Sw - Session 8 - Reference

christ

The Temptations of Christ A Political, Economic, and Religious Background Analysis Session 8 Reference

introduction e authors of the synoptic gospels agree that Jesus’ temptation was a forty-day ordeal that happened immediately after Jesus’ baptism and first public appearing.1 Unfortunately this text has often been taken out of context. Instead of reading it in its context, many preachers and commentators have spiritualized and individualized it, noting, for example, that we need to accept that temptations are real, but that we can be comforted that Jesus too knew real temptations, and so he can help us overcome the personal struggles we’re facing. e temptation to turn stones into bread, for instance, is often taken as a personal temptation to Jesus to squelch his private hunger. Although this interpretation may hold a grain of truth,2 reading the text in its context, will help us appreciate that its full essence lies in a grasp of the socio-political and economic condition of the masses in Palestine. In fact, by placing the event at this juncture, the Gospel writers seem to indicate that very early on in his ministry Jesus had to take a stand against other available options and schools of thoughts that were prevalent in Palestine at that time. As “the satan” was doing its best to drag Jesus down into the trap into which Adam and Eve, Israel, and the rest of the world, had already fallen, the temptations served to refine his own resolve and sense of mission. ey served to help him decide his priorities and clarify his alternative to all other existing options of his time.

the political temptation: politics of oppression According to Matthew the political temptation was presented from the vantage point of a very high mountain. e scene reveals a stunning claim and an important perspective. In 4:8 Satan offers Jesus “all the kingdoms/ empires (basileia) of this world” if Jesus would worship Satan. e offer discloses Satan’s control of the world and its political realms, including the leading empire, Rome. For Jesus to accept the authority of Satan to gain power over the world, including Rome, represented the possibility not merely of breaking Rome’s power but also the glory and acclaim of sitting on the world’s highest peak of power. Why was this a real temptation for a first-century Jew living in occupied Palestine?3 A short detour is necessary to understand the political hopes of Jews living during Jesus’ time. e Aristocratic Empire Since Palestine was an occupied territory, we need to first grasp how the Roman Empire operated and how it ruled the world. We will begin by looking at the governing structure of the Roman Empire.

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e Roman imperial system was basically an “aristocratic empire”. At the top of this system, and at its center in Rome, was the emperor. Exercising enormous powers, he shared the benefits and rewards of this system with a very small group of perhaps 1 to 2 percent of the population – the Roman senatorial and equestrian aristocracy. Members of this small governing elite were made up of those with inherited wealth, land and social status, officials appointed by the emperor, bureaucrats, military leaders, and some religious officials.4 Ruling vast areas of territory through a small bureaucracy, their rule wasn’t characterized by democratic consensus but by the ability to enforce their will on most of the population.5 Indeed, the empire’s ruling elite valued hierarchy, vast inequality, domination, exclusion, and coerced compliance.6 Interestingly though, the governing elite didn’t enforce its rule via a gigantic police state, but a constellation of provinces and city states, all pledging their allegiance to Rome and its governing elite instead. As the Roman Empire grew, they created a so-called retainer class of provincial elites to assist in governing. is group, perhaps 3-5 percent of the population, comprised officials appointed by the emperor, higher-ranking professional soldiers, local aristocracies, religious elites, and prosperous merchants. Like the ruling senatorial and equestrian elite, members of this group usually lived in cities. ey were the local agents of the Roman aristocracy, personalizing and representing Rome’s power among the lower classes, performing Rome’s wishes, enacting its decisions, and maintaining its control over land and people. As reward, they were allowed share in the benefits of Rome’s rule and acquire significant power, status, and wealth.7 Cooperation with the emperor and with Rome and control of any kind of political office increased one’s chance in ensuring fabulous riches and immense power, privilege and prestige. In fact, the senatorial and equestrian elite and its allied provincial elites saw the state as something to be used not for the maximal common good but for one’s personal benefit, and, in turn, for the good of one’s heirs.8 e Political Structure of the Roman Empire To ensure loyalty with Rome, the Roman emperors and aristocratic elites established different types of alliances and governing structures with the aforementioned provincial elites. Besides the Roman cities and senatorial provinces, which were mostly populated by people of Italian decent and those with unquestioned loyalty to Rome, there were four other kinds of administrative units that were used by Rome to govern its empire: colonies, city states, client kingdoms, and imperial provinces.9 • Roman Colonies: Roman colonies were new foundations or cities in which Roman settlers were added. Such cities were founded by Romans and so everyone belonging to the city was a Roman citizen. Originally colonies were armed garrisons, but by the early empire they were

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frequently settlements of military veterans and freedmen. Each of these colonies was a little Rome; Rome away from home.10 Some of the Roman colonies mentioned in the New Testament are Philippi, Corinth, Antioch of Pisidia, Iconium, Lystra and Troas. ey enjoyed all the privileges of the Pax Romana and were basically self-ruled by local aristocracies. Some were granted partial or complete immunity from taxation. e colonies were thus important bases for the Romanization of the provinces. • Free Cities: e concept of a free city, a city that was part of an alliance or kingdom but was internally autonomous and not subject to exactions or tribute had developed in the Hellenistic world and was adopted by Rome. ese were cities tied to Rome by covenant, which gave them enjoyment of some judicial autonomy. Since they had voluntarily come into the empire, they received the legal privileges of the empire in return: Roman citizenship and the permission for their ruling class to govern the city’s internal affairs by their own laws. Tarsus, Paul’s hometown was such a city, as were Ephesus, Smyrna, Antioch of Syria and the 10 cities in the Decapolis, south-east of Lake of Galilee. • Client Kingdoms: Some areas were left in the hands of local dynasts, such as the Herods in Palestine. Rome felt these dynasts, also called client kings, could rule their people best and since they held the title of “kings, allies, and friends of the Roman people,” only with Rome’s sanction, they could serve Rome’s interests without Rome assuming responsibility. ey were left free in internal administration, levied taxes for their own use, and maintained armies under their own control. ey could not pursue their own foreign policy, however, and were expected to support the policies and actions of the neighboring Roman governors, provide military aid on demand for the Roman army, maintain order and security, squash any signs of rebellion, and pay taxes to Rome.11 During Jesus’ time Herod Antipas ruled Galilee and Perea and Philip the Tetrarch ruled Transjordan. • Imperial Cities & Provinces: Areas within the Roman Empire, where there had been significant rebellious activity, unrest, or outright revolution were placed under the direct authority of a Roman governor and had a significant military presence. In A.D. 6 the troublesome region of Judea, for example, was turned into a Roman province with a Roman governor at its head. During Jesus’ years of public ministry Pontius Pilate was procurator of the imperial province of Judea, with military, financial, and judicial authority. Governors often ruled imperial provinces in collaboration with local elites who were able to exercise significant civic, religious and judicial authority as long as their actions promoted Rome’s interests.

