John 12:35-36 — Walk in the Savior’s Light — LeGrand Baker

Posted on May 26, 2016 by LeGrand Baker

One can read walking in the light of Christ as a beautiful metaphor or as the encoded definition of a unique reality.

35 Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth.
36 While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light. These things spake Jesus, and departed, and did hide himself from them (John 12:35-36).

The children’s hymn catches the beauty of the Savior’s teachings:

Teach me to walk in the light of his love; Teach me to pray to the Father above.
Teach me to know all the things that are right; Teach me, teach me, to walk in the light.

When I began my discussion of John, I observed, that in its first verses the “light of Christ” is the shechinah, that light which fills the immensity of space and is the source of our physical life. Of himself the Savior said,

2 And that I am the true light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
………………
9 The light and the Redeemer of the world; the Spirit of truth, who came into the world, because the world was made by him, and in him was the life of men and the light of men.(D&C 93:2, 9).

The light defines his person: he is “light and truth,” as he said,

36 The glory of God is intelligence, or, in other words, light and truth.(D&C 93:36).

Similarly, but in contrast, the “light of truth” defines each of us as intelligent entities who assimilate truth and exude our own light. Again, the Savior explained,

29 Man was also in the beginning with God. Intelligence, or the light of truth, was not created or made, neither indeed can be.(D&C 93:29).

The quality of the light with which we shine still defines who and what we are. Just as President David O. McKay wrote,

Every man and every person who lives in this world wields an influence, whether for good or for evil. It is not what he says alone; it is not alone what he does. It is what he is. Every man, every person radiates what he or she really is. Every person is a recipient of radiation. {1}

As we have matured throughout our existence (premortal and now mortal lives), the light within us has grown. The promise made by the Savior is virtually self-fulfilling:

28 He that keepeth his commandments receiveth truth and light, until he is glorified in truth and knoweth all things (D&C 93:28).

We are not only the product of our own experiences, but we also absorb and reflect the light of the people we love and with whom we associate. But most of all we also absorb and exude the light of Christ. As we assimilate and radiate his light, we mutually seal to ourselves other persons who are like ourselves and like God. As I observed elsewhere, truth/light/love are equivalents. It is that power we radiate. It is “charity” that is the sealing power that binds us to each other and to God. In his beautiful testimony of the Savior, John the Beloved called that sealing power “fellowship.”

1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;
2 (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)
3 That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.
4 And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.
5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:
7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin (1 John 1:1-7).

Unfortunately, as John cautioned, one can also “walk in darkness.” Some people exude darkness rather than light. In our physical world we define darkness as the absence of light, that definition seems to make darkness a nothing. However, that definition does not hold for the darkness radiated from some individuals. That darkness is real and opposite to light which is also real. That darkness is not a nothing but a force of evil that ranges in its intensity from anger to hatred; from the desire to hurt to the desire to destroy. That darkness can also grow, but as a degeneration until “there is no light in them (2 Nephi 18:20).” Paul warned the Saints of his day to beware of being ensnared by such darkness.

8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:
9 (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)
10 Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.
11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.
12 For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.
13 But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light.
14 Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light (Ephesians 5:5-14).

The admonition to walk in the Savior’s light means to be surrounded, inundated by the pure light that radiates from him; that fills and sanctifies our souls. Being “baptized by fire and the Holy Ghost” suggests that same meaning.

“Walk” is a scriptural code word that connotes making and keeping covenants. In the ancient scriptures it was often a references to the covenants and ordinances made during the presentation of the Israelite temple drama. There are several code words that invite the initiated reader to participate in that ancient drama. This is one example:

2 And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.
3 And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem (Isaiah 2:1-3).

“Mountain,” Hugh Nibley taught us, was code for temple. The object of the ancient worshiper was to symbolically reach the top of the mountain by passing a series of stations that were represented by code words. Walk, run, on the path or way are code words that describe one’s ascent to the summit of the holy mountain. When we “walk in the ways of the Lord,” we are ascending the holy mountain. When we come out of the mountain, to “walk in the ways of the Lord” means we are keeping the covenants we made there. A modern example of that code is the last three verses of Doctrine and Covenants 89. It is interesting that this revelation was given several years before temple rites were introduced to the Saints in Nauvoo. The following verses can correctly be read as a promise to young LDS athletes who keep the word of wisdom that they will be healthy and strong. However, the verses can also be read differently from that.

18 And all saints who remember to keep and do these sayings, walking in obedience to the commandments, shall receive health in their navel and marrow to their bones; {2}
19 And shall find wisdom and great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures;
20 And shall run and not be weary, and shall walk and not faint.
21 And I, the Lord, give unto them a promise, that the destroying angel shall pass by them, as the children of Israel, and not slay them. Amen (Do&C 89:18-21).

We each made some serious covenants in the councils before we came to this world. Now we must keep those covenants even though we do not remember what they were. A primary function of the Holy Ghost is to teach us when and how to fulfill those covenants. We do not walk alone, as is promised in my favorite psalm.

