Friday, December 21, 2007

My Jewish Mafia

A friend once told me that in order for the Romans to capture Jesus Christ, they had to use a "cohort" of soldiers. Now what would it take to capture a single unarmed man in Jerusalem? of course In Roman times, a cohort could mean anywhere from 500 - 1000 men. Now we know that Jesus was no Saddam Hussein. He was (not taking into account "Son of God") in fact, just a regular joe who walked around preaching, teaching and if you would consider the notion of "activist"... coz He was going against the teachings of the Pharisees. So what in the name of God would've brought upon the Roman leaders the need to send 1000 soldiers to capture this man? Let's take a look at some of the facts:

Here's a compilation of a few things I've sorta figured out:

1. The Roman Empire at that period of time was the most powerful force in the world.
2. The Roman Army were the most disciplined, well-organised and the legionnaires were a key figure to winning battles. It was the Romans who utterly destroyed Greece.
3. 1,000 soldiers were sent to capture Jesus Christ.
4. It was done in the middle of the night, after The Last Supper.
5. Jesus had but 12 men with Him that night.

This is no Wikipedia but do feel free to insert your 2 cents if you wish. Ok, now back to business. What did the Romans have to fear from this man that they had to send so many soldiers out to arrest Him in the silent of the night? Could they have been afraid of something/someone enough to inconvenience themselves to come under the cover of darkness? If they had been meticulous enough to come during the night, they would have also been very careful to have kept silent as well. Imagine 1,000 of Rome's finest tip-toeing through the streets and alleys of Old Jerusalem with probably the moonlight (if any) as their only guide. Priceless...

A reasonable explanation would be that the Son of God had many fiercely loyal supporters and followers that the the Roman army wouldn't dare risk an angry mob which would have resulted in bloodshed if they had tried to capture Jesus in broad daylight. As such were the loyal followers of Christ that Peter, an insignificant fisherman did not even hesitate to lop off a Roman soldier's ear at the mention of his master's arrest.

As an summary, I would just like to mention that Christ DID NOT condone any violence, murder or even ill-thought in His teachings. He even re-attached that poor soldier's ear again. But is it not human nature to defend something that is precious to us e.g. family, friends and football clubs? People fight for their triads, gangs, mobs, mafias and rempits. Jesus did not offer fame, fortune or finance. He offered something more than all that. Something so much more that the Romans knew that they would have to massacre the thousands of people of Jerusalem before they could even touch a single strand of hair from His head.

Kinda hard to let the answer to eternal life die right?

No comments: