbidden anywhere else. Since Israel was a prisoner state in the Roman Empire, it was occupied by legions of the Imperial Army. Only silver coins bearing the head and sign of Caesar could be used to buy or sell anything. In order to buy their sacrifices, the worshipers had to exchange their empire coins for their former Jewish coins in another unfair transaction. The money-changers exploited them also, by giving them maybe half of what the empire coins were worth.

Guess who reaped the profits from the merchants and the money-changers in the temple? ANNAS . . . the high priest in charge of the whole temple! He owned the concessions and controlled all the priests. He also controlled the banks! Annas was the political boss of Jerusalem, and a very crooked one. He bargained secretly with Herod the Great, and then told the Jewish people what they had to do.

Herod liked Annas because he kept the money rolling in, and he kept the Jews in line. Annas liked Herod because he let him keep his wealth and his honorable position of high priest. They understood each other perfectly, and worked well together to keep Caesar happy. Taxes and tranquility, taxes and tranquility . . . taxes, taxes, taxes, and tranquility! . . . . . . .

The oppressive religious and political wheels were rolling pretty smoothly until Jesus was born in Bethlehem. . . . ."