1 Unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.
2 O my God, I trust in thee: let me not be ashamed, let not mine enemies triumph over me.
3 Yea, let none that wait on thee be ashamed: let them be ashamed which transgress without cause
4 Shew me thy ways, O Lord; teach me thy paths.
5 Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.
6 Remember, O Lord, thy tender mercies and thy lovingkindnesses [hesed]; for they have been ever of old.
7 Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according to thy mercy remember thou me for thy goodness’ sake, O Lord.
8 Good and upright is the Lord: therefore will he teach sinners in the way.
9 The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way.
10 All the paths of the Lord are mercy [hesed] and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies.
11 For thy name’s sake, O Lord, pardon mine iniquity; for it is great.
12 What man is he that feareth the Lord? him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose.
13 His soul shall dwell at ease; and his seed shall inherit the earth.
14 The secret [sode] of the Lord is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant (Psalms 25:1-14). {3}

The journey we experience as we walk in the light toward an even greater light is symbolized by the way Moses ascended to the heights of Mt. Sinai, and for the ancients, was symbolically the same as walking through Solomon’s Temple until one reached the Holy of Holies. Moses patterned his Tabernacle to represent the Holy Mountain. In Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, there is a diagram showing Mt. Sinai as a temple and how Moses’s Tabernacle was patterned after that mountain. {4}

1. The diagrams shows that the camp of Israel was at the foot of the mountain. There was a wall built that separated profane space from the sacred space of the mountain’s heights.

1. This mapped to the vestibule just inside in the temple entrance that separate the profane world from the temple interior.

2. Midway up the mountain Moses and the Seventy met God. There Moses was crowned by God in the presence of those witnesses. After the coronation they shared the same temple feast as we find in 3 Nephi when the Savior also taught about prayer. (Exodus 24:9-11, 3 Nephi 18:1-25).

2. The Holy Place in the Tabernacle and Temple. The central room of the Temple was where the king was anointed. The room contained the Shewbread Table (an invitation to share a meal with God), the Menorah (the candlestick representing the tree of Life and a prayer to enter God’s presence), and a incense altar.

3. Moses was overshadowed by a cloud (the shechinah, veil of light). Another example is when the brother of Jared went to the top of a mountain three times to talk to the Lord through a cloud, then, the forth time, the Lord put his finger through the cloud. (Deuteronomy 9:10; Exodus 24:12-17; Ether 3:4-14, 12:21; Mark 9:7).

3. Veil of Solomon’s Temple through which the king entered after his coronation ceremony in the Holy Place (See Hebrews 6:13-20, 3 Nephi 12:3, Moroni7:19-21, Moroni 10:30.).

4. Top of the Mountain where one saw God (Exodus 24:17, Moses 1:1-2, Matthew 4:8, Mark 9:2, Revelation 21:10, 1 Nephi 11:1, Moses 1:1-2).

4. Holy of Holies where God’s throne sits beneath the wings of the cherubim.

Psalm 89 celebrates that experience.

13 Thou hast a mighty arm: strong is thy hand, and high is thy right hand.
14 Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before thy face.
15 Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance.
16 In thy name shall they rejoice all the day: and in thy righteousness shall they be exalted (Psalms 89:13-16).

For John the Beloved, that experience was epitomized by his description of the celestial city.

10 And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,
11 Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal;
……………….
22 And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.
23 And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.
24 And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.
25 And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.
26 And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it.
27 And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life (Revelation 21:10-27).

———————–
FOOTNOTES

{1} David O. McKay, “Radiation of the Individual,” The Instructor, October, 1964, p. 373-374.

{2} this phrase, along with several other code words, is also used in Proverbs.

5 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
7 Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil.
8 It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.
9 Honour the Lord with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase:
10 So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine (Proverbs 3:5-10).

{3} For a discussion of the entire psalm see Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, first edition, 525-43; second (paperback) edition 378-97.

{4} For the diagram see Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, first edition, 365; second (paperback) edition 263.

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John 12:27-33, 3 Nephi 27:13-22 — to be ‘lifted up’ is about eternal covenants, resurrection, and exaltation — LeGrand Baker

Posted on May 20, 2016 by LeGrand Baker

As far as I can tell, to be “lifted up” is code that connotes being lifted above this world into a holier sphere. That is true of the Savior and also of us, and in that context the phrase is always tied to his and our covenant-relationship with his Father. It is apparent from the consistent way the phrase “lifted up” is used as a reference to the Savior’s crucifixion that it had a much more powerful connotation than just the fact of the cross itself. The Savior said,

27 Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour.
28 Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.
29 The people therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it thundered: others said, An angel spake to him.
30 Jesus answered and said, This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes.
31 Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world [Satan] be cast out.
32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.
33 This he said, signifying what death he should die (John 12:27-33).

If one seeks to look into the depths of the brief account of this conversation:

28 Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.

One hears the echo of a premortal covenant that is about to reach fruition. In these verses there is powerful, yet unexpected symbolism of the Savior’s crucifixion described in the language of the prophets from at least as early as the time of Enoch, but even Enoch projects it back into the premortal world.

47 And behold, Enoch saw the day of the coming of the Son of Man, even in the flesh; and his soul rejoiced, saying: The Righteous is lifted up, and the Lamb is slain from the foundation of the world; and through faith I am in the bosom of the Father, and behold, Zion is with me. …………………..
55 And the Lord said unto Enoch: Look, and he looked and beheld the Son of Man lifted up on the cross, after the manner of men;
56 And he heard a loud voice; and the heavens were veiled; and all the creations of God mourned; and the earth groaned; and the rocks were rent; and the saints arose, and were crowned at the right hand of the Son of Man, with crowns of glory (Moses 7:47, 55-56).

