Day 8 Part 3... Going to the Temple...

The Temple at the time of Christ. A) Holy of Holies, B) Outer Holy Place, C) Outer Curtain, D) Altar of Burnt Offering, E) Slaughter Areas, F) Chamber of Hewn Stone (Sanhedrin Hall), G) Counsellor's Chamber, H) House of Abtinas, I) Chamber of Wood, J) Court of Priests, K) Court of Israel, L) Steps to Nicanor Gate, M) Eastern Gate. Diagram by Norman Tenedora.

Re-Capping.
Last time we started at Friday the 14th of Nisan with Christ and his disciples eating the Passover meal.

We read the scriptures that took us through the nighttime supper, reminding us of what Christ said and did.

We followed Christ and the 11 disciples from the upper room to (where ever) they stopped and gathered to hear more of Christ’s teaching and prayers. Jesus went from (that) place in Jerusalem to the garden on the Mount of Olives, where Christ was arrested and taken to the Temple complex for a pre-trail and then as it became light, the dawning of the daytime of the Passover day as we concluded.

We now pick up the story of when Christ is taken from the Palace of the High Priest, to inside the Temple itself, and then into the Chamber of Hewn Stone within the Temple, for the official trail of the Jewish supreme court.

Friday 14th of Nisan [Wednesday the 12th April 2006].
[The Passover is two days before Good Friday this year].
Passover – Crucifixion

Crucifixion & Death. Israel time.
On the Cross: 9:00am = 11:00pm Tuesday11th April 06 Vancouver time
Death: 3:00pm = 5:00am Wednesday12th April 06 Vancouver time

Luke 22:66 As soon as it was day, the elders of the people, both chief priests and scribes, came together and led Him into their council.
Matt 26:59. Now the chief priests, the elders, and all the council sought false testimony against Jesus to put Him to death, but found none. Even though many false witnesses came forward, they found none.
Mk14.56 For many bore false witness against Him, but their testimonies did not agree.
Mt26.60-67. But at last two false witnesses came forward and said, "This fellow said, 'I am able to destroy the temple of God and to build it in three days.'" And the high priest arose and said to Him, "Do You answer nothing? What is it these men testify against You?" But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest answered and said to Him, "I put You under oath by the living God: Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God!" Jesus said to him, "It is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven." Then the high priest tore his clothes, saying, "He has spoken blasphemy! What further need do we have of witnesses? Look, now you have heard His blasphemy! What do you think?" They answered and said, "He is deserving of death."
Mk14.65. Then some began to spit on Him, and to blindfold Him, and to beat Him, and to say to Him, "Prophesy!" And the officers struck Him with the palms of their hands. Mt26.68. saying, "Prophesy to us, Christ! Who is the one who struck You?"

Arthur Action reporting.
From the bottom drawing on the page 1 we see the place of the “Chamber of Hewn Stone”, and the eastern entrance of the Temple. East is facing the Mount of Olives. The bridge in the 2nddrawing on page 2 goes across the Kidron stream, which is between the Temple mount and the Mount of Olives.

Christ was taken from the Temple across the double colonnades which was 600 feet long that connected the Temple and the fort as seen in the 2nd drawing.

Pilot came out to the Jews because they did not want to go into the fort for fear of being disqualified for the Passover.
As stated above the distance was only 600 plus feet. The longest distance Christ traveled at the time of his trials was to the residence of Herod, which is not known for sure, but would have to have been fairly close as to have Christ on the cross by 9:00am in the morning.

From the fort, he went through the east gate and across the Red Heifer Bridge then up to nearly the top of Mount of Olives. The photo on page 3 gives a realistic view from the Mount of Olives to the Temple mount.

The Temple would have been approximately in the far left of the picture, a little higher than the “Dome of the Rock”. The Temple towers’ south-eastern wall came out of the bottom of the Kidron Valley so that it incorporated the Gihon springs.

Jn18.28.We now see proof that the average Jews had not yet eaten the Passover and it is now early morning of the 14th of Nisan. Christ had already eaten it in the early hours of the previous night.

The only thing that could keep a Jew from keeping the Passover was coming in contact with a dead body. Now these religious leaders did not want to go into Fort Antonia as it was like a small Roman village within the boundaries of Jerusalem and there was always the threat that there was a dead body of someone that had not been buried yet. I again consulted with my new buddy Barnes and his explanation was as follows:
This defilement, produced by contact with a Gentile, they (the Jews) considered as equivalent to that of the contact of a dead body (Lev 22:4-6; Num 5:2), and as disqualifying them to partake of the Passover in a proper manner.