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What held the Roman Empire together? What caused the Roman Empire and its aristocratic elite to hold these divergent governing structures together? Scholars generally point to three major reasons: 1. e Roman Military: Basic to the governing elite’s exercise of power was their military might. Not only did the Roman army create the empire but it played a key role in coercing and maintaining submission.12 In addition to superior training, tactics, and weapons, the army’s reputation functioned to intimidate and repress would-beopponents.13 e military also safeguarded the Pax Romana (Roman peace) and served to advance Roman values, religiosity, and culture.14 2. e Pax Romana: To loyal Roman subjects the emperors offered peace, security and entertainment: bread and circuses. e Pax Romana assured that citizens had protection from outside enemies and enjoyed the benefits of Roman justice and civil government. ough Rome kept peace at the point of a sword, the Pax Romana made possible social and cultural developments, and provided mobility both geographically and socially for its members.15 As a result, by and large even the conquered peoples cooperated. 3. e Emperor Cult: Perceiving that a universal empire called for a universal religion, the Roman emperors established the cult of the emperor. ey built on solidly established religious traditions of the ancient world that called for the deification of ruling leaders. While Rome tolerated most religions, including Judaism, and while everyone in the empire could worship how and whom they wanted to worship, they could only do so as long as they demonstrated their loyalty to Rome by also worshiping the Caesars as the divine manifestation of the gods. To quench the smokes of revolutionary fires, Rome allowed just one nation to forgo Cesar worship. In deference to Jewish sensibilities, pagan altars were not allowed in Judea. Nonetheless, Rome negotiated a satisfactory substitute for emperor worship by ordering the Jews to offer sacrifices on behalf of Rome and the Roman emperor twice each day in Jerusalem’s temple. is substitute was a tangible sign of Jewish loyalty to Rome.16 Palestine Under Roman Rule Now that we have established the general contours of the Roman political structure, it is important that we perceive how this political system played out in Palestine. While Rome’s occupying force was felt throughout Palestine, the region was not homogenous, but under two distinct Roman administrative units. Galilee Galilee was under the dominion of Herod Antipas’ rulership, and consequently a client kingdom. While client-king Herod Antipas was

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ultimately accountable to Rome, he had significant coercive and political powers. He worked closely with upper class, aristocratic Jewish families to reinforce his exploitative rule, gain extractions from the peasantry, collect taxes, and extinguish any signs of rebellion. Members of these aristocratic families, which made up about 2-3 percent of Galilee’s population, consisted of the Herodian nobility and the priestly aristocracy. Some scholars closely link the Sadducees to both of these groups. ey gladly collaborated with Herod in exchange for personal safety, privileges, political offices, and land ownership, and the Herodians quite deliberately adapted to Greco-Roman culture, where privilege, wealth, and full civil rights belonged only to those born into a certain status, who passed it on to the next generation. It follows that not only Herod and the Romans wielded power in Galilee; the Jewish aristocracy and priesthood did too. Judea Judea was an imperial province, ruled by a Roman governor. Governors possessed significant military, political, financial and judicial powers. eir primary goal was to maintain law and order and collect taxes; to guard the legal privileges of Roman citizens; to listen to complaints by and/or against local magistrates; to forbid and interfere in religious and other practices that would in any way disturb the Pax Romana, if necessary through capital punishment. Since they shared a common interest with the Jewish ruling elite, namely to uphold the oppressive status quo, the governors closely worked together with the Jewish magistrate – the Sanhedrin.17 As allies of Rome and beneficiaries of the imperial system this supreme Jewish council had not just religious functions as we often think. Its sphere of authority extended over the spiritual, political and legal affairs of all Jews within Judea. is meant that though Israel was under Roman military control, the authorities that ruled people’s lives came from among the Jewish elite. To put it differently: Since Jews were not subject to the Roman legal system, there was no distinction between religious and secular law and the Jewish authorities that enforced the law were responsible by Roman permission, for all aspects of life.18 e real power thus was the native elite who ruled the nation – as long as they remained loyal to Rome.19 In fact, Josephus, the Jewish historian, presents the chief priests essentially as the nation’s leaders. Often allied with the most notable Sadducees and Pharisees, they were consistently proRoman20 e Sanhedrin, containing Israel’s aristocratic elite was composed of three main factions: 1. e High Priests and the Jerusalem clerical aristocracy, made up by elders, chief priests and city aristocrats were by far the most powerful party in Israel at the time of Jesus. A good number of Judah’s rich came from these wealthy chief-priestly clans since they not only profited from the sacrifices offered in the Temple but also controlled the considerable commerce associated with that sacrifice and other

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religious activities. Most high priests were members of powerful Sadducee families. 2. e Herodian nobility and the Sadducees. Many of them were large land owners with considerable economic power. e Sadducees were the remnants of the older Jewish aristocracy and individuals who had become rich through trade, tax farming, merchandizing or the like. Many of them would not farm their own land. Instead, they rented it to tenant farmers and spent much of their time on civic and religious affairs in Jerusalem. 3. e Pharisees and Scribes. While not as powerful as the Sadducees, they were rapidly rising in power. ey were not ordained priests; rather they were experts in the law who built their power on both their knowledge and their adjudication of the Mosaic law. e Pharisees taught the law; the scribes interpreted and adjudicated it. Since they controlled the synagogue system, this gave them considerable influence over the common people.21 Many scholars assume that most Pharisees and Scribes, who sat on the Sanhedrin, were city aristocrats. is explains why they were more willing to submit to Roman rule, in contrast to some of their fellow Pharisees from lower echelons of society, who expressed explicit anti-Roman sentiments. As in Galilee, then, political power didn’t just lay with the Romans, but also with Judah’s aristocratic elite, as long as they were loyal to Rome and worked with the empire to quench rebellions and sustain law and order. No wonder, this alliance of chief priests, Herodians, Sadducees, leading Pharisees, and Scribes was intent on cementing their position as members of the Roman power structure. e Effects on Daily Life e power of Rome was felt in everyday life, as people suffered from the oppression of the occupying force and its collaborating Jewish aristocracy. In addition to the sheer visibility of Roman military control, a high tax bill for provisions and equipment drained the commoners. Severe levies and the practice of angareia, the forced requisition of labor, of animals for transportation, and of lodging for soldiers (food and accommodation, including eviction from one’s home) made it hard to distinguish between excessive taxation and plain robbery by soldiers. Forced labor involved things such as carrying a soldier’s pack, or doing construction work on a road or bridge. Forced labor was also used to provide the elite with a steady supply of cheap labor for major building projects or schemes to improve the productivity and profitability of their land. Such actions ensured that Palestine’s common residents experienced the Empire’s intimidation and violence on a personal level.22 e large gap between the Roman rulers and their Jewish counterparts from the aristocratic elite on the one hand, and the peasants and urban

