Compromise?

(From Matthew 23)

It may surprise you to see my story included here. But once the opportunity was given to me, I just couldn’t pass it up. Perhaps you may think of me as an enemy of Jesus, but I assure you that I was not, at least not at first. Even though I was certain that he was not the Messiah that we were expecting, I still admired much about him. Yes, I did, truly. He had the potential to be a great prophet, but he wouldn’t listen, and he wouldn’t compromise. To this day, I still wonder why?

You see, I am a Pharisee. And I know, if you read the Gospels, that you will end up hating me. We always seemed to be opposed to Jesus. And the Gospel writers didn’t do us any favors either, failing to point out our good qualities, which were, in fact, many.

You should know that we weren’t always opposed to Jesus. But time and again, he acted in a way that challenged our authority and our traditions. And eventually, most of us, along with our chief priests and council, decided that he was just too much trouble. Something must be done, we concluded, to preserve the power structure that we worked so hard to maintain between our people and the Roman occupiers. 

At first, we simply challenged his views and his behaviors, hoping that Jesus would back off and temper his message. The attention that he gave to the poor, sick and oppressed did not sit well with us, especially since he seemed to have such a low opinion of the wealthy and of those in authority. Like us.

But our challenges didn’t work and Jesus began to force our hand, eventually traveling to the heart of our land, Jerusalem, where he openly portrayed himself as God’s son. And he also publicly called us out (see Matthew 23) in the strongest possible way. Our leaders had to do something, and they did. I understand that it might have seemed like a drastic action at the time, but Jesus, we felt, gave us no choice.

Gustave Doré: Dispute between Jesus and the Pharisees

It could have been different. So different, if he had just listened.

What would I have done? What would I have advised Jesus to do? Here is the strategy that I would have proposed to Jesus. Even today, I believe that following this strategy, Jesus would not have been crucified, but would instead have lived a long and productive life. And isn’t that what we all want? Surely, that is what Jesus wanted.

My strategy: First of all, Jesus should have met with the religious leaders of the day, obtaining their support for his ministry. He should have done that before going out in public, preaching and teaching. The chief priests, leading Pharisees and others, would have been open to guiding him. They would have taken him under their wing. And they would have advised Jesus on what to say (and what not to say), how to operate, and whom to choose as disciples.

With the endorsement of our religious leaders, Jesus could have openly taught in Jerusalem, not in the backwaters of Galilee. He would have been able to recruit strong disciples, educated men who already owned the respect of our leadership. Not the unwashed group that seemed attracted to him. And he would have been advised to have nothing to do with John the Baptist!

In fact, Jesus would have been well served, in the conflict between John and Herod (Mark 6), to take the side of Herod, just for the political advantage that would benefit him. Herod’s support would have been a valuable asset.

Surely, Jesus would have been advised to never leave the Jewish homeland (though he did), and to never associate with Gentiles, including Samaritans. Or with any other inferior group, including tax collectors, lepers, and other sinners. His healings would have been performed in conjunction with local priests and rabbis. And certainly not on the Sabbath!

Periodic public meetings with the council, as well as his endorsement of their authority in his gatherings, would have helped Jesus. We could have introduced him to all the prominent members of our community, helping him to raise funds for his ministry, and to give him the credibility associated with their positions of leadership.

Then, when asked by what authority he was healing, he could have answered that he had the support of the chief priests. 

I never met Jesus in person, so I suppose it’s possible that he never heard thoughts and suggestions like these. If he had, I don’t know how he would have reacted. Hopefully, he would have listened. I hope he would have considered these ideas and aligned himself with our leadership. That would have been the rational thing to do. Yes, rational. Cooperation is always rational, isn’t it?

But over time, Jesus seemed to behave more and more irrationally, increasingly challenging us, calling us out as hypocrites. Actually, Jesus seemed to think that hypocrisy was just about the worst sin of all.

Regardless, compromise was still available to him. Yes, it was.

All Jesus needed to do was to come to Jerusalem, and submit himself to the council’s leadership. Even after he had been teaching and healing in Galilee, and even after some of his outbursts against our authority, Jesus could still have come to a compromise position with us.

He would have had to confess, of course, that he was not, in fact, the Son of God.  He would have had to admit that all of his authority did not come from his “father” as he claimed. He would have had to disavow people like Zacchaeus, and the prostitutes and other disreputables who were attracted to him. In short, Jesus would have needed to compromise by becoming respectable! Was that too much to ask? Don’t we all want to be respectable?

Well, it’s too late now. Jesus didn’t compromise and as a result, he is dead and gone. Yes, I know that some assert that he was raised alive again. Alive! But really, that story might have been credible if Jesus had actually appeared in the flesh to some respected members of our leadership, for example, our chief priests or leading Pharisees. And in public, preferably. But instead, he allegedly appeared only in private, and only to a few of his rabble followers. Are we really supposed to believe them?

So, Jesus, this man of great promise, will soon fade from history. His followers will retreat back into their old lives, wondering, I suppose, what it all meant. It will be hard for anyone to remember Jesus as a martyr, since he seemed to work so hard to invite his own death. I don’t think of him as a victim. He always seemed firmly in charge of his own destiny, even though that destiny seemed so misdirected.

Personally, I have gone on to other tasks and activities. I stay very busy. But despite all my efforts, I have not forgotten Jesus. I wish I could. I’ve tried very hard to close the door on my memories of him, but surprisingly, it has been difficult. There was something about him, some deeper truths that won’t leave my conscious thoughts. I wish those thoughts would just disappear, but they won’t. And I don’t know why. They keep me up at night. And they cause me to question things that I never before questioned, and which even today, I would prefer to leave alone and just accept.

And finally, I must admit that my reflections of Jesus are changing from my original opinions. I would never confess this publicly, but Jesus seems to be working on me, from the inside, softening my heart and changing my rigid Pharisee attitudes, just a bit at a time. Maybe in a way, Jesus, the great teacher, is still teaching. Only now, he is teaching me how to love.

But please, please don’t tell anyone that I told you that!