The Last Days of Jesus

by Bill O'Reilly

  The conversation immediately turns to Jesus.

  “What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?” Judas asks.

  If the high priests are surprised by Judas’s behavior, they don’t show it. Their goal is to manipulate Judas into doing whatever it takes to ensure that Jesus is arrested soon and quietly.

  “Thirty silver coins,” comes the reply.

  This is 120 denarii. It is the equivalent of four to six months’ wages for a laborer.

  Judas has lived the hand-to-mouth existence of Jesus’s disciples for two long years, rarely having more than a few extra coins in his purse, and with very little in the way of luxury. And now the chief priest is offering him a lucrative bounty to select a place and time far from the temple courts in which to arrest Jesus.

  Judas is a schemer. He has plotted the odds so that they are in his favor and knows that one of two things will happen if he takes the money: Jesus will be arrested and then declare himself to be the Christ. If Jesus truly is the Messiah, then he will have no problem saving himself from Caiaphas and the high priests.

  However, if Jesus is not the Christ, then he will die.

  A denarius coin with the head of Julius Caesar; struck in 44 BC. [The Bridgeman Art Library]

  Either way, Judas’s life will be spared.

  Judas and Caiaphas make the deal. The traitorous disciple promises to immediately begin searching for a place to hand over Jesus. This will mean working closely with the temple guards to arrange the arrest. He will have to slip away from Jesus and the other disciples to alert his new allies of his whereabouts. That may be difficult.

  Thirty silver coins are counted out before Judas’s eyes. They clang off of one another as they fall into his purse. The traitor is paid in advance.

  Judas walks back to Bethany. He wonders how he will explain his absence to Jesus and the others—and where he will hide such a large and noisy bounty.

  But it will all work out; he is sure. For Judas truly believes that he is smarter than his compatriots and deserving of reward in this life.

  CHAPTER 22

  THE LAST SUPPER

  THURSDAY, APRIL 5, AD 30 JERUSALEM NIGHT

  Jesus has so much to do in a very short period of time. He must at last define his life to the disciples. As the final hours before Passover approach, he plans a last meal to share with his followers before saying good-bye, for they have been eyewitnesses to his legacy. And he must trust them to pass it on.

  But although those things are vitally important, there is something holding him back—the terrifying prospect of his coming death. Like every citizen of Galilee and Judea, he knows the painful horror and humiliation that await those condemned to die on the cross. Jesus firmly believes he must fulfill what has been written in Scripture, but panic is overtaking him.

  So he focuses on his final message to the disciples.

  * * *

  The entire city of Jerusalem is in an anxious frenzy of last-minute Passover preparation. Everything must be made perfect for the holiday. A lamb must be purchased for the feast—and not just any lamb, but an unblemished one-year-old male. Each home must be cleansed of leavened bread, bread that is made to rise by fermentation, which takes place if ground grain, such as wheat, barley, oats, or rye, is left in water. It is the traditional belief that Moses and the Israelites were forced to flee Egypt without giving their bread a proper time to rise; therefore, leavened products are forbidden on Passover in remembrance of that flight. Everywhere throughout Jerusalem, women sweep floors thoroughly and wipe down counters because even so much as a single crumb can bring forth impurity. At Lazarus’s home, Martha and Mary are fastidious in their scrubbing and sweeping. After sundown, Lazarus will walk through the house with an oil lamp in a symbolic search for any traces of leavened products. Finding none—hopefully—he will declare his household ready for Passover.

  The inside of the current structure built on the traditional site of the Last Supper, called the Upper Room. [The Bridgeman Art Library]

  Even at the palace home of the high priest Caiaphas, slaves and servants search the enormous house for leavened bread. Sinks, ovens, and stoves are scrubbed. Pots and pans are sterilized inside and out by bringing water to a boil, then dropping in a brick to allow the scalding water to overflow. Silverware is heated to a glow, then placed one at a time into boiling water. There is no need, however, to purchase the sacrificial lamb, as Caiaphas’s family owns the entire temple lamb concession.

