Sic temper tyrannis

Tyrants come and go, but tyranny continues. He is coming.

As far-flung provinces go, Judea was troublesome, but useful as a crossroads to and in defense of Syria, which was indeed a critical part of the empire. Rome came into possessing Judea by Judea’s invitation, to settle a long-running war between two political parties: the Pharisees and the Sadducees, led respectively by brothers Aristobulus II and Hyrcanus II. The brothers were sons of Alexander Yannai the Hasmonean king who ruled after the revolt from Seleucid rule, a Sadducee, and his wife, who succeeded him as queen, Salome Alexandra, a Pharisee.

Hyrcanus was the named successor when Queen Salome Alexandra died, but Aristolbulus had more political power. When their armies fought in Jericho, Aristobulus attracted many of Hyrcanus’ mercenaries to defect to his side. The brothers reached an agreement of sorts, with Hyrcanus renouncing the throne and the priesthood, but retaining the hefty financial benefits of High Priest.

Aristolbulus was paranoid that his brother was plotting to regain power, and he was. He, along with his adviser Anipater the Idumean bribed the Arabian (Nabatean) King Aretas III, who then brought an army of 50,000, took Jerusalem and laid siege to the Temple. Josephus, Rome’s historian on Jewish matters, wrote that Hyrcanus’ (Sadducees) stoned Honi ha’Me’agel, a pious man, for refusing to pray against Aristobulus. The Sadduccees also sold the Pharisee priests inside the Temple lambs for the Passover sacrifice, at a ridiculously inflated price, then reneged when they refused to deliver the animals.

The Romans didn’t care about any of this: they were occupied consolidating their power in Syria. Both brothers offered bribes to Roman Marcus Aemillus Scaurus, who served as an official in Pompey’s army. Aristobulus’ bribe won out, and the Arabians withdrew. But the Romans became the political power in Judea.

The political conflict between the Sadducees and the Pharisees continued for another 30 years, through Aristobulus’ son Antigonus Mattathias. Josephus wrote that Antigonus seized his uncle Hyrcanus and bit his ears off. By 36 BC, Herod (who became Herod the Great), the second son of Antipater—the political strategist who was always playing for himself (and friendly with Julius Caesar)—had with Roman help defeated Antigonus, and earned Hyrcanus’ (who was well respected as a righteous man) trust. Six years later, Herod had Hyrcanus put to death on charges of treason—Hyrcanus was 80 years old.

Herod was made tetrarch of Judea in 41 BC by Mark Antony, along with his brother Phasael and Hyrcanus II, but appealed to the Roman senate, which made him King of the Jews. As the sole possessor of the throne under Rome’s authority, Herod became a tyrant. True political authority over Judea was of course in the hands of the imperium, the Roman governor, whose edicts had the effect of Caesar himself.

Both the Sadducees and the Pharisees hated Herod, who had defeated both of their leaders and had them put to death.

Life under Herod’s rule, and under the Romans, was political, divisive, and expensive (taxes, fees, and various assessments from the Temple, from the priests, from Herod, and from the Romans kept the people busy earning enough to pay them all). Failure to adhere to the rules brought harsh punishment, and standing up to the Romans brought death.

It was into this environment several men rose to fame, claiming to be the Messiah, the one who would break the yoke of Roman rule, and end the tyranny of Herod. Josephus wrote of several who made these claims: Hezekiah/Ezekia, Theudas son of Ezekuas, Simon of Perea, Athronges the Shepherd, Judas the Galilean and his sons James and Simon.

It was also into this toxic political environment that John the Baptist preached, leading many to repentance and baptism. It was into this environment that John’s cousin, Yeshua, went into the Jordan River where John was baptizing, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him like a dove, with an audible voice proclaiming from heaven, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:13-17.)

In his three years of public ministry, Jesus spoke against both the Saducees and the Pharisees. And on this day, known to Christians as Palm Sunday, Jesus entered Jerusalem, publicly, with his disciples, on the foal of the donkey.

The people lined the streets waving palm branches and chanting, “Baruch ha’bah b’shem Adonai,” or “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” They shouted “Hosanna!”—deliver us! The beheld their deliverer, the one who would throw off the yoke of Roman rule, and end the tyranny of Herod.

Like the others, Herod planned to have Yeshua killed if his rule was threatened. The Romans didn’t want to deal with a Judean revolt, and Pontius Pilate, the imperator, counted on Herod to keep the Jews in line. Both the Pharisees and the Sadducees opposed Yeshua, because he took neither of their political causes, and the message he preached did not line up with either side’s theology. In fact, he had claimed authority that only God himself possesses, which to them was blasphemy.

Yehua rode into Jerusalem before the Passover, and the people expected him to reveal himself as God, overthrow the Romans, defeat Herod, and install himself as King over them, with authority from heaven.

Within a week, those same people would see Yeshua as a failure, a blasphemer, a political nothing who deserved to be crucified by the Romans. They would gather at Pilate’s palace to shout for the release of Barabbas, a thief and insurrectionist, leaving their deliverer to be scourged and crucified by the Romans.

The people, and the political factions of the time, didn’t see that Yeshua had not come to deliver them from politics. He came to deliver them from sin and death. The real tyranny, they could not see, and today, we do not see, is not from strong people oppressing weak people. It is not from oppressive rulers, nascent emperors, revanchist tsars, or elderly men leading political parties.

The real tyranny is the dearth of unconditional love, the rule of self-love, the triumph of envy, greed, lust, and gluttony of all kind, and the rejection of the authority of heaven over the affairs of men and women. Yeshua came to throw off the yoke of sin and death, by defeating both with his own shed blood and the power of his resurrection.

But on Palm Sunday, the people lining the streets could not see that. They could not see the glory coming because they were blind to all but their own carnal interests.

If that describes you today, you can have the same awakening experienced by thousands in the days of Yeshua. He is coming on the foal of a donkey, not on a chariot. He is coming in humility and love, not in power and ceremony. He is coming to knock on the doors of people’s hearts, not on the halls of power. He is coming because he loves you, and every human on this lonely planet. He is coming to forgive and to overthrow the sin that leads to death. He is coming to offer life today and forever more.

Sic temper tyrannis. Thus always to tyrants. Tyrants come and go, but the tyranny continues until those who are in its vice turn to the deliverer and His promise.

Hosanna! Baruch ha’bah b’shem Adonai. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.