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artisans on the other hand, further eroded societal cohesion, and condemned the majority to a life in misery. A select few merchants and artisans, those who were able to gain enough through commerce or their skills, elevated themselves above most of the population and occupied some middle ground. Peasants and lower artisans, however, which made up the majority of the population, offered up their desperate forced labor, their foodstuffs and animals, to service the religious and political system of the privileged who lived in the urban centers, whether it was the city of Sepphoris, Caesarea, Tiberias, or Jerusalem.23 ey only produced to sustain the wealth and lifestyle of the ruling elite, but never benefited from their wealth. Conclusion Jesus lived and worked in two distinct political structures. His childhood, youth and early adulthood and his ministry along the lake of Galilee took place within Herod Antipas’ client kingdom. His ministry in Judea took place within the confines of an imperial province, governed by a Roman procurator in alliance with the Jewish Sanhedrin. Even though he worked in two jurisdictions, Rome ultimately governed both in collaboration with the local Jewish aristocracy. True, Rome was politically oppressive and its policies crushed the backbone of many of Jesus’ contemporaries. But the Jewish elite were not much better, since they self-interestedly collaborated with the Empire to preserve the current social structure and maintain themselves in power. No doubt, their actions and behavior was a far fetch from what the Mosaic vision of the Shalom community called them to: to purge evil and establish justice for all! Understanding the political structure of Palestine during Jesus’ life, it is evident why he clashed with representatives of the ruling class.24 As a member of the lower artisan class, it is also evident why he identified with the oppressed majority, those suffering the poverty, hunger, and despair associated with heavy taxation, and would have been eager to break Rome’s iron fist. Satan’s offer, then, was the temptation to become the Jews’ long-expected political Messiah, a Jewish Alexander the Great, a conquering Davidic hero of the Zealots, who would wield all the political power of the great Mediterranean world with its accompanying splendor and glory. Once again Israel would be supreme – a light and power to all the nations. God’s vengeance would shift from Rome to Jerusalem. Caesar and his collaborators could no longer tax and insult common Jews, for now Caesar himself would be Jewish.25 Although the thought of squashing Rome and its local collaborators must have been enticing, Jesus refused Satan’s offer. He knew that leading the masses in violent revolt against the Rome and the rich Jewish aristocracy would not change the basic political structure. It would merely place different people in the same depraved structure. Hence, he refused any

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recognition of Satan’s or Rome’s sovereignty.26 Instead he exhibited power over Satan, rejecting his claims and dismissing him. Just a few verses later, Jesus began proclaiming God’s Kingdom/Empire and cast out demons as display of God’s sovereignty. Subsequently he claimed in the resurrection that God had given him all authority in heaven and on earth, including over Rome, and promised that finally in the judgment and new creation he would overcome all of Satan’s resistance.

the religious temptation: religion of control According to Matthew the religious temptation was presented on the pinnacle of the Jerusalem temple, from which the priests sounded the trumpet to call the city’s attention to important events.27 It was the temptation to embrace institutionalized Jewish religion. Why was this a real temptation?28 A short detour is necessary here too to understand the religious situation during Jesus’ time. e Religious Function of the Temple: Uniting Worldwide Jewry Jewish religion during Jesus’ day was a massive and complex social system infused with do’s, don’ts, pilgrimages and sacrifices. It was a huge network which encompassed all of life in Palestinian culture from civil law to national festivals.29 e temple shrine, its services and its priesthood lay at the heart of this entire religious system and of any identifiable “common” Jewish vision of Israel’s life rightly ordered before God. Even Jews who lived at some distance from Jerusalem and its temple would have regarded the temple as the center of sacred space and of their mental map of the world.30 Its influence not only permeated Palestine’s hinterland but also many areas of Syria, Asia Minor, Greece, Italy and North Africa, as synagogues in each village throughout the countryside and in many cities throughout the Roman Empire faced the holy temple. It is no surprise, then, that during the three annual religious festivals, attended by Jewish pilgrims from all over the world, Jerusalem’s normal population of about 25,000 exploded upwards to 180,000 people.31 e temple, in short, was the focal point of Jewish religious life for the 500,000 Jews living in Palestine and also for the 3 ½ million Jews scattered throughout the Roman Empire.32 e entire temple area covered over twenty-six acres – the size of a large modern-day mall – and was surrounded by magnificent marble colonnades. Gold and silver covered much of the temple structure including the roof and the furnishings. From the distant countryside it appeared as a snowcapped peak on the holy mountain.33 e rabbis paid tribute to this work by saying: “He who has not seen Herod’s temple has not seen beauty.”34 Its beauty only contributed to the common Jewish understanding that the temple symbolized the presence of God on earth. The Integral Mission of the Church



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Persons came to pray because here their prayers went directly to the ear of God. e temple also stood as a monumental reminder that the Jews, as God’s elect people, had direct access to Him through their sacrificial ritual. e sacrificial ritual took on enormous proportions. Each morning and each afternoon the “continual” burnt offering in the form of an unblemished lamb was sacrificed on behalf of the whole community of Israel. An offering of incense mixed with precious spices also burned daily. en there were the sacrifices on behalf of Rome and the Roman emperor twice each day. After these communal sacrifices, hundreds if not thousands of private sacrifices were offered by devout Jews.35 To run this major sacrificial enterprise, alongside the high priest, the chief priests and the captain of the temple, about 18,000 priests and Levites divided into twenty-four groups called “courses” were involved in running the temple. ese lay priests and Levites lived in the countryside of Galilee and Judea and came to the temple for a one-week tour of duty twice a year.36 e Political and Economic Function of the Temple: Advancing Aristocratic Wealth e temple represented more than nice religious symbolism though: it was also the seat of Jewish power and influence. Here resided the high priest and the 70-member Sanhedrin, the final and ultimate Jewish authority in religious, political, and civil matters.37 e religious, political, economic, social, and civil affairs of all Judea and international Judaism were oriented toward the great temple in Jerusalem. ere they intertwined and produced a common result: the subjugation of poorer populations throughout the region.38 e temple, for example, was a sizeable economic enterprise. Its elaborate operation, administered by a bureaucratic elite of chief priests, generated the major source of revenue for the city of Jerusalem.39 In addition to the regular priests in the temple area, there were the money changers who sold pilgrims “pure” money (Tyrian silver coins which contained a higher silver quality than most coins) for their tithes and livestock dealers who sold animals for sacrifice. e faithful were not allowed to bring with them livestock from the outside, nor was it possible to use the common currency (the Roman denarius) to buy animals for sacrifice inside the temple area. Not surprisingly, both money changers and livestock dealers charged exorbitant, monopolistic prices for their “products”. Apart from these two revenue generators, the temple also functioned as a huge national bank. Its treasury contained the tithes and offerings required of Jews throughout the world and held title to a considerable amount of property.40 From all over the world Jews sent their yearly temple tax, worth two days of wages41