  James Tissot illustration called Women of Galilee. [The Bridgeman Art Library]

  At the former palace of Herod the Great, where Pontius Pilate and his wife, Claudia, once again are enduring Passover, there are no such preparations. The Roman governor begins his day with a shave, for he is clean-shaven and short-haired in the imperial fashion of the day. He cares little for Jewish tradition and does not keep the Jewish customs. For him it is ientaculum, prandium, and cena—breakfast, lunch, and dinner—including plenty of leavened bread. And so the palace is considered unclean. In fact, Caiaphas and the high priests will refrain from entering Herod’s palace as the feast draws near, for fear of becoming impure in the presence of the Romans and their pagan ways. This is actually a blessing for Pilate, ensuring him a short holiday from dealing with the Jews and their never-ending problems.

  Or so he thinks.

  * * *

  Judas Iscariot watches Jesus with a quiet intensity, waiting for him to reveal his Passover plans. It would be easy enough to ask the high priest to send temple guards to the home of Lazarus, but arresting Jesus so far from Jerusalem could be a disaster. Too many pilgrims would see him marched back to the city in chains, thus possibly provoking the riot scenario that so terrifies the religious leaders.

  Judas is sure that none of the other disciples knows he has betrayed Jesus. So he bides his time, listening and waiting for that moment when Jesus summons his followers and tells them it is time to walk back into Jerusalem. It is hard to believe that Jesus would not return to the holy city at least one more time during their stay. Perhaps Jesus is even waiting for Passover to begin to reveal that he is the Christ. If that is so, then Scripture says this must happen in Jerusalem. Sooner or later, Jesus will go back to the holy city.

  * * *

  It is evening as Jesus finally leads the disciples back to Jerusalem for their final meal together. A benefactor has kindly rented a room for Jesus in the Lower City. A long, rectangular table with pillows to rest against is the centerpiece of the room. The space is comfortable, large enough so that conversations can be private but small enough that it will soon sound loud and festive.

  Jesus sends John and Peter ahead to find the room and assemble the meal. This is most likely a tense time for Judas Iscariot, for he finally knows that Jesus plans to return to Jerusalem but does not know the hour or the exact location—and even when he obtains this information, he must still find a way to sneak off and alert Caiaphas.

  Once in the room, Jesus begins the evening by humbling himself and washing each man’s feet with water. This is a task normally reserved for slaves and servants, and certainly not for a venerated teacher of the faith. The disciples are touched by this show of servitude, and the humility it implies. Jesus knows them and their personalities so well, and accepts them without judgment. Their time together has changed the life of every man in this room. And as Jesus carefully and lovingly rinses the road dust from their feet, the depth of his affection is clear.

  During dinner, Jesus turns all that good feeling into despair. “Truly I tell you,” Jesus says, “one of you will betray me.”

  The disciples haven’t been paying close attention to their leader. The meal has been served and they are reclining, chatting with one another as they pick food from the small plates. But now, shock and sadness fill the room. The disciples each take mental inventory, search for some sign of doubt or weakness that would cause any of them to hand over Jesus. “Surely you don’t mean me, Lord?” they ask, one by one. The question
goes around the table.

  “It is one of the Twelve,” Jesus assures them. “One who dips bread into the bowl with me. The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.”

  As the conversation roars back to life, with each man wondering to his neighbor about the identity of the betrayer, Peter, in particular, is agitated. He signals to John, who rests on the pillow next to Jesus.

  “Ask him which one he means,” Peter says.

  “Lord, who is it?” John asks. He sits to Jesus’s right, while Judas sits on Jesus’s immediate left.

  “Surely you don’t mean me, Rabbi?” Judas blurts out.

  “You have said so,” Jesus quietly answers. “What you are about to do, do quickly.”

