THE CHURCH OF CHRIST
by
Dr. Gale A. Ragan-Reid (January 22, 2016)
“Thus saith the LORD, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the LORD thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go” (Isaiah 48:17, King James Version [Exhortation to obedience]; “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen...Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch” (St. Matthew 6:13; 15:14, King James Version [Our Father's Prayer; The Canaanite's faith]).
Greetings To The Elect Of Christ,
Giving tribute to those in a most prestigious and favorable way, I speak to you today of leadership. The death of Christ Jesus heralded in a new salvation but before the old way of the Jews was open to the new salvation plan, leadership in high rank led to God's saving grace. There was a mix in leadership that pervasively attributed to a few leaders who unassumingly assisted and the others who intentionally led to the death of Christ and foreshadowed the leaders of today in what is now known as “followers of Christ” which brought in the birth of the way of Christ Jesus, The Church of Christ---the Christians' Church. Firstly, let us look at the leaders of the time of Christ's death. Of Roman ruling leadership, there was Pontius Pilate, Governor of Judea (A.D. 26 to 37), notoriously known for Christ's crucifixion, mentioned in all four gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), Acts and I Timothy, who was blinded by his ambition and by his love of the power he had to kill the Jews.
Pilate's leadership was seen through his duties from that of a Roman soldier to his high Roman post of Governor, primarily assigned to collect tributes and taxes, in Jerusalem. We are speaking of a man who controlled the Jews but did not desire to live permanently in Jerusalem with them rather stay on the Mediterranean coast, in Caesarea---to maintain his mainstream Roman rule posture and image but in long visits he persecuted the Jews, kept them in their place and at all costs kept the peace in fear of losing his high post. He also believed strongly in the powers of this world and held his allegiance to the powers of this world, so he was gripped by the darkness, in ambition always in fear of losing his position because he felt he'd already received warnings from Rome which consumed him so much because he slaughtered the Jews, raided their dwellings, and crucified them, for all to see, more frequently than not. These brutal acts of frequent violence upon the Jewish people blinded Caiaphas in his faith to God to see Christ through the eyes of faith instead of the rule of law, the letter of the law, not the spirit of the law or the spirit of the new law the gospel message that Jesus brought to them as a prophet's message to the people of the new law of faith.
Moreover, the beatings and killings caused the Jewish priest Caiaphas who answered to Pilate to fear that he would stop or cancel Passover or he would annihilate all the Jews during Passover, for the high priests, Caiaphas blamed Jesus, called him an agitator, for the disorderly conduct of the people, for Caiaphas believed Jesus would stir the people up during Passover and cause the wrath of the Roman Governor to come down upon them to destroy them, so Caiaphas felt if he did not give Pilate Jesus to crucify before Passover, then the Jewish people of Jerusalem were doomed with little hope of survival. With that said, Pilate even had power to execute for this power tool permitted him freedom to hate any assembly of disorderly conduct with an inflexible will that decided with a relentless force against them time and time again whenever they gathered together and disagreed amongst themselves using his full power and authority to kill the Jews and shut-down the Jewish temple so the high priest Caiaphas used Pilate's power to crucify Jesus, a man who demonstrated powers of God who Caiaphas was threatened by because he strongly felt that Jesus would take over the priesthood, take away his leadership of the high priesthood over the Jews from him and his family---he felt that Jesus would make his mark in the
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hearts and minds of the people during Passover when he spoke to them, so he had to move quickly to get Pilate to do as he wished, which was, crucify Jesus. Is that not the reason why Herod Agrippa described Pilate in a letter to the emperor Caligula “as naturally inflexible---a blend of self-will and relentlessness” (The Reader's Digest Association, Inc., 1994)? However, Pilate did believe in Jesus' innocence but was led by his self-will punishing Jesus twice---scourging him 40 stripes then crucifying him because the high priest influenced the people to choose their militant insurrectionist-a murderer over Jesus. Pilate was swayed or influenced by the contempt and mockery shown to Jesus by the Jewish priests and scribes, which conduct he must have enjoyed seeing because that was the way he conducted himself with them, so upon seeing that darkness of which Pilate loved the rule of the world---the rule of darkness, this conduct of hate towards Jesus obviously compelled him by convicting him in his heart to also sentence Jesus to death because he did not listen to the forewarning of his wife Claudia who protested against him crucifying Jesus, so she stood against the Jewish council, known as the Sanhedrin and what they did in an illegal hearing held at night, led by the high priest Caiaphas.