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Farmers also gave an offering of the first fruits of their crop as a sign of gratitude for the coming harvest. en there was the tithe of the harvest itself and a tithe of the herd which supposedly was to support the Levites. In the time of Jesus, however, the priests in Jerusalem would take this tithe – sometimes by force – preventing it from ever reaching the Levites who were mostly commoners.42 In addition, there were many personal contributions such as peace and sin offerings and offerings for the dedication of a child, all of which put more money into the temple’s coffers.43 Surplus wealth thus flowed into and piled up in Jerusalem. Unfortunately, there were no mechanisms by which these resources could be channeled to the people most in need. Rather, wealth generated through the temple industry, was either reinvested into temple construction and maintenance, used on luxury goods, stored in the temple treasury in forms of valuable metals or objects, or it simply wandered into the pockets of the priestly aristocracy. In fact, there was so much gold in the temple that after its destruction and plunder in AD 70 the province of Syria was glutted with gold reducing its value by half.44 It follows that the people who went to the temple in Jerusalem to offer sacrifices knew that it was a ‘den of robbers’ (Matt. 21:13). Yet, they came, patronized the temple and allowed themselves to be exploited by a corrupt Establishment. Why? Because they believed that they could be saved only through observance of the law.45 Consequently, many people lost their freedom and moral agency; they became powerless and subjugate to the domination of a religious system that no longer served and nurtured them. e religious system had become a religion of control, where the law was more important than the people. e Sociological Function of the Temple: Promoting Religious Apartheid Jews in Jesus’ day envisioned a ladder reaching higher and higher towards God, a hierarchy expressed in the very architecture of the temple. Gentiles and ‘half-breeds’ like the Samaritans were permitted only in the outer Court – the Court of Gentiles, which, in effect, the Jews had transformed into a barnyard and a place for merchandise. A wall then separated the court of the Gentiles from the next partition, which admitted Jewish women. Jewish men could proceed one stage further, but only priests could enter the sacred areas. Finally, only one priest, the high priest, could enter the Most Holy Place, and that just once a year on the day of Yom Kippur.46 e society was, in effect, a religious caste system based on steps towards holiness. In stark contrast to the early pages of Genesis which envisioned Abraham’s blessing benefiting all nations, Gentiles were rigorously excluded from the real worship areas and were forbidden (on pain of death) from crossing beyond the balustrade that separated the Court of the Gentiles from the Court of Women. Neither were the blind and the

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deaf permitted to enter the temple, for the deaf had not heard the laws of purity and the blind couldn’t visibly discern impurities and so were helpless to guard against defilement. Both were judged a hazard to maintaining the sanctity of the temple and its functions.47 Tax collectors and ‘sinners’ were de facto excluded from temple worship, since their impurities would defile the temple.48 e divine intention of the Mosaic Law was to make the Hebrew community aware of sin, so that the people would see their need for grace and enter into a renewed relationship with Yahweh. e purpose of the religious system was to bring people and nations into a deeper and vibrant relationship with God, so that they could know God personally and corporately. e Temple was to be “a house of prayer for ALL nations” (Isa. 56:7; Mark 11:17). Instead, under the leadership of Jerusalem’s temple aristocracy and the Pharisees this religious caste system was daily reinforced and stamped itself deep into the psyche of the Jewish people. Racial purity became a big deal in Palestinian culture. Careful genealogical histories were kept so that each person knew whether or not his blood was tainted. People were careful not to contaminate the blood of their children by marrying someone with bad blood. Maintaining these holy pedigrees wasn’t just a hobby – it determined one’s civil rights in Hebrew culture. A clean pedigree was required to participate in a legal court and in public offices of any type. A pure family tree was a necessary ticked to any position of power and influence. e thoroughbreds, then, included the priests, Levites, and other Jews who could prove that they had pure ancestral connections. After the thoroughbreds came Jews with a slight racial blemish such as illegitimate descendents of priests and proselytes. ird, came those with “grave racial blemish”, such as bastards, temple slaves, eunuchs, and persons without known fathers. en came Gentile slaves. While they were circumcised they were not an integral part of the Jewish community. Finally were the Samaritans and the Gentiles, who were often referred to as “wild dogs” who roamed the streets and polluted Jewish purity.49 is religious caste system gained such control over the people that it took on a life of its own, enslaving the very people it was intended to liberate: making people loose sight of God’s grace; disempowering them so they no longer could fathom God’s mercy and justice; his concern for the poor and marginalized; hindering foreigners, disabled people and ‘sinners’ from even entering into a vibrant relationship with Yahweh.50 Conclusion While Jesus certainly didn’t agree with the economic exploitation and religious caste system embraced by the Jewish temple aristocracy, a miraculous appearance – as a sudden bolt out of heaven – would certainly have convinced even the most skeptical Sadducee or Pharisee. Why not ask God to accredit or certify His mission from the very beginning? A

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divine legitimation within the sacred boundaries of the temple territory would guarantee the fervent support of even the temple priestly hierarchy51 In fact, there was a prophecy in the Old Testament about the Messiah suddenly appearing in a dramatic way in the temple.52 e scribes, Sanhedrin, high priest, and other political and religious heavyweights, then, would serve as sacred witnesses to certify the authenticity of the Messiah’s arrival.53 e masses and crowds would quickly follow if the scribes and wise men unconditionally embraced the newcomer.54 is would circumvent all the harassment from the Jewish religious, political and economic leaders. It would make it easier for Jesus to reform the nation and its religious system. Although the thought of receiving the blessing of the Jewish establishment must have been tantalizing to Jesus, he chose to reject this life-sucking form of religion. He wasn’t willing to bless the oppressive structures of institutionalized Jewish religion, which ranked men according to pious deeds.55 While he embraced Torah, his goal was to transform the nation, not stifle it. So he rather replaced the machinery of formalized religion with compassion and love, trusting that God’s way would in the end establish Shalom on earth; he rather confronted institutionalized religion wherever and whenever it became idolatrous or oppressive in burdening the faithful, instead of becoming a champion of the very leaders who promoted this system.56

the economic temptation: economics of exploitation According to Matthew the economic temptation was presented via Satan encouraging Jesus to turn stones into bread. Bread symbolizes the heart of economic life and stands for the basic economic necessities of life. It’s the universal cornerstone of many diets as it reappears on tables, meal after meal week after week. In his personal hunger Jesus was empathizing with the hundreds of thousands of poor peasants whose entire existence was organized around hunger pangs. His convulsing stomach made it urgent to do something for the others who suffered likewise. In fact, the thought of bread in the wilderness reminded Jesus of God’s limitless manna freely distributed during the Israelite’s forty-year walk through the desert. is temptation, then, was to become a miraculous welfare King who would quench the economic needs of his subjects.57 Why was this a real temptation? Once again, a short detour is necessary to understand the economic conditions during Jesus’ time. e Legionary Economy of the Roman Empire: Designed to Benefit the Elite As mentioned earlier, the Roman imperial system was basically an “aristocratic empire”, led by a very small group of perhaps 5 to 6 percent of the population – the Roman senatorial aristocracy in collaboration with provincial elites. ese elites saw the state as a primary source of, and a The Integral Mission of the Church