The prophets have been teaching this “since the world began,” as Nephi so clearly testified.

10 And the God of our fathers, who were led out of Egypt, out of bondage, and also were preserved in the wilderness by him, yea, the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, yieldeth himself, according to the words of the angel, as a man, into the hands of wicked men, to be lifted up, according to the words of Zenock, and to be crucified, according to the words of Neum, and to be buried in a sepulchre, according to the words of Zenos, which he spake concerning the three days of darkness, which should be a sign given of his death unto those who should inhabit the isles of the sea, more especially given unto those who are of the house of Israel (1 Nephi 19:10).

Another was the brother of Jared.

1 And the Lord commanded the brother of Jared to go down out of the mount from the presence of the Lord, and write the things which he had seen; and they were forbidden to come unto the children of men until after that he should be lifted up upon the cross; and for this cause did king Mosiah keep them, that they should not come unto the world until after Christ should show himself unto his people (Ether 4:1).

The Lord concluded his conversation with the brother of Jared with this promise:

19 And blessed is he that is found faithful unto my name at the last day, for he shall be lifted up to dwell in the kingdom prepared for him from the foundation of the world. And behold it is I that hath spoken it. Amen (Ether 4:19).

Nephi also “saw and bear record,” and described the Savior’s atoning sacrifice in those same words:

33 And I, Nephi, saw that he was lifted up upon the cross and slain for the sins of the world (1 Nephi 11:33).

Another Nephi explained Moses’s brazen serpent in those same terms.

14 Yea, did he [Moses] not bear record that the Son of God should come? And as he lifted up the brazen serpent in the wilderness, even so shall he be lifted up who should come.
15 And as many as should look upon that serpent should live, even so as many as should look upon the Son of God with faith, having a contrite spirit, might live, even unto that life which is eternal (Helaman 8:14-15).

As this collection of scriptures shows, when the Savior used those words to describe that part of his Atonement, he always did it with reference to his Father, and either explicitly or implicitly, to the covenants they had made with each other and with us. For example:

28 Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things.
29 And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him (John 8:28-29).

His explanation to the Nephite disciples was even more explicit.

13 Behold I have given unto you my gospel, and this is the gospel which I have given unto you—that I came into the world to do the will of my Father, because my Father sent me.
14 And my Father sent me that I might be lifted up upon the cross; and after that I had been lifted up upon the cross, that I might draw all men unto me, that as I have been lifted up by men even so should men be lifted up by the Father, to stand before me, to be judged of their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil—
15 And for this cause have I been lifted up; therefore, according to the power of the Father I will draw all men unto me, that they may be judged according to their works.
16 And it shall come to pass, that whoso repenteth and is baptized in my name shall be filled; and if he endureth to the end, behold, him will I hold guiltless before my Father at that day when I shall stand to judge the world.
17 And he that endureth not unto the end, the same is he that is also hewn down and cast into the fire, from whence they can no more return, because of the justice of the Father.
18 And this is the word which he hath given unto the children of men. And for this cause he fulfilleth the words which he hath given, and he lieth not, but fulfilleth all his words.
19 And no unclean thing can enter into his kingdom; therefore nothing entereth into his rest save it be those who have washed their garments in my blood, because of their faith, and the repentance of all their sins, and their faithfulness unto the end.
20 Now this is the commandment: Repent, all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me and be baptized in my name, that ye may be sanctified by the reception of the Holy Ghost, that ye may stand spotless before me at the last day.
21 Verily, verily, I say unto you, this is my gospel; and ye know the things that ye must do in my church; for the works which ye have seen me do that shall ye also do; for that which ye have seen me do even that shall ye do;
22 Therefore, if ye do these things blessed are ye, for ye shall be lifted up at the last day (3 Nephi 27:13-22).

In the following statement, the Savior does not use the phrase “lifted up” but the sense is there in the phrases “come to me,” “draw him,” “raise him up.” In the New Testament the Savior is reported to have said,

44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

45 It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.
46 Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father.
47 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.

In the Inspired Version the Prophet Joseph expands verse 44 to be expressly about the resurrection.

No man can come unto me, except he doeth the will of my Father who hath sent me. And this is the will of him who hath sent me, that ye receive the Son; for the Father beareth record of him; and he who receiveth the testimony, and doeth the will of him who sent me, I will raise up in the resurrection of the just (JST John 6:44).

To be “lifted up” is not just a picturesque phrase, but rather, it seems to be the name applied to overriding and eternal ordinances.

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John 12:20-26 — another law of the harvest — LeGrand Baker

Posted on May 8, 2016 by LeGrand Baker

The brief story John tells here seems disjointed and asks questions that on first reading it does not seem to answer. The questions are: Who were the Greeks and why did they come to the Jewish Passover? Why did they want to see Jesus? Why did their visit elicit Jesus’s prophecy and explanation about his own death and resurrection? And, was it still in the context of the imagery of the dying seed’s producing greater life that he said to his apostles, “he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be.”

As is often so, John tells us just enough so we can understand, but not enough to make his message too obvious. This is the way he tells this story:

20 And there were certain Greeks among them that came up to worship at the feast [Passover]:
21 The same came therefore to Philip, which was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and desired him, saying, Sir, we would see Jesus.
22 Philip cometh and telleth Andrew: and again Andrew and Philip tell Jesus.
23 And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified.
24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except [unless] a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
25 He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.
26 If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be [life eternal]: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.
27 Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour.
28 Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.
29 The people therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it thundered: others said, An angel spake to him.
30 Jesus answered and said, This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes.
31 Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.
32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.
33 This he said, signifying what death he should die (John 12:20-26).