Why did Pilate not favor his wife's revelation about Christ Jesus over the influence of the high priest Caiaphas? Pilate's wife, Claudia spoke to him of her dream of him executing a good man, a righteous man, an innocent man. This failure to lead through chaotic change revealed Pilate's weakness in leadership to go with his gut instinct---what he knew to be truth, his conscious, his moral belief of right over wrong, his convictions of truth in weighing justice and his failure to control corrupt influence exerted under his own duress as well as under the duress of the high priests which sought to rule the day when he let the priests influence over the people convict Jesus in an open public hearing rather than the murderous insurrectionists, Barrabas, which also demonstrated weakness, an uncaring attitude for the life of one man, a total disregard for what he knew was truth. Therefore, we gather from all this---the take away is that Pilate was blinded with the power to kill, of the world, with power and authority to execute, who frequently persecuted the Jewish people, with a nature of inflexibility, self-willed and relentless given to bouts of frequent exploits of murderous activity with no redeeming activities to sort through issues with the people, he only killed them when he disapproved and that was how they knew he disapproved when he came and massacred them, at his will---his relentless self-will. Most importantly, Rome was the iron that Prophet Daniel prophesied would come against the Jewish people when they were freed from Babylon and Pilate was the agent of that same iron:
“And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as
iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that
breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise. And
whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and
part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in
it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron
mixed with miry clay. And as the toes of the feet were part of
iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong
and partly broken. And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with
miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men:
but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not
mixed with clay. And in the days of these kings shall the God
of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed:
and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall
break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall
stand for ever...and the dream is certain, and the
interpretation thereof sure” (Daniel 2:40-45, KJV
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[Daniel's dream in Babylon]).
Furthermore, Pilate with a blood taste and thirst ever-growing in his heart and mind to suppress any semblance of an uprising of Jewish people, ambushed and executed a group of Samaritans gathered at their shrine on Mount Gerizim to collect buried holy vessels but this time Pilate did not get pass the protest that the Samaritans gave to the legate of Syria. He was found guilty, held accountable for the deaths of the Samaritans, exiled to Vienne-on-Rhone by Emperor Caligula who succeeded Emperor Tiberius for Tiberius died while Pilate was en route to Rome, in March 37 A. D. Pilate committed suicide shortly after his exile which is the custom of aristocrats convicted of a crime. It took one massacre, too many, for the Jewish people to show the strength that God showed Daniel in his dream that they had to stand up against Pilate's iron will.
More importantly, there were others who contributed to the mix of leadership in Jesus' time, of Roman rule. We look at Herod Antipas, Roman Emperor and King, who received kingship after his father Herod The Great died, along with his other two brothers (Herod Archelaus and Herod Philip), so the kingdom was divided among three of Herod's sons in the ratification of Herod's final will. Let it be known that Herod Antipas also was blinded by ambition and power, with building programs and strengthening his region but his ambition was seen when he divorced his first wife, the daughter of King Aretas of Nabatea and married his half-brother's wife, Herodias which brought about great strife and criticism from the populace or public opinion that ruled the day, which led to a border war which Herod Antipas lost from his first wife's nation, Aretas and which led to the beheading of John the Baptist, the Kinsman of Christ Jesus because Herodias quarreled against John the Baptist for what he said, “For John had said unto Herod, It is unlawful for thee to have thy brother's wife” (St. Mark 6:18-19, KJV [John the Baptist disapproval of Herod Antipas marriage to Herodias, his half-brother's wife]). Now, we see again that Herod Antipas observed and gladly heard John the Baptist but he feared to do anything to him for he was a just man and an holy man but on his birthday supper Herodias was able to use her daughter's skill in dancing to influence King Herod Antipas to behead John the Baptist because the daughter of Herodias danced so well to please Herod and those that sat with him (his lords, high captains and chief estates of Galilee) that he gave her whatever she wanted unto half of his kingdom and she chose the head of John the Baptist (St. Mark 6:20-27, KJV [John the Baptist beheaded by Herod Antipas]). Is there no end to who is used when ambition is in play?