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means of protecting political, economic, and social inequality and privilege.58 e economy of the Empire is, then, best described as a “legionary economy”, designed to benefit the elite.59 Essentially two activities provided the basis for this “legionary economy”: the power to carry out war and the power to tax. Both activities were sources of power, wealth, and status. Both activities were sanctioned by political offices and laws.60 e Power to Carry out War Given Rome’s agricultural-based economy, land was considered a valuable asset. To ensure the elite’s way of life, Roman conquest thus sought to amass more land and build an infra-structure that would accomplish the systematic exploitation of the provinces on behalf of the elites. By draining swamps, terracing mountains, irrigating waste lands, and clearing forests, Roman soldiers or local landowners, often using forced or slave labor, enhanced the productivity and profitability of newly acquired land. Bridges and roads served not only military purposes and raised income from tolls, but they also provided the very means whereby goods were moved from the provinces to Rome and its provincial capitals.61 With control over the primary resource of land and its production, the elites consequently acquired vast wealth for themselves.62 Indeed, because the elite’s wealth was concentrated in land, little attention and resources were generally invested in trade or manufacturing.63 Even though no more than 10 percent of the empire’s population lived in cities, due to the legionary economic system, much of the services, products, trade, and commerce existed in order to supply the needs of the elite who usually lived in urban areas and administered their vast estates from afar.64 e Power to Tax Taxes were understood by the elite as a crucial means of paying for the costs of administering the empire. Taxes and tributes were paid for “peace”, “security”, and “freedom”, as the benefits of Roman sovereignty were euphemistically called. Payment was seen as an expression of submission to Rome. e failure to pay was regarded as an act of rebellion.65 Taxes and tributes furthermore reinforced the divide between the elite and the rest. ey enabled the elite to shun manual labor and look down on commoners, since they provided a regular source of income from the labor and exploitation of the rest.66 Indeed, the elite’s primary source of wealth came by way of collecting taxes, rents and tributes, providing a regular annual income that enabled the elite to display their wealth immediately, knowing more was coming next year. Wealth thus was not considered for

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investing but for conspicuous consumption, which is why the elite engaged in impressive building programs, paraded luxurious clothing and jewelry, organized elaborate celebrations and entertainment events, and showed themselves beneficent through civic gestures.67 Taxes contributed significantly to the majority’s endless poverty, due to the legionary economic system.68 Peasants, who normally sought to supply only their own needs, were forced to produce a ‘surplus’ that the elite removed by means of taxes.69 Up to 70 percent of a peasant’s production could be paid in various taxes to imperial and local masters.70 e Roman army played a key role in ruthlessly enforcing taxation and maintaining economic compliance, while Roman laws and political offices legalized the extractions.71 e Socio-Economic Structure of Palestine is legionary economic system was also implemented in Palestine, through the alliance of Rome with local Jewish elites. In fact, it is appropriate to imagine Palestinian society at that time as a tightly structured pyramid, where a clear order and status quo was maintained. Plush Aristocrats At the top of the pyramid were the far-away Gentile landowners and the largely urban Jewish elite, which made up about 2-5 percent of the population.72 ey owned vast estates in the countryside and exploited the rural poor, in order to maintain a luxurious lifestyle, consistent with their status in society. rough taxation of Palestine’s peasants, merchants and artisans, rents on land, trade and merchandizing, agricultural production, the temple industry, and forced land-appropriations, this local aristocratic elite, made up of the Herodians, Sadducees, Scribes and the Jerusalem clerical aristocracy, gained enormous wealth and power.73 It has been estimated that Herod and later his family and faithful followers may have owned one half to two thirds of the land in his dominions.74 One of Herod’s chancellors owned an entire village. It was said that another person had inherited 1,000 villages, 1,000 ships, and so many slaves that they didn’t know their master.75 Extravagance, then, oozed from the affluent elite. ey wrapped gold bindings around the palm branches which they carried to festive temple ceremonies. ey brought their offering of first fruits in golden vessels on Pentecost. A Jerusalem city ordinance even had to prohibit them from covering their phylacteries with gold.76 Like in most aristocratic societies, an uppity-up snobbishness permeated the culture of Jerusalem’s elite. ey would not sign a document as a witness unless they were sure the other witnesses were also well-to-do. ey would only accept a dinner invitation if they were assured that the

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other guests were of high social status. eir arrogance kept them from mingling with the masses of common people except to employ them as slaves and hired men.77 Merchants and Artisans A huge gap separated the artisan and merchant class from the elite. ey cannot be considered a middle class, since it can be safely concluded that there existed only the extremely rich and the miserably poor in Palestine.78 Nonetheless, this group, which made up about 15-18 percent of the population and consisted mainly of freedmen and freedwomen (former slaves), was slightly above the rest of the Palestine’s poor. Most of them ran small family enterprises (fishing, carpentry, construction), and employed varying degree of skills to produce goods and services predominantly for the elite.79 Yet the majority was often still dependent on their economically powerful patrons and just a paycheck away from poverty. A few select merchants and skilled artisans, those who were able to gain enough through commerce or their skills, elevated themselves above most others and occupied some middle ground. Some of the special artists working in Herod’s temple, for instance, received the equivalent of three hundred dollars a day, compared to 25 cents for a day’s work of an unskilled laborer.80 Finally, there were also those Jews who were forced (or chose) to drop out of respectable society and become outcasts: the tax collectors and highclass prostitutes. Even if financially well-off, they were never counted among the higher classes. Peasants e peasants and rural proletariat of hired shepherds, tanners, and unskilled laborers were almost at the bottom of this pyramid, engaged in a daily struggle for survival. ey had no prestigious social connections or financial means. Commonly known as the “people of the land”, a derogatory connotation, they made up roughly 70-80 percent of the population. ey were considered careless and non-chalant in their observance of the laws of Moses.81 When Jesus was born, a number of these peasant farmers still owned small plots of land. But they were gradually losing the ownership of their plots because of excessive taxation and debts. Not only did they have to meet the demands of the elite, they also had to supply their own household’s needs through their own production and through barter or purchase, as well as ensure sufficient livestock and seed for the next year, while at the mercy of weather, soil quality, political events, the whims of the elite82 When they didn’t have enough cash to pay for their taxes, taxes which often amounted to half or more of their harvest, small farmers were forced