  The room is noisy as the men talk among themselves, and most miss the final exchange between Judas and Jesus because the two men are sitting so close together. As Judas hastily stands and leaves, some assume that he is off to get more food or drink.

  The traitor steps out into the night. Both he and Jesus know exactly where he’s going. Jesus once trusted Judas, appointing him treasurer of the disciples, and openly called him friend. But as so often happens when money is involved, years of friendship can quickly evaporate.

  Clutching his money bag, Judas walks through the streets and narrow alleys of the Lower City, on up the steep hill to give Caiaphas an outline of Jesus’s plans.

  CHAPTER 23

  JESUS IS ARRESTED

  THURSDAY, APRIL 5, AD 30 GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE LATE NIGHT

  The hour is late. Jesus and his disciples walk across the Kidron Valley to an olive garden called Gethsemane at the base of the Mount of Olives. Even though he knows they must be weary from the wine and food, he asks the disciples to stand guard while he climbs the hillside to find a place to be alone.

  “Sit here while I pray,” he orders the men before ascending the steep slope. “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he tells the disciples. “Stay here and keep watch.”

  The moon is nearly full and provides ample light. Jesus finds a secluded place in the darkness and prays, “Father, everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

  An 1857 photograph of the Garden of Gethsemane looking toward Jerusalem. [The Bridgeman Art Library]

  It is a moment of anguish and despair. Jesus knows that he will die. It will be a bloody death on a Roman cross, with all the pain and public ridicule that implies. The people who have been inspired by his words in the temple courts will see him humiliated, and they will not understand how a man who claims to be the Son of God can allow himself to be crucified.

  It would be so much easier if Jesus could just escape. He could keep on climbing the hill and walk straight back to Bethany. In the morning, he might journey home to Galilee, there to raise a family and quietly grow old. Jesus does not believe that is his earthly purpose. So he accepts his coming fate and makes no effort to flee.

  After about an hour of prayer, Jesus returns to the garden to find the disciples sound asleep. “Couldn’t you keep watch for one hour?” he demands.

  The disciples don’t have an answer. But Jesus once again asks that they stay awake while he returns to his private spot for more prayer.

  In the solitude of the night, he asks for the strength to endure all that is to come. “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done,” Jesus prays.

  Jesus walks back down the slope to check on the disciples. All are again asleep, seemingly untroubled by worry or anguish. Jesus walks back up the hill to pray one last time. Finally, he returns to his disciples, exhausted. It is past midnight, the air is growing colder. Jesus wears just his tunic and cloak, which give him little protection from the chill. As he once again enters the garden at Gethsemane, Jesus knows it is time to accept his fate.

  “Rise,” he tells his disciples, his voice steady. He can clearly see the torches and line of men approaching from across the Kidron Valley. Instead of fleeing, Jesus of Nazareth waits.

  * * *

  The traitor Judas leads a pack of temple guards into the garden. Each man carries either a club or sword, and some also wield the torches and lanterns that cut through the darkness. Yet the flames are not bright enough to ensure that the guards can see which of the bearded men before them is Jesus. Judas has anticipated this and walks casually to Jesus.

  “Greetings, Rabbi,” he says coldly, kissing Jesus on the cheek. This is the agreed-upon signal between Judas and the temple guards.

  Jesus replies, “Do what you came for, friend.”

  He then turns and looks at the guards. “Who is it you want?”

  “Jesus of Nazareth,” comes the reply.

  “I am he,” Jesus answers.

  These guards are not Roman soldiers, but Jewish employees of the temple courts. They are physical men, well acquainted with the force needed to make an arrest. Before Jesus’s wrists can be tied, however, Peter draws his new sword and cuts off the ear of one of the men.

  “Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus commands the ever-impulsive Peter, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.” Then Jesus submits to be bound and led away.

  For Judas, all has gone according to plan. At this late hour, few have seen the commotion.