Herod Antipas left his first wife even at the cost of a border war and took his half brother's wife Herodias and Herodias used her daughter's dancing to kill John the Baptist because he spoke against her marriage to Herod Antipas. However, in parallel to activities, events and leadership traits, Pilate's wife did not have time to influence her husband, Pilate to her will for the trial of Jesus quickly happened because of the rapidly approaching Passover celebration. Had Claudia time to influence Pilate, do you think Pilate would have succumb to her will? Hardly thinkable, because Pilate was known as a relentless self-willed man but then how did he succumb to the will of the high priest, Caiaphas other than it was the business of God, the will of God that Jesus died for the sins of man. However, we do find parallel in influence over Herod Antipas just like the corrupt influence was exerted over Pilate which became a friendship between Herod Antipas and Pilate in that the priests also influenced Herod Antipas to bitterly denounce Jesus, so he treated Jesus with contempt and mocked him dressing Jesus in clothes befitting a King of the Jews, since he was accused of claiming to be King of the Jews, “And Herod with his men of war set him at nought, and mocked him, and arrayed him in a gorgeous robe, and sent him again to Pilate [And the same day Pilate and Herod were made friends together: for before they were at enmity between themselves”, St. Luke 23:11-12, KJV, Pilate and Herod become friends after denouncing Jesus]. Pilate yielded-gave in to the people when they said, “And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him: but the Jews cried out, saying, If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar's friend: whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar...” (St. John
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19:12-22, KJC [Pilate sat on the judgment seat]) but neither did his friendship with Caesar that the high priests used through the Jewish people to control his brutish behavior to force him to come under the will and influence of the high priests save him, for the Cesar he knew was dead nor did his friendship with Herod Antipas save him when it came his time to pay for the wrong he had done to the Jewish people, for Herod Antipas was in a power struggle with Herod Agrippa I over certain regions in Galilee.
We do not find parallel in judgment, for Herod Antipas refused to pass judgment over Jesus for he was glad when he finally saw him and hoped to see a sign done by him and sent him back to Pilate,
“And when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceeding glad: for he was desirous to see him of a long season, because he had heard many things of him; and he hoped to have seen some miracle done by him” (St. Luke 23:8, KJV [Herod favored Jesus]). We find that initially, Pilate and Herod both favored Jesus. What sort of influence could turn around kings and governors, compel them to denounce when their own will chose not to, other than the will of God to send darkness upon them to cloud their better judgment, for Herod Antipas repented of killing John the Baptist and said he had done so under the pressure of his wife, Herodias. Yet, Herod Antipas found himself jealous of Herod Agrippa I who was given the title of king of certain regions bordering Galilee.
Herod Antipas left Galilee and Perea his kingdom to go to Rome, seeking the same title that Rome gave to Herod Agrippa I. The young King Herod Agrippa I did not let Herod Antipas take away his newly acquired regions and accused Herod Antipas of treason against the emperor of Rome. Herod Agrippa I won the struggle over regions in Galilee when Rome deposed and exiled Herod Antipas to southern France, in 39 A.D.---nearly 40 years since the birth of Christ Jesus. This turn of political fortune makes you think whether Herod Antipas considered the jealousy that the high priests held over young Jesus, or not and one could not help but think whether Herod Antipas sought the influence of Pilate as he hob-nobbed in Rome to gain the kingship of the certain regions in Galilee since they became fast friends during the trial of Jesus, even though he did not judge Jesus himself he set the judgment up in play by denouncing and mocking him just as the high priests wanted to influence Pilate to go along with the decision to execute Jesus---crucify him on the cross.
What is the take away here, in leadership attributes of Herod Antipas? We find in Herod Antipas a wanton need to belong to the inner circle of influence leaving him indecisive with no convictions from his heart and his mind, for he left his first wife, desired and did marry Herodias his half-brother's wife, he beheaded John the Baptist under the pressure of Herodias because her daughter danced for him and pleased him along with the men that sat with him at his birthday supper, he later desired the regions of Galilee that were given to Herod Agrippa I, he left Galilee and Perea, his kingdom to go to Rome to take the title that was given to a younger king, King Herod Agrippa I, however, Rome did not return him to Galilee and Perea, he was deposed and exiled to southern France. What makes a man risk it all for fame and fortune---in this case power and more power, forsaking all that he had? Are the moving of mountains because of The Church of Christ?