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to mortgage their property. Eventually, tax collectors and estate owners took possession of the land of peasants who continued to accumulate outstanding debts. Andre Trocmé describes the situation: “Within a few decades, small and middle-sized plots of land had disappeared, whereas the properties owned by the temple and the imperial crown grew beyond proportion.”83 Driven to misery, many peasants ended up trapped on their former plot, working as day laborers for the wealthy and absent landholders.84 Others left to eke out a living in the city, perhaps as day laborers, or in some service or trade employment. Still others abandoned their land and joined bands of robbers that survived by pillage and lived in caves in the mountains.85 By the time Jesus began his public ministry, virtually no peasant owned their own land as large amounts of the fertile land had became the property of large urban landholders. e vast disparity between the income of rich and poor is quite impressive: a wealthy householder had more than seven hundred times the income of a peasant, and the extremely wealthy might have more than fifteen thousand times the income of a peasant. e system meant that many peasants lived constantly close to famine and subsistence, with poor nutrition, poor health, endless hard work, and perpetual vulnerability. ere is no doubt that the legionary economic system was damaging to people’s health.86 Expendables e very bottom layers of the pyramid comprised the degraded and expendables. ese groups consisted of those with no skills but only their bodies for labor, and those who performed little labor such as criminals, beggars, lepers, the physically deformed, and the sick. Estimates number this group between 5 and 10 percent.87 eir hand-to-mouth existence was considered hardly worth living. Besides the peasants and common rural proletariat, the Pharisees avoided contact with them and refused to eat with them. ey were looked down on with contempt, so much so that according to rabbinical law they could not appear as a witness in court nor be appointed as the guardian of an orphan. e Pharisees would not marry them and considered their women as unclean vermin.88 Such viewpoints communicated the hatred of the aristocracy toward the common people of Galilee and Judea. e feeling was mutual for it was also said that the people of the land hated the Jewish scholars more than the heathen hated Israel.89 Taxation and Exploitation of Palestine’s Poor As we just saw, most of Palestine’s inhabitants, whether rural or urban, lived around the poverty level, barely subsisting on a daily basis and lacking any surplus for either a safety margin or as a basis for improved production. For most, it was a world marked by desperate striving to meet the demands of the empire.90 The Integral Mission of the Church



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At the core of this poverty was a system of double taxation which was overbearing to the poor. As in other parts of the Roman Empire, the burden of taxation fell hardest on the lower classes, particularly the peasants. 1. First, two dozen or so different types of Jewish tithes and offerings were required of the devout Jew, taking away about 15-20% of a person’s annual income to fill the coffers of the Jerusalem temple. On top of this was the sabbatical year practice of leaving the land fallow every seventh year, involving the loss of at least a year-and-a-half of agricultural produce in every seven-year cycle – a severe burden, indeed, upon peasants which were unable in any year to save a substantial part of the crop.91 2. After the religious taxes came the crushing Roman tribute. e efficient Roman/Herodian bureaucracy collected taxes on men, houses, animals, sales, imports, and exports. First a land tax took about 25% of the crop. en a poll or per capita tax was levied on each male over the age of fourteen and on each female over the age of twelve. e land and poll taxes were gathered by tax collectors appointed by the Roman government from the ranks of well-to-do families. ey had to guarantee the receipt of taxes from their own resources. Police accompanied the tax collectors and were often guilty of abuses.92 3. In addition to the Roman land and personal tax, there were numerous tariffs and tolls such as import duties, bridge and road tolls, and market fees. e collectors of these tolls, known as publicans, worked for “tax farmers”, who mostly were upper-class Jews and employed them to do the dirty work. e “tax farmers” had successfully offered the highest bid for the toll income of a certain district over a period of time.93 ey had furthermore agreed to furnish a certain sum to the government; amounts above this sum were the profit of the taxraisers94 Not surprisingly, such a system encouraged corruption, as the publicans exploited the public’s ignorance of the toll fees, and were regarded as utter deceivers.95 4. Finally there were the rents to the rich urban and landowning Jewish aristocracy, for their permission to work their land. ese rents, levied on landless peasants, amounted to anywhere from 20-30% of the annual crop production. Although it is difficult to calculate the exact proportion of the taxes, most scholars agree that forty to seventy percent of the peasants’ annual income eventually fell into the hands of various kinds of tax collectors and creditors.96 A typical Palestinian farmer thus had to both live on twenty to forty percent of the annual income he had generated and purchase the seed and supplies necessary to sustain another year of business.97 While Rome was doubtlessly the main culprit for Palestine’s heavy taxation and

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economic exploitation, it is equally clear that the Mosaic stipulation to care for the poor, seek equity, and make sure that all members of the community had a way to make a decent income, was blatantly disregarded by the Jewish Establishment. In fact, they often used Rome’s power to advance their wealth. e less religious elite (such as the Herodians and some Sadducees) exploited the lower classes and exacted even more taxes through sheer abuse of power. e observant Jewish leaders (such as the priestly class, the Pharisaic aristocracy and some other Sadducees) justified their oppression and exploitation through connived legal interpretations and dealt with the social disparity simply by accepting it and encouraging their likes to give alms to the poorest of the poor. For example, even though God’s law explicitly forbade charging interest, the Pharisees and Scribes had established ways to allow a hidden interest which was even condoned by the Jewish civil courts.98 ese interests added to the never-ending debtcycle of Palestine’s poor. e suffocating nature of Palestine’s taxes and debts is underscored by the fact that, when the Galilean Zealots gained control of Jerusalem in AD 66, the first thing they did was to burn all the debt records stored in the Jerusalem archives to prevent future retaliation by the rich.99 Conclusion Certainly the temptation that Jesus faced with the bread was more than a taunt to ease his private hunger pangs. Knowing the suffering of the masses, the lepers, blind, and poverty stricken, those removed from productivity and trampled on by economic and social practices, Jesus must have been tempted to answer their cry for help. Indeed, the enticing thoughts must have come one after another. Some may have sounded like this: “Why not miraculously feed the masses?” “Freely disbursing food would solidify a broad base of social support that could help undermine the power of the local elites.” “Bread would be the quickest way to the heart of the crowds and the power of the crowd was no figment of the imagination. Even the authorities were afraid of the power of the masses.” Other thoughts may have sounded as follows: “Alleviate their poverty without suffering.” “Don’t preach the judgment of God on the den of robbers – just distribute bread to the hungry.” “Avoid the causes of economic injustice in the temple system and the Roman occupation – just provide bread for the poor peasants and let the rest of the world go by.”100 Jesus knew however, that miraculously feeding the multitudes was a shortterm solution. Hunger would spring up again when the miracle baker died. What’s more, the temptation was more than illegitimate abuse of crowd power. It pretended to reduce the incarnate God to a welfare king. e alternative for Jesus was to offer himself as the permanent bread of life. Instead of a miraculous temporary solution, Jesus offered a new

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alternative. His life, his way, his teaching are a new foundation for living – a new bread of life.101

summary is reading of the temptations gives us a new appreciation for the anguish which Jesus must have endured in the wilderness as he struggled with the powerful forces of politics, religion and economics in his day. It also enhances our understanding of what God was seeking to introduce among his people through Jesus, showing a new power, a new temple, and a new bread.102 Indeed, the temptations strengthened his resolve to teach an alternative way: a new way on a higher level that would undercut the leverage of the three major social institutions of his day: political force, established religion, and conventional economics. A brilliant way that would bring the Kingdom of God and his Shalom closer to reality!