The above questions suggest their own answers. These are the answers they suggest to me.

Who were the Greeks and why did they come to the Jewish Passover? Since the Law of Moses required all Israelites attend the Passover, and the Greeks “came up to worship at the feast,” we can safely say they were either Jews who lived in Greece or Greek converts to Judaism.

Why did they want to see Jesus? Curiosity might be the answer, but it does not fit Jesus’s response. Another reason might be that they had come to invite either Jesus himself or his representatives to come to Greece to teach the people there. If that were so, then that would account for the answer to the next question.

Why did their visit elicit Jesus’s prophecy and explanation of his own death and resurrection?
“Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.”

In the scriptures, verse numbers and breaks that come in the middle of an idea often divide the parts of the same idea from themselves. If Jesus words are read without the verse numbers then it appears that the grain of wheat that dies to produce new life may be as much about the apostles as it is about Jesus.

And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.

If that reading is coreect, then the next part might be understood differently also.

27 Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour.
28 Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again
29 The people therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it thundered: others said, An angel spake to him.
30 Jesus answered and said, This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes.
31 Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.
32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.
33 This he said, signifying what death he should die.

The conclusion of Jesus mission on this earth was not his resurrection but the 40 day ministry during which he prepared his apostles for their world wide missionary work. {1} Later, Jesus would give his apostles this explanation:

16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
17 These things I command you, that ye love one another.
18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you (John 15:16-19).

The analogy of a dying seed bringing forth new life was easily understood by the people in their agrarian society. It had been used by Isaiah as a promise that the dead who rise in the resurrection. Elsewhere I have identified Isaiah 61as a promise that the temple rites would be vicariously performed for the dead. That promise concludes with this imagery of the resurrection.

11 For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations ( Isaiah 61:11).

Paul also used this imagery to explain the resurrection.

34 Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.
35 But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come?
36 Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die:
37 And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain:
38 But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body.
39 All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds.
40 There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.
41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory.
42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:
43 It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:
44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
………………….
49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law (1 Corinthians 15:34-56).

Paul also used that imagery to say, as Amulek said, that this life is the time to prepare to meet God (Alma 34:32). It is true that people have an opportunity to repent and accept all priesthood and temple blessings in the post-mortal spirit world. However, repentance is still necessary because neither are our natures nor are our inclinations automatically changed simply because we make the transition through death to life in the pre-resurrection spirit world. Paul warned,

7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.
9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not (Galatians 6:7-9).

It is still the story of the seed. The principles of creation do not change. The seeds of the plants still bring forth fruit after their own kind. About our own bodies, the Lord instructed the Prophet Joseph,

29 Ye who are [present tense] quickened by a portion of the celestial glory shall then receive of the same, even a fulness (D&C 88:29).

And an ancient prophet promised, “Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy [hesed] (Hosea 10:12).”

Resurrecting of this earth, and of the people who live on it, will be the final act of our creation. The earth will be freed from the iniquity that has inhabited it and become the home of celestial beings. They will have a body that will give them power to experience a magnificent, unrestrained adventure.

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FOOTNOTE

{1} Matthew 24:12-15, 28:16-20; Mark 16:14-17; Luke 24:33-53; John 15:14-19, 21:1-25; Acts 1:1-10.

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John 12:12-15 — Jesus’s Triumphal Entry as an Acknowledgment of his Kingship — LeGrand Baker

Posted on April 25, 2016 by LeGrand Baker

Before he died, Jacob gave each of his 12 sons a patriarchal blessing. A description of Jesus’s kingship, his Triumphal Entry, his Atonement and second coming are all encoded in Judah’s blessing.

8 Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; thy father’s children shall bow down before thee.
9 Judah is a lion’s whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up?
10 The sceptre [of kingship] shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.
11 Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass’s colt unto the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes:
12 His eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk (Genesis 49:6-12). {1}

Notwithstanding the promise, by Jesus’s time the scepter of kingship had in fact departed from them, and no Jew had sat upon the throne of Judah for 600 years. But the Jews had not forgotten. They were deeply concerned about preserving their genealogies. For example, priests had to prove their descent from Levi in order to function in their priesthood, and even though the Zadok family no longer ruled as High Priests in Jerusalem after 150 B.C., they had retained their heritage in exile in Egypt. The identity of the royal family was also kept in the collective memory. Jesus’s genealogies in the New Testament, and the peoples enthusiasm about his entry into Jerusalem testify that they knew who their legitimate king should be.

The prophet Zechariah had promised that the King would come again.

9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.
10 And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace unto the heathen: and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth.
11 As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water (Zechariah 9:9-11).

Zechariah’s prophecy was literally fulfilled in Jesus’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Each of the four gospels describe the event.

1 And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples,
2 Saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me.
3 And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them.
4 All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying,
5 Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass.
6 And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them,
7 And brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon.
8 And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way.
9 And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.
10 And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this?
11 And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee.
12 And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, cerebrate overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves (Matthew 21:1-12).

