Former disciple turned informer hangs himself

From Matthew:

When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty silver coins to the chief priests and the elders. “I have sinned,” he said, “for I have betrayed innocent blood.”

“What is that to us?” they replied. “That’s your responsibility.”

So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.

The chief priests picked up the coins and said, “It is against the law to put this into the treasury, since it is blood money.” So they decided to use the money to buy the potter’s field as a burial place for foreigners. 8That is why it has been called the Field of Blood to this day. Then what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: “They took the thirty silver coins, the price set on him by the people of Israel, and they used them to buy the potter’s field, as the Lord commanded me.” (Matthew 27:3-9)

Text of title which Roman procurator places on cross angers local religious leaders

From the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John:

Above his head they placed the written charge against him: THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS. (Matthew 27:37)

The written notice of the charge against him read: THE KING OF THE JEWS. (Mark 15:26)

There was a written notice above him, which read: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS. (Luke 23:38)

Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS. Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews.” Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.” (John 19:19-22)

Text taken from the title which the Roman procurator, Pontius Pilate, placed on cross:

IESVS·NAZARENVS·REX·IVDÆORVM
Ἰησοῦς ὁ Ναζωραῖος ὁ Bασιλεὺς τῶν Ἰουδαίων
ישוע הנצרי ומלך היהודים

English translation: Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews

Doubts raised over legitimacy of trial

Serious doubts have been raised over the legitimacy of Messianic pretender, Jeshua ben David’s, trial, in reality a series of hearings before different authorities, and under precisely whose jurisdiction he was executed.

Following his arrest in Gat-Sh’manim, or Gethsemane, he was brought before the deposed Cohen Hagadol, or High Priest, Annan (in Greek, Annas), which produced no formal result.

Bystanders spooked by strange goings on at crucifixion

As reported in Matthew:

From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?”—which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” When some of those standing there heard this, they said, “He’s calling Elijah.” Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a stick, and offered it to Jesus to drink. The rest said, “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to save him.” And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus’ resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people. When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!”

As reported by Luke:

It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last. The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, “Surely this was a righteous man.” When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away. But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.

John Adams: God Damn America

Steven Waldman | Huffington Post | March 20, 2008

As I alternate between reruns of Jeremiah Wrights “God Damn America” tirade and first-runs of the HBO’s John Adams series, I see a surprising connection. Like many of the Revolutionary era, Adams believed that if we weren’t careful, God would damn us or at least withdraw his support.

At some points during the war, Adams feared that the cause would fail because he saw too much greed and commercialism in the colonies. “I have seen all my life such selfishness and littleness even in New England, that I sometimes tremble to think that, although we are engaged in the best cause that ever employed the human heart, yet the prospect of success is doubtful not for want of power or wisdom but of virtue.” During the revolution, Adams — evoking the manner of his Puritan ancestors — told his friend Benjamin Rush that the colonials would only have a chance of winning, “if we fear God and repent our sins.” He even speculated that God might intend for America to be defeated so that its “vicious and luxurious and effeminate appetites, passion and habits” would be cleansed, laying the foundation for a more-deserved victory in the future.

Adams wasn’t alone in seeing the events on the ground as a reflection — positive and negative — of God’s assessment. One minister ascribed the Continental Army’s difficulties to the presence of slavery. Noting the brutal winter, the poor crops, the loss of cattle, and the seemingly imminent collapse of the army, a Quaker farmer speculated that it was part of a divinely-ordained set of plagues. When on July 20, 1775 the Continental Congress called for a day of prayer, it was accompanied by a call for fasting, self-reflection and a unified effort to “unfeignedly confess and deplore our many sins.”

I don’t mean this as a defense of Jeremiah Wright (or John Adams). It’s just a reminder that there’s a long tradition among preachers and politicians of asserting that if God is to bless us when we’re good, He may damn us when we’re bad.