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endnotes 1

Donald Kraybill, e Upside-Down Kingdom, 41 e number “forty” represents trial and oppression in Hebrew history. e flood lasted forty days and nights, and the wilderness wandering continued for forty years. Moses was up on the mountain forty days and nights. Goliath taunted the Israelites for forty days. 2 Donald Kraybill, e Upside-Down Kingdom, 80 3 Donald Kraybill, e Upside-Down Kingdom, 43 4 Warren Carter, Matthew and Empire, 11 5 Warren Carter, Matthew and Empire, 9-10 6 Warren Carter, Matthew and Empire, 10 7 Warren Carter, Matthew and Empire, 17 8 Warren Carter, Matthew and Empire, 13 9 Rome didn’t intermingle in the first three administrative units, as long as they pledged their allegiance to Rome, paid their taxes and upheld a limited number of Roman laws to ensure order. Imperial provinces were under more scrutiny. 10 Everett Ferguson, Backgrounds to Early Christianity, 39 11 Everett Ferguson, Backgrounds to Early Christianity, 43-44 12 e Roman legionary soldier was an instrument of both military conquest and economic exploitation. A soldier’s equipment included not only sword, spear, and shield for battle, but also a saw, a basket, a pick and axe, not to mention a leather strap, billhook, a chain and handcuffs, and three days’ rations. e latter equipment was not only useful for establishing camp, but also for the economic exploitation of a conquered territory, for the building of roads, bridging rivers, draining swamps, clearing forests. e chain and handcuffs, finally, helped to maintain control in the conquered area. (Warren Carter, Matthew and Empire, 12) 13 Warren Carter, Matthew and Empire, 12-13 14 Everett Ferguson, Backgrounds to Early Christianity, 46 15 Everett Ferguson, Backgrounds to Early Christianity, 46 16 Based in part on class notes from Bob Linthicum’s course “Building a People of Power”. For more on the Roman emperor cult see the article “Roman Imperial eology” from Session 28. 17 Warren Carter, Matthew and Empire, 118 All members of the Sanhedrin, whether clerical aristocracy, Herodian, Sadducee, Pharisee or Scribe, derived their status from birth, wealth, political and social alliances, control of the cult, divine sanction, and education, typical of aristocratic empires 18 Dewi Hughes, God of the Poor, 191 19 Robert Linthicum, Transforming Power, 61 20 Warren Carter, Matthew and Empire, 17 While the Sanhedrin could not execute a capital sentence, the Romans appear to have given the council the authority to execute perpetrators of blatant sacrilege. 21 “ey were the ‘rabbis’ of the synagogues, teaching in every town, village and city, leading Sabbath worship each week, and judging all lawsuits and legal disputes. By seventy years after Jesus’ death, they had become the dominant power in Israel.” (Robert Linthicum, Transforming Power, 62) 22 Warren Carter, Matthew and Empire, 41 23 Mark Lewis Taylor, e Executed God, 74 24 Warren Carter, Matthew and Empire, 35 25 Donald Kraybill, e Upside-Down Kingdom, 43 26 Warren Carter, Matthew and Empire, 63 We should take note of the Gospel writers’ astounding claim that Rome’s Empire was Satan’s agent. If Satan controls all of the world’s empires, he must also control Rome. To them, then, the sinful sociopolitical and economic structures of Roman imperialism

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manifested Satan’s empire. Indeed, Satan’s demand that Jesus “worship” Satan is expressed in language that has very explicit political and military dimensions. e verb for “worship” (proskyneo) echoes the political practice of proskynesis. is practice involved an act of prostration or bowing in submission before a ruler or emperor. Interestingly also, Satan used the same noun, empire or kingdom (basileia), in making his offer as Jesus uses when he begins his public ministry a few verses later. 27 NIV Study Bible, Text Note, 1442 28 Donald Kraybill, e Upside-Down Kingdom, 43 29 Donald Kraybill, e Upside-Down Kingdom, 65 30 Glasser, ? 31 Donald Kraybill, e Upside-Down Kingdom, 68 32 Donald Kraybill, e Upside-Down Kingdom, 66 33 Donald Kraybill, e Upside-Down Kingdom, 66 34 Everett, Ferguson, Backgrounds of Early Christianity, 390 35 Donald Kraybill, e Upside-Down Kingdom, 68 36 Donald Kraybill, e Upside-Down Kingdom, 67 37 Donald Kraybill, e Upside-Down Kingdom, 68 38 Mark Lewis Taylor, e Executed God, 91 39 Donald Kraybill, e Upside-Down Kingdom, 67 40 Donald Kraybill, e Upside-Down Kingdom, 67 41 Donald Kraybill, e Upside-Down Kingdom, 68 42 Donald Kraybill, e Upside-Down Kingdom, 87 43 Donald Kraybill, e Upside-Down Kingdom, 87 44 Donald Kraybill, e Upside-Down Kingdom, 66 45 Vishal Mangalwadi, Truth and Social Reform, 42 46 Vishal Mangalwadi, Truth and Social Reform, ? 47 In like manner the disabled were excluded from the religious community of the Essenes: “No one who is afflicted with any human impurity may come into the assembly of God… Anyone who is … maimed in hand or foot, lame or blind or deaf or dumb or with a visible mark in his flesh… these may not enter or take their place in the midst of the community.” (quoted in Joachim Jeremias, New Testament eology, 175-176) 48 Vishal Mangalwadi, Truth and Social Reform, ? 49 Donald Kraybill, e Upside-Down Kingdom, 230 50 Vishal Mangalwadi, Truth and Social Reform, ? Instead of calling Israel to Shalom and to be a blessing to the nations, the Pharisees promoted their viewpoints and own innovations on the law in and around the temple as well as the synagogues, which functioned as a sort of mirror site of the temple, reflecting aspects of temple worship and drawing its authority from the temple. All their rules on washing hands and avoiding defilement were an attempt to make themselves acceptable to God. Had not God set forth lists of desirable (spotless) and undesirable (flawed, unclean) animals for use in sacrifice? Had not God banned sinners, menstruating women, the physically deformed, and other “undesirables” from the temple? 51 Donald Kraybill, e Upside-Down Kingdom, 65-66 52 John Drane, Introducing the New Testament, 56 53 Donald Kraybill, e Upside-Down Kingdom, 76 54 Donald Kraybill, e Upside-Down Kingdom, 66 55 Donald Kraybill, e Upside-Down Kingdom, 77 56 Donald Kraybill, e Upside-Down Kingdom, 77 57 Donald Kraybill, e Upside-Down Kingdom, 80 58 Warren Carter, Matthew and Empire, 12 59 Warren Carter, Matthew and Empire, 9-10 60 Warren Carter, Matthew and Empire, 12 61 Warren Carter, Matthew and Empire, 14 62 Warren Carter, Matthew and Empire, 9-10