Moreover, Herod Antipas had proven himself for and against Jesus, contributor to the corrupt influence that decidedly crucified Jesus, so what good was he to any emperor building an empire or to God building the everlasting Kingdom of God in the faith of Christ Jesus---The Church of Christ. How could an ambitious man chasing rainbows ever feel full----fulfillment for long, so there is no wonder the power of God moved the mountain, sending Herod Antipas away from Rome, which would eventually establish a city of priests and a priesthood---the pressure would come to the undoing of Herod Antipas as the pressure from Herodias led to the beheading of John the Baptist? We think now, if it had not been for the high priest Caiaphas with the remarkable sense of persuasion able to rule in influence, over remarkably ambitious men of great power and authority, perhaps Christ Jesus could have stayed to teach the people and to build his church, The Church of Christ but Caiaphas just would
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not have it that Jesus could stay, remain with his disciples and apostles to spread the good news of the
law of faith. It is not the first time that the mix of ambition, authority and power, easily influenced, in-fighting, jealousy, nature of inflexibility, relentlessness, and self-will joined hands to defeat good, in the ever-going war of good over evil.
We know Joseph Caiaphas fought for the survival of the law---the Mosaic law of Moses and did not want his family to lose their position of high priests over the Jews but you must think about what kind of man he was, beneath the public display of strong-willed intent to kill Jesus. Caiaphas' 18-year tenure as high priest brought rare stability. Caiaphas was appointed high priest by Valerius Gratus, the Roman Governor of Syria, approximately in 18 A.D. Caiaphas was replaced by Jonathan, son of Annas.
Annas, a Sadducee, born into a wealthy, educated, and influential family, served as high priest from 6 A.D.– 15 A.D. [The Roman Governor, Quirinius removed high priest Joezer and appointed Annas in his place. Valerius Gratus, the Governor of Judea, after eight years or more, removed Annas with Ishmael son of Phabi but soon replaced Ishmael with Elezar, Anna's son (The Reader's Digest Association, Inc., 1994]. As a Sadducee, he rejected the the doctrine of the resurrection, which cast him and his Sadducees family in opposition to the Pharisees, in opposition to Jesus, and in opposition to the early Christians. Annas as head of his aristocratic family of high priests and head of Jewish aristocracy, saw five sons and his son-in-law Joseph Caiaphas succeed him to the office of high priests. Annas received high priesthood when the Romans took control of Judea. He led the aristocratic faction that collaborated with Roman rule and his family supplied most of the high priests appointed by the governors. He was a leader of the Sanhedrin or Jewish Council that supported in-fighting against Jesus..
What is the take away, here, with Annas and Caiaphas, both Sadducees, also blinded by family and the skill of exerting influence over others, for to them the saying, 'the ends justified the means' meant they could use all their influence to win wars in decision making, of a wealthy, educated, and influential family of priests that served in the office of high priesthoods, let us say that they both were on the same page wanting to keep the office of high priesthood in their family, forsaking Christ Jesus, his doctrine of the resurrection, and the The Church of Christ---the early Christians as well as many Pharisees that supported Jesus' public ministry and the good news message that he brought to the world stage? Their steadfast ambition for their family stood the test of time, for years so they became quite successful in influencing the people and provided stability of the same style of leadership which was to promote and maintain at all costs the Mosaic Law. This is why even after Annas no longer was the high priest he still used the title of high priest and received the deference due the office of the priesthood, in decision-making. Notably, let it be known that the Sadducees family in the power of the office of high priesthood was not going to defer their position of power over to Christ Jesus so they used their authority, influence, power, and standing to fight against Jesus hard and strong, citing the Mosaic Law, refusing to let in the law of faith.