As I pointed out last time, in the Feast of Tabernacles temple drama, the king, the Ark of the Covenant (representing the presence of Jehovah) and all the people made a grand, joyous procession around the city, through its gates, and into the temple where the king received his coronation rites.

In Jesus’s Triumphal Procession we see that same pattern, a joyous procession where the people hailed their king and led him into the city. Then Jesus also went to the temple, but not to receive his coronation, rather to assert his rights of priesthood and kingship by cleansing the temple of the avarice and corruption of the Jewish leaders.
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1 And when they came nigh to Jerusalem, unto Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount of Olives, he sendeth forth two of his disciples,
2 And saith unto them, Go your way into the village over against you: and as soon as ye be entered into it, ye shall find a colt tied, whereon never man sat; loose him, and bring him.
3 And if any man say unto you, Why do ye this? say ye that the Lord hath need of him; and straightway he will send him hither.
4 And they went their way, and found the colt tied by the door without in a place where two ways met; and they loose him.
5 And certain of them that stood there said unto them, What do ye, loosing the colt?
6 And they said unto them even as Jesus had commanded: and they let them go.
7 And they brought the colt to Jesus, and cast their garments on him; and he sat upon him.
8 And many spread their garments in the way: and others cut down branches off the trees, and strawed them in the way.
9 And they that went before, and they that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna; Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord:
10 Blessed be the kingdom of our father David, that cometh in the name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest.
11 And Jesus entered into Jerusalem, and into the temple: and when he had looked round about upon all things, and now the eventide was come, he went out unto Bethany with the twelve (Mark 11:1-11).

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28 And when he had thus spoken, he went before, ascending up to Jerusalem.
29 And it came to pass, when he was come nigh to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount called the mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples,
30 Saying, Go ye into the village over against you; in the which at your entering ye shall find a colt tied, whereon yet never man sat: loose him, and bring him hither.
31 And if any man ask you, Why do ye loose him? thus shall ye say unto him, Because the Lord hath need of him.
32 And they that were sent went their way, and found even as he had said unto them.
33 And as they were loosing the colt, the owners thereof said unto them, Why loose ye the colt?
34 And they said, The Lord hath need of him.
35 And they brought him to Jesus: and they cast their garments upon the colt, and they set Jesus thereon.
36 And as he went, they spread their clothes in the way.
37 And when he was come nigh, even now at the descent of the mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen;
38 Saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest.
39 And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples.
40 And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.
41 And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it,
42 Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes.
43 For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side,
44 And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.
45 And he went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold therein, and them that bought;
46 Saying unto them, It is written, My house is the house of prayer: but ye have made it a den of thieves (Luke 19:28-46).

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12 On the next day much people that were come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem,
13 Took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.
14 And Jesus, when he had found a young ass, sat thereon; as it is written,
15 Fear not, daughter of Sion: behold, thy King cometh, sitting on an ass’s colt (John 12:12-15).

In the ancient ceremony, as the people danced and sang in this triumphal procession around the city, they were measuring it with their steps, re-defining it as sacred space. They were creating a New Jerusalem with a new Temple, and the people had become Zion. C. L. Seow described the procession as an expression of triumph:

As in comparable rituals from elsewhere in the ancient Near East, the procession was conducted in joy by priests and other cultic participants. It culminated in a feast celebrating the occasion and symbolizing the deity’s acceptance of the city as the divine abode from which blessings would be dispensed to the multitudes. The psalm concludes with a promise by the deity:

17 There I will cause a horn to sprout for David; I will prepare lamp for my anointed.
18 His enemies I will clothe with shame, But on him his crown will gleam (Psalm 132:17-18). {2}

Aubrey Johnson understood this uniting of the king and the people as a “triumph of righteousness.”

In the renewed life of the king, the people live again; his ‘Salvation’ is also their ‘Salvation’. The key to life is SEDEK or ‘righteousness,’the loyal functioning of the corporate whole. Thus the procession of the ‘righteous’ moves forward through ‘the Gates of Righteousness;’ through ‘the Gate wherein the righteous do enter,’ to continue the ritual. {3}

The procession was a time or rejoicing. Together all the people sang and danced their way around the city, as is shown in Psalm 68:

24 They have seen thy goings, O God; even the goings of my God, my King, in the sanctuary
25 The singers went before, the players on intruments followed after: among them the damsels playing with timbrels (Psalm 68:24-25).

Gary A. Anderson understood this singing and dancing to be very literal:

The experience of deliverance in this psalm is not characterized by a simple journey to the Temple to praise God. The psalmist declares that his deliverance can be observed in his own ritual movement. His state of mourning has become dancing, and his sack cloth has been replaced by festive attire. The ritual movement from mourning to joy has mirrored a spatial movement from Sheol to Temple, from the absence of God to the presence of God.{4}

J. Blenkinsopp made this point very well:

We begin from the supposition that the entry into Jerusalem, as recorded in all four gospels, is conceived both as messianic and royal parousia. That the First and the Fourth Gospels see it as messianic event is conveyed explicitly by the quotation from Zech 9: 9, but there are indications enough in Mark that he saw it in a similar light. The passing over the Mount of Olives with its unmistakable associations, the ass ‘upon which no man had ever sat,’ the wording of the acclamations to ‘the one that is to come’ point in this direction; and the entry has its expected climax—though not on the same day—in the cleansing of the temple. The significance of most of these elements is very much accentuated by Luke, who makes the progress to Jerusalem centrally thematic in his presentation of the public ministry—beginning from the decisive turning point of 9:51. In particular, we note that the great rejoicing of the disciples begins at the descent of the Mount of Olives, which is, in a special way for Luke, the mountain of revelation and of the Messiah—the scene of his last teaching both before and after the Resurrection, of the eschatological discourse, of his taking up and return.”{5}

As they approached the gates of the city, they sang the 24th Psalm. Some modern scholars have called this psalm a “temple recommend.”