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63

Warren Carter, Matthew and Empire, 9-10 Warren Carter, Matthew and Empire, 38 65 Warren Carter, Matthew and Empire, 15 66 To this mix we have to add various other tensions. e ability to subject and exploit created and reinforced the Roman aristocracy’s sense of superiority. ey not only asserted their superiority with claims of superior character, but they also considered themselves a superior race. ere was a well-attested disdain for provincials on the part of citizens of Rome. Cicero, an outstanding and powerful orator and Roman statesman of the first century BC, declared that Jews and Syrians were people “born to be slaves”. Africans, Spaniards, and Gauls were labeled “uncouth and barbarous nations”. In questioning the integrity and motives of provincial citizens, Cicero declared that the most honorable native of Gaul was not on the same level as the meanest citizen of Rome. He also argued that provincials needed Roman rule and troops to protect them because those who cannot rule themselves are better off as slaves or subjects of Rome. Cicero’s sentiments were widely accepted by Rome’s elite. Similar attitudes also existed of the wealthy retainer class toward the poor, the urban elite to the rustic peasants. To them poverty exposed people to ridicule for their torn and dirty clothing. e poor were referred to as dirt, the very sum of the populace, from the lowest rabble; a common herd and unthinking crowd. For many of these elite there was no point in helping the undeserving poor. at is not to say that there was no relief action, but it was understood within an honor and status mentality of conspicuous kindness that saw that the action more in terms of its benefits for the giver’s status and reputation than in alleviating the desperate needs of the poor. e poor, then, who comprised most of the population, lacked not only material resources but also social honor or dignity. Despised or dishonored by the elite, they were excluded in an elitist, hierarchical society from most of the benefits of the empire and from the society that “really mattered”. (Warren Carter, Matthew and Empire, 16, 49, 50) 67 Warren Carter, Matthew and Empire, 134 68 Warren Carter, Matthew and Empire, 44 69 Warren Carter, Matthew and Empire, 13 70 Warren Carter, Matthew and Empire, 114 71 Warren Carter, Matthew and Empire, 13 Tacitus, a notable Roman historian, writes that Nero, on hearing about protests against tax farmers collecting indirect taxes (customs and harbor dues), “hesitated whether he ought not to decree the abolition of all indirect taxation and present the reform as the noblest of gifts to the human race. His impulse, however, after much preliminary praise of his magnanimity, was checked by his older advisers, who pointed out that the dissolution of the empire was certain if the revenues on which the state [and its elites] subsisted were to be curtailed.” (Ibid, 134) 72 Donald Kraybill, e Upside-Down Kingdom, 86 e parables of Jesus also attest to this condition with their numerous references to absentee landowners who placed a steward in charge of their property to supervise the work of day laborers. (Ibid, 86). 73 e Roman emperors taxed the wealthy heavily to fund their wars. the rich naturally sought nonliquid investments to hide their wealth. Land was best, but it was ancestrally owned and passed down over generations, and no peasant would voluntarily relinquish it. However, exorbitant interests (25 to 250 percent) could be used to drive landowners ever deeper into debt. And debt, coupled with high taxation required required by Herod Antipas to pay Rome tribute, created the economic leverage to pry Galilean peasants loose from their land. But the time of Jesus we see this process already far advanced: large estates owned by absentee landlords, managed by stewards, and worked by tenant farmers, day laborers, and slaves. (Walter Wink, e Powers at Be, 104) 74 Donald Kraybill, e Upside-Down Kingdom, 85 75 Donald Kraybill, e Upside-Down Kingdom, 82 64

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76

Donald Kraybill, e Upside-Down Kingdom, 82 Donald Kraybill, e Upside-Down Kingdom, 83 78 Donald Kraybill, e Upside-Down Kingdom, 89 79 Warren Carter, Matthew and Empire, 18 80 Donald Kraybill, e Upside-Down Kingdom, 82 81 Donald Kraybill, e Upside-Down Kingdom, 83 82 Warren Carter, Matthew and Empire, 47 83 Donald Kraybill, e Upside-Down Kingdom, 86 84 Donald Kraybill, e Upside-Down Kingdom, 86 85 Donald Kraybill, e Upside-Down Kingdom, 86 86 Warren Carter, Matthew and Empire, 47 87 Warren Carter, Matthew and Empire, 19 88 Donald Kraybill, e Upside-Down Kingdom, 83 89 Donald Kraybill, e Upside-Down Kingdom, 83, 85 90 Warren Carter, Matthew and Empire, 114 91 Donald Kraybill, e Upside-Down Kingdom, 87 92 Donald Kraybill, e Upside-Down Kingdom, 88 93 Donald Kraybill, e Upside-Down Kingdom, 88 94 Everett Ferguson, Backgrounds to Early Christianity, 87 95 Donald Kraybill, e Upside-Down Kingdom, 88 96 Donald Kraybill, e Upside-Down Kingdom, 86 97 Robert Linthicum, Transforming Power, 63 98 Donald Kraybill, e Upside-Down Kingdom, 120 Particularly with commodity loans of wheat and oil, a hidden interest could be charged if the borrower was not making the loan out of “immediate necessity”. If he was desperately poor and in drastic need, then interest was prohibited. Yet, non-necessary loans were absurdly interpreted so that hidden interest could usually be charged For example, if a man had “one drop of oil” and wanted to borrow more oil, then his loan would not be considered one of “immediate necessity” since he already had one drop of oil! us he could be charged interest on his loan. e interest was never written into the contract though, since this would grossly disobey God’s law. (Ibid, 120) 99 Donald Kraybill, e Upside-Down Kingdom, 88-89 100 Donald Kraybill, e Upside-Down Kingdom, 81 101 Donald Kraybill, e Upside-Down Kingdom, 91 102 Donald Kraybill, e Upside-Down Kingdom, 94 77

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