Notes: Ch. 12 of Ehrman’s Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium
Thesis: Jesus’ visit to Jerusalem, and his subsequent arrest, trial, and execution, are best explained in terms of his acocalyptic message and actions.
1. Jesus’ trip to Jerusalem for the Passover Celebration, and his subsequent activities there, are best explained in terms of his apocalyptic message and his perceived role in proclaiming it.
2. Jesus went to the temple during the Passover Festival, and spent many days teaching about his apocalyptic message of the imminent coming kingdom of God. -The apocalyptic message included the idea that the temple in Jerusalem would also be destroyed.
3. Jesus’ also caused a disturbance in the temple itself, which appears to have been a symbolic enactment of his apocalyptic teaching about the temple’s destruction.
4. Jesus’ teaching and disturbance in the temple during the Passover put Jesus on the Sadducee’s radar. They were ready to have him arrested, as they thought he might tip the scales of high political tension that regularly exists during the Passover due to silent protests (see ch. 7).
5. Jesus’ betrayal by Judas Iscariot, and Jesus’ subsequent arrest, is best explained in terms of Judas’ betraying to the religious authorities (the Sadducees and the chief priests) Jesus’ teaching (to his inner circle of disciples) that he would be the King of the Jews in the coming Kingdom of God.
6. Jesus was executed on the charge of political sedition, due to his claim that he was the King of the Jews. His execution was therefore directly related to his apocalyptic message of the imminent coming of the kingdom of God.