1 The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.
2 For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods.
3 Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place?
4 He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.
5 He shall receive the blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
6 This is the generation of them that seek him, that seek thy face, O Jacob.
7 Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.
8 Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle.
9 Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors;
and the King of glory shall come in.
10 Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory (Psalm 24:1-10).

“Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.” The psalm was not only a command that the doors of the city be opened, it was also a implicit declaration of their own worthiness to enter the Temple. The king, and symbolically all the people, entered into the Temple itself. They were in sacred space and in sacred time.

When the people accompanied Jesus into Jerusalem, they hoped to be recreating that sacred event. BUT:

47 …But the chief priests and the scribes and the chief of the people sought to destroy him,
48 And could not find what they might do: for all the people were very attentive to hear him (Luke 19:28-48).

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FOOTNOTES

{1} Several scrilptures mention that the Savior will be dressed in red garments: Isaiah 63:1-9; Luke 22:42-47; Revelation 19:9-16; D&C 76:107-110, 88:102-109, 133:45-50).

{2} C. L. Seow, Myth, Drama, and the Politics of David’s Dance (Atlanta: Scholars, 1989), 196.

{3} Aubrey Johnson, “The Role of the King in the Jerusalem Cultus.” in The Labyrinth: Further Studies in the Relation between Myth and Ritual in the Ancient World, edited by S. H. Hooke. 73-111 (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1935),106.
Johnson’’s “SEDEK” is the same word as zedek.

{4} Gary A. Anderson, A Time to Mourn, A Time to Dance: The Expression of Grief and Joy in Israelite Religion (University Park, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1991), 91.

{5} J. Blenkinsopp, “The Oracle of Judah and the Messianic Entry,” Journal of Biblical Literature, 80 (1961): 55-64.

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John 12:12-16 — The Ancient Israelite Temple Drama, precursor to the Savior’s Triumphal Procession — LeGrand Baker

Posted on April 18, 2016 by LeGrand Baker

It is probable that the Savior’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem expressed a ethnic memory of the ancient Israelite Feast of Tabernacles temple drama. Those temple rites had not been practice by the Jews since before the destruction of Solomon’s Temple 600 years earlier, but the New Testament contains ample evidence that some of the rituals had not been forgotten.

12 On the next day much people that were come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem,
13 Took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.
14 And Jesus, when he had found a young ass, sat thereon; as it is written,
15 Fear not, daughter of Sion: behold, thy King cometh, sitting on an ass’s colt.
16 These things understood not his disciples at the first: but when Jesus was glorified, then remembered they that these things were written of him, and that they had done these things unto him (John 12:12-16).

Part 1 of Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord uses the Psalms to make is a partial reconstruction of that ancient Feast of Tabernacles temple services, including the re-coronation of the king that was the conclusion of the temple rites. The king’s re-coronation was preceded by his triumphal entry into the city and then into the temple.

Before we discuss the Savor’s Triumphal Entry, it seems appropriate to review its ancient ceremonial precedent.

The New Year Festival began on the first day of the new year and continued for 22 days. The last eight of those 22 days was the Feast of Tabernacles temple drama. The Jews lost their king (who was the main actor of the drama), their Temple, and the Melchizedek Priesthood when Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem and transported many of the Jews to Babylon as slaves. After 70 years some of the Jews were allowed to return and build a different temple, but they shifted their ceremonial focus from the Feast of Tabernacles to the Passover, and the temple rites were never performed again.

The ceremonies began on New Year’s day (Rosh ha-Shanah) with sacrifices, feasting, and jubilation. That was followed by eight days of solemn preparations for Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.

The Day of Atonement was the only fast day required by the Law of Moses. It was celebrated on the tenth day of the first month of the year, and was a time for repentance and cleansing. The Lord had instructed Moses that on that day Aaron was to take two young male goats, and by lot select one to be sacrificed as a sin offering. The High Priest laid his hands on the other and transferred to it all of the sins of the people of Israel. Then the goat was driven away. Tradition holds that it was driven over a cliff to make sure it could not return.

The ceremonial cleansing of the nation was a necessary prerequisite to the Feast of Tabernacles temple drama that would follow. Now that the people had become clean, they could symbolically enter into God’s celestial temple to participate in the re-enactment of the premortal events portrayed during the first scenes of their temple drama.

After Yom Kippur, the eleventh through fourteenth days were used for preparing for the Feast of Tabernacles. During those four days, the people constructed “tabernacles” or booths—actually temporary huts—made of wood, with tree branches and leaves as a covering. The tabernacles were built near the city, and were the homes for individual families during the remaining eight days of the celebration. The Feast of Tabernacles and its temple drama began on the 15th day of the festival, and continued through the 22nd day, when the festival concluded.