Caiaphas was deposed by the the Roman procurator Vitellius in 36/37 A.D. We note that Caiaphas was deposed in 36/37 A.D., Herod Antipas was deposed in 39 A.D., Pilate was suspended from his office and sent to Rome for an imperial investigation, in 37 A.D. Pilate was found guilty of the Samaritan massacre and exiled to Vienne-on-Rhone where he soon committed suicide which is customary of aristocrats accused of a crime. Pilate could not appeal the protest of the Samaritans to Emperor Tiberius for he died March 37 A.D. while Pilate was en route to Rome so he received sentencing from Emperor Caligula or 'Little Soldier's Boot', born in 12 A.D. which was the popular nickname of Emperor Gaius Julius Cesar Augustus Germanicus, along in the same time---nearly 40 years since the birth of Christ Jesus. Emperor Tiberius was the grand-uncle or great-uncle of Emperor Caligula who took power over Rome when his grand-uncle died, at the age of 25 years old. Perhaps Rome in new leadership under Emperor Caligula had grown weary of this blend of leadership style and l 6
quickly deposed them for Emperor Caligula had a blood-thirst of his own to increase the personal
power of the emperor, notably, himself and minimized the powers of the principate and soon became known for his waste and carnage killing of many in leadership, his eccentric even schizophrenic mental disability forced him to kill unmatched by most during his four-year term from 37 A.D to 41 A.D., but then again many people have lost their minds for many reasons.
Emperor Caligula seemingly was quite strong in leadership, seen as noble---a moderate ruler for the first six-months was also blinded by power and he soon began to show signs of an insane tyrant with traits of cruelty, extravagance, sadism and perversity of the sexual nature which forced the guards, senators, and courtiers into conspiracy against him to restore the Roman Empire in which on the day of Caligula's assassination, the guards proclaimed his uncle, Claudius, as Emperor of Rome, so ruler ship remained in Caligula's family. Probably, Little Soldier's Boot as he was called in addition to Caligula, for hanging onto his father's, Germanicus' boots while he served his Uncle Tiberius (Emperor Tiberius) as a successful Roman General beloved by the public [Emperor Tiberius adopted his nephew as his son, an heir to the throne to succeed him] but after Germanicus died at Antioch in 19 A.D. Caligula, merely seven-years old, was the sole male survivor after his mother, Agrippina the Elder's bitter feud with his Great-Uncle Emperor Tiberius.
What is the take away here about Roman Rule under Caligula? Caligula went insane after the death of his father, Germanicus and the deaths of his siblings, while his mother fought with his Great-Uncle Tiberius. The first six-months of his rule, the people who gave him support in his reign did not see that Caliga, the lesser form hob-nailed 'Military Boot' by his father's soldiers during the time he spent with them during his father's military campaigns, ---they did not know he lost his mind after his father's death---that he was going through something much bigger than his name Caliga or Caligula---that he was insane until traits of cruelty, sadism, perversity and lavish spending became pervasive, surfaced in his behavior for them all to see, which was quite opposite his father, Germanicus who was known as a miser, beloved of the people. The in-fighting of the Roman Empire was a lesson that Pilate, also a soldier did not see for his family was not spoken of as a line of power rather only that he made it from soldier to Governor but Herod Antipas surely experienced the in-fighting under his father, Herod, The Great, for Herod killed his oldest son right before he died. However, the in-fighting between the Jewish sects, was pervasive and caused the death of Christ Jesus, the sacrificial lamb, the only way to save the nation, according to the High Priest Caiaphas (Wikipedia, 2016).
Many families suffered in-fighting especially those who chose to leave the beliefs and traditions of their family's sect to follow Christ Jesus. How could the in-fighting in Rome contribute to the building of The Church of Christ? Apparently, both the Jewish people and Rome survived, for today there is a Rome and a Vatican City of priests. Today there is a Jerusalem and a Palestine but the in-fighting remains, as well.
To this point, was the saving grace of man worth all that happened to save us? We answer, “Yes, without a doubt.” I am sure no family likes to think of themselves or any or their children as sacrificial lambs but the more I hear the cries of the innocents, the children killed by their parents or the cries of children killed by strangers as well as the cries of the adults killed by their families and the cries of adults killed by strangers, I know many escaped into their private madness until the world found out they were insane from their acts of brutality or from their acts of perversion for they practiced human sacrifice. I tell you, my sisters and brothers, insanity is not an escape, it is a torture chamber of the mind, you would do much better to go into the refuge of Christ Jesus who saved you, from the madness of the family's in-fighting even the madness of the competition in ambition---pursuing your dreams. How could anyone purposefully want another to get left behind in this grand scheme of nation building, world collaboration, and kingdom-building, for everlasting life, peace, and gratitude---for that, we say, “Thank you Jesus”? God bless and keep you. Peace between me and thee. In the Name of Jesus. Amen