  And so it is that Jesus, his captors, and Judas march across the valley to the palace of Caiaphas, the high priest, on the eve of Passover. Since it is the middle of the night, a trial is not possible. If religious law is to be obeyed, then Jesus must wait until morning to face his accusers. And based on those same laws, if a death sentence is passed the next morning, the mandatory full day of reprieve before execution would mean that Jesus has at least one or two days to live.

  Jesus is not counting on the disciples to come to his rescue. Indeed, if he were, that hope would now be futile, for his terrified followers have abandoned him, disappearing into the night.

  CHAPTER 24

  CAIAPHAS JUDGES JESUS

  FRIDAY, APRIL 6, AD 30 JERUSALEM

  Inside the gates of Jerusalem, the group marches to the Upper City and into the palace of Caiaphas. In the courtyard, Jesus sees not Caiaphas but the high priest’s father-in-law, Annas, the aging and regal leader of a priestly dynasty dating back a thousand years. A bleary-eyed Annas stands before Jesus. He is in his mid-fifties, a man whose entire life has revolved around procuring wealth and power. As patriarch, Annas sees that the future of the family dynasty might just rest on how he handles the Jesus situation.

  Jesus is asked why he thinks he has been arrested. “I have spoken openly to the world,” he says. “I always taught in synagogues or at the temple, where all the Jews come together. I said nothing in secret. Why question me? Ask those who heard me. Surely they know what I said.”

  Annas and Caiaphas, painted by James Tissot in the 19th century. [The Bridgeman Art Library]

  The courtyard is still. Then Jesus is surprised by a sudden and hard blow to the face.

  The assault comes out of nowhere, a punch to the head delivered by a short-fused temple guard. “Is this the way you answer the high priest?”

  Jesus staggers. The opulent palace room reels. His hands are still bound, and he can neither protect himself nor fight back. But even as Jesus absorbs the blow, he speaks without fear. “If I said something wrong, testify as to what is wrong,” Jesus finally tells the guard. “But if I spoke the truth, why did you strike me?”

  * * *

  As he considers how to handle Jesus, Annas has a great deal at stake. The title of high priest is one that a man carries for life. Rome likes it that way, because it ensures that the money pipeline flows uninterrupted. Annas, his sons, and his son-in-law Caiaphas will all take turns serving as high priest. They will control the sale of temple lambs at Passover, as well as receive a cut of every exchange made by the moneylenders. Outside Jerusalem,
the high priests own vast farms and estates. The profits from these ventures, in addition to the taxes extorted from the people of Judea, are all shared with Pilate, and eventually with the Roman emperor Tiberius.

  The high priests are far from independent. It is a lesson Annas learned when he was removed from his position by Pontius Pilate’s predecessor, Gratus, for imposing and executing death sentences that had been forbidden by the imperial government. Making the same mistake twice—or allowing Caiaphas to make this mistake—could be catastrophic.

  * * *

  Everything about Jesus’s interrogation is illegal: It takes place at night, Jesus is being asked to incriminate himself without a lawyer, and Annas has no authority to pass sentence. It is also extremely unusual for a prisoner to be brought to the high priest’s personal residence, rather than to the prison cells at the Roman barracks.

  But Jesus has committed a grave offense—he interrupted the flow of funds from the temple to Rome when he flipped over the money changers’ tables. That pipeline is the personal responsibility of Annas. Anyone interfering with the profit-taking must be punished. That, of course, includes Jesus and every single one of his disciples. Annas is determined that he will provide an example of what happens to those who challenge the authority of the temple courts.

  Normally, men like Jesus bow to him, pleading for mercy rather than trying to bend his mind with logic at this awful hour, but it is clear that Jesus will not genuflect to any man. And Jesus is capable of great feats of intellect.

  Perhaps some time alone with the temple guards will change his attitude. Annas orders a gang of temple guards to escort the prisoner to a quiet place on the palace grounds where they might spend some time together.