At Jerusalem, large portions of the drama were probably staged outside, something like our modern-day pageants. Some parts of the performances took place within the city, and others outside of its walls. Some occurred in the Temple itself. All the nation participated in the drama, either on the stage, in the choirs, or as part of the audience. The subject of the play covered the full panoramic scope of cosmic history—from the Council in Heaven before the foundation of the world, through linear time, and concluding with Jehovah’s ultimate triumph over evil, and his reign on a glorified paradisiacal earth.

The drama was performed (except when apostate kings prevented it) each year during the approximately 400 years between Solomon’s reign and the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in the time of Zedekiah, which was also about the time Lehi left Jerusalem.

Following is a brief review of the pre-Exilic eight-day Feast of Tabernacles temple drama as it is reconstructed in Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord (a PDF copy is in “published books” on this website).

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The drama is in three acts, premortal, mortal, and postmortal. Days 1, 2, and 3 were devoted to the beginning events of the ancient Israelite temple drama.

Act 1, The Council in Heaven in the ancient Israelite temple drama.

Covenants made at the Council
The creation
The Garden, the creation of man

Act 2, The Mortal World in the ancient Israelite temple drama.

After Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden, events portrayed in the drama showed that the king (and symbolically all the men in the congregation) received all of ordinances of priesthood and kingship, including the king’s being anointed to become king. After those preparations, there was a ritual combat when the city is attacked by Israel’s enemies. Symbolically, Jerusalem and its Temple are destroyed; the king was killed and entered the world of the dead.

During days 4, 5, and 6, while the king remained among the dead, the drama focused on the life and Atonement of the Savior; then on his mission among the dead, and finally on his resurrection. Jehovah himself went into the Underworld to rescue the king from death and hell.

On the morning of day 7, Jehovah (represented by the Ark of the Covenant) and the rescued king, emerged from the Underworld. They are joined by all the people in a grand procession that was virtually a dance around the outer walls of the city. By their steps, they measured the city, recreating Jerusalem as sacred space. They stopped at a spring where the king (and symbolically, everyone present) is washed and made clean. The precession entered the city, the gates of the temple precinct and the doors of the Solomon’s Temple are opened. The king entered the Temple, where, in view of everyone outside, he was dressed in sacred robes, anointed, crowned, and given a new name. This coronation and the events that follow were the culminating events of the drama.

It was Jehovah and the king’s triumph and procession that the people of Jerusalem were remembering when they celebrated Jesus’s entering the city riding a white colt.

In the drama, after his coronation, the king entered the Holy of Holies through the Veil of Solomon’s Temple. Now, as an adopted son of God and legitimate heir to his kingdom, the king sat on the Temple throne and gave a lecture to the people. (There are no examples of that lecture in the Old Testament, but in the Book of Mormon there are probably three: Jacob’s temple sermon in 2 Nephi, King Benjamin’s sermon, and the Savior’s sermon at the temple.)

Act 3, The Day of the Great Feast in the ancient Israelite temple drama.

Day 8, the festival concluded with a day of sacrificing, feasting, rejoicing, and celebration, representing the fulfillment of Jehovah’s covenants and his millennial reign. This was a symbolic return to the Garden and to the presence of God, where one was again adorned in a garment of light. Now the man and his wife may eat freely of the fruit of the tree of life and drink the waters of live.

It was probably during this last day of celebration that they sang the 23rd Psalm, which is a microcosm of the entire ancient Israelite temple drama in three acts.

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The Twenty-third Psalm
Act 1, The Premortal World
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
He leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul:
He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness
For his name’s sake.

Act 2, The Mortal World
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil:
For thou art with me;
Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:
Thou anointest my head with oil;
My cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:

Act 3, The Eternal World
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever

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John 11:45-48 — ‘the Romans shall come and take away both our place [wealth] and nation’ — LeGrand Baker

Posted on April 10, 2016 by LeGrand Baker

Hidden not very deeply under those words is the avaricious rational behind the Jewish leaders’ determination that Jesus must die — the enormous wealth of the Temple along with their own cultural and political power.

45 Then many of the Jews which came to Mary, and had seen the things which Jesus did, believed on him.
46 But some of them went their ways to the Pharisees, and told them what things Jesus had done.
47 Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and said, What do we? for this man doeth many miracles.
48 If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation (John 11:45-48).

Jesus’s genealogies in the gospels shows that he was the legitimate heir to the ancient Jewish throne (read that “king,” “Messiah,” or “anointed one”), but no member of that family had ruled since Zedekiah was captured and killed by Nebuchadnezzar, 600 years earlier. However, the regal line was remembered. The title by which Jesus was known, “Son of David,” and the celebration of his “triumphal entry” affirm that his royal heritage was both known and accepted by many of the people. At that time, Judea was ruled by the Romans, but the cultural and political power associated with the Temple were the dominion of the Jewish elite. If there were a popular uprising to put Jesus on the throne, all that would surely end.

But there was more at stake than cultural and political power. GOLD ! — lots and lots of gold, and it was all controlled by the High Priest and the Jewish hierarchy.

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On one of the stones in the Roman Colosseum there is a pattern of holes. Scholars believe the holes were where metal letters were attached to the stone, and that the holes can actually be read. Their conclusion is that the holes say that after A.D. 70, when Titus sacked Jerusalem, he used the fabulous treasures taken from the city and the temple to pay for building the Roman Colosseum.

Louis Feldman’s article “Financing the Colosseum” (Biblical Archaeology Review, July/August 2001), explains the way the holes on the stone were deciphered, but he also shows that the wealth taken from the temple and the city would have more than enough to pay for its construction.

Fildman reports that in 1995, Professor Gaza Alfoldy of the University of Heidelberg published a decipherment of the inscription based on these holes. As reconstructed by Professor Alfoldy, the inscription reads: “The Emperor Titus Caesar Vespasian Augustus ordered the new amphitheater to be made from the (proceeds from the sale of the) booty.” Fildman then asks where the booty came from, and concludes that of all the Roman wars fought at that time, only the sacking of Jerusalem could have produced such wealth.

Fildman’s article is fascinating, but what interests us here is his evidence that the Jewish treasure would have been more than sufficient to finance the construction of the Colosseum. The excerpts that follow describe that wealth.

By contrast [to other Roman wars], we know that the Romans acquired tremendous treasures in their conquest of Judea, especially in Jerusalem, and above all from the Temple, which Herod had renovated at extraordinary expense and which was still being reconstructed almost on the very eve of its destruction in 70 C.E.41 The Letter of Aristeas states that the Temple “was built with a lavishness and sumptuousness beyond all precedent. From the construction of the doorway and its fastenings to the door-posts and the solid nature of the lintel, it was obvious that no expense had been spared.”
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Josephus remarks that it lacked nothing that could astound either one’s soul or one’s eyes. “Being covered on all sides with massive plates of gold,” he adds, “the sun was no sooner up than it radiated so fiery a flash that persons straining to look at it were compelled to avert their eyes, as from solar rays.”
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We hear specifically of treasures that were delivered over to the victorious Romans by priests, including lampstands, tables, bowls and platters, all of solid gold and very massive, as well as many other treasures and sacred ornaments. In particular, Josephus asserts that the altar and lampstand, both made of gold, weighed no less than two talents (approximately 66 pounds). When the Temple was razed the Romans burnt the treasury chambers, “in which lay infinite [apeiron, `boundless] sums of money, infinite [again the word used is apeiroi] piles of raiment, and other valuables; for this, in short, was the general repository of Jewish wealth, to which the rich had consigned the contents of their dismanded houses.” The Romans presumably saved for themselves at least some of these valuables.

Many people donated houses and fields to the Temple, which were then sold and the proceeds deposited in the Temple treasury. Moreover, the Temple served as a bank for widows and orphans, who entrusted their deposits to it.
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When the Romans entered the Temple court, “so glutted with plunder were the troops, one and all, that throughout Syria the standard of gold was depreciated to half its former value.”

Moreover, according to Josephus, 97,000 Jews were taken prisoner during the war with the Romans (this may be the source of the tradition, otherwise unattested, that Jews actually built the Colosseum) [Human backs and hands were the machines that did the work, and slaves were as valuable as gold.]
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Josephus says that it is impossible to describe the diversity of riches that were displayed in the triumphal procession in Rome after Jerusalem was destroyed-silver and gold in masses flowing like a river. “The spoils in general,” he says, “were borne in promiscuous heaps; but conspicuous above all stood out those captured in the temple at Jerusalem.” The reliefs on the Arch of Titus apparently depict only a small portion of the spoil taken by the Romans. According to Josephus, Vespasian deposited the vessels of gold from the Temple in the Temple of Peace that he established in the Roman Forum, but almost nothing has remained of this building. Josephus adds that Vespasian deposited the Law (nomos), presumably a Torah scroll, of the Jews and the purple hangings of the sanctuary [veil] of the Temple in his palace.
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Moreover, the Colosseum was not the only structure built from the money of the spoils. According to a sixth-century Christian historian, John Malalas, out of the spoils from Judea Vespasian built in Antioch, outside the city gate, what are known as the Cherubim, so called because he placed there the cherubim that Titus had taken from the Temple in Jerusalem. He also built in Antioch the theater of Daphne, inscribing on it “Ex praeda Iudaea,” that is, “from the Judean booty,” having destroyed a synagogue that was located at the site, in order to insult the Jews. Malalas also notes that Vespasian built in Caesarea, likewise from the spoils from Judea, a very large odeum, or concert hall, the size of a large theater on a site of what had formerly been a synagogue.

Not only did the Temple treasury contain enormous wealth, but it was their never-ending source of a continually flowing river of more money. The Jewish leaders understood that they could buy anything with money and their control of the Temple gave them an unlimited perpetual income. Fildman explains:

According to Exodus 30:11-16, every male Jew over the age of 20 had to contribute a half shekel to the Temple each year. If, as there is good reason to believe, the number of Jews was somewhere between four and eight million, and if, as apparently was the case, the great majority of Jews faithfully contributed this amount, the total collected must have been enormous. Cicero mentions that in four cities of Asia Minor (a province that was admittedly wealthy but probably not the wealthiest) 220 pounds of gold intended for the Temple were seized by the Roman governor Flaccus in 59 B.C.E.

All this information creates an entirely new scenario. Jerusalem was not a little back-water provincial city that was just a thorn in the side of the Roman Empire. The Jews had wealth and they knew how to wield it to influence contemporary policy and events. That was what made Jesus’s life very expendable.

47 Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and said, What do we? for this man doeth many miracles.
48 If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation (John 11:45-48).

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