Jn18.28-32.Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas to the Praetorium, and it was early morning. But they themselves did not go into the Praetorium, lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover. Pilate then went out to them and said, "What accusation do you bring against this Man?" They answered and said to him, "If He were not an evildoer, we would not have delivered Him up to you." Then Pilate said to them, "You take Him and judge Him according to your law." Therefore the Jews said to him, "It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death," that the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled which He spoke, signifying by what death He would die.

I also looked up in the library some information on a scroll called the Pulpit Commentary and a scroll from Thayer, about the customs of the Romans at the times of the Jewish holy days. From what I could gather, Pilot was in the palace of Herod under ‘normal’ conditions, but in the fort at the time of the Holy days so he would be on hand if there was any trouble. Rumour has it that Pilots wife sent him a message, I believe it came from Herod’s palace, which would mean that Herod’s palace was their permanent residence.

From the Jerusalem Library (Pulpit Jn18.v28)

Praetorium – Pre-to-ri-um, to the imperial palace of the Roman governor. The word is used primarily for the general's tent in the Roman camps, and for the legal residence of the chief of a province. Now, the ordinary residence of the Roman governors was at Caesarea, but at the time of the great feasts they were in the habit of going up to Jerusalem, and at a later time than this (Josephus, 'Bell. Jud.,' 2:14. 8; 15:5) the governors utilized for this purpose the former palace of Herod, a gorgeous residence in the upper city. It is, however, more probable that Pilate occupied the palace of the Castle of Antonia, overlooking the northwest corner of the temple area, and having means of direct communication with it. Edersheim inclines to the palace of Herod, this from the high-priestly palace to the castle they led Jesus. It was early and is equivalent to the fourth watch of the night, between three and six o'clock. The breadth of the phrase would cover the period of the hurried council (see Matt 27.1; Mark 15:1.) and the session of Pilate. The Roman judgments were often conducted in early morning (Seneca, 'De Ira,' 2:7) - prima luce.] The council having in their indecent haste conveyed Jesus to the Praetorium, while (and17) they themselves went not into the Praetorium, 18 lest they should be defiled.

My friend Barnes gave me some very enlightening information on how time was measured in the days of Christ.

Matt 14:25. And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.
[And in the fourth watch of the night] The Jews anciently divided the night into three parts of four hours each, usually called watches. The first of these watches is mentioned in Lam 2:19, the middle watch in Judg 7:19, and the morning watch in Ex 14:24. In the time of our Saviour they divided the night into four watches, the fourth having been introduced by the Romans. These watches consisted of three hours each.

The first commenced at six and continued until nine; the second from nine to twelve; the third from twelve to three; and the fourth from three to six.
The first was called evening; the second midnight; the third cock-crowing; the fourth morning, Mark 13:35.

It is probable that the term watch was given to each of these divisions from the practice of placing sentinels around the camp in time of war, or in cities, to watch or guard the camp or city; and that they were at first relieved three times in the night, but under the Romans four times. It was in the last of these watches, or between three and six in the morning, that Jesus appeared to the disciples, so that he had spent most of the night alone on the mountain in prayer.

Mark 15:25. (1) The Jews divided both the night and the day into four equal parts of three hours each. See the notes at Matt 14:25.

The first division of the day commenced at six o'clock in the morning, and ended at nine; the second commenced at nine and ended at twelve, etc. "The third" hour mentioned by Mark would therefore correspond with our nine o'clock; the "sixth" hour mentioned by John would correspond with our twelve, or noon.

4232 (Thayer) praitorion-
1) "headquarters" in a Roman camp, the tent of the commander-in-chief
2) the palace in which the governor or procurator of a province resided, to which use the Romans were accustomed to appropriate the palaces already existing, and formerly dwelt in by kings or princes; at Jerusalem it was a magnificent palace which Herod the Great had built for himself, and which the Roman procurators seemed to have occupied whenever they came from Caesarea to Jerusalem to transact public business
3) The camp of the Praetorian soldiers established by Tiberius

As soon as the religious leaders and the crowd mentioned Galilee, Pilot thought that he had a “out” because that would put Christ in Herod’s jurisdiction, so Pilot send Christ over to Herod.

It is difficult to say for sure where Herod, the Tetrarch(ruler) for the Galilean area was, he would not have been at his own palace as Pilot had taken that over. Lk23.6. But Herod had come to the Passover and the feast, meaning he resided some where else for most of the year. It is more probable he went to the palace of the Hasmoneans which lay lower down on the eastern slope of this southwest hill, where at a later time Josephus [a Jewish historian, contemporary with Christ] expressly states that Herod Agrippa II and his sister Bernice were living. (Wars, II, xvi)(Int Standard Enc)
Herod would not have been in the fort as a guest of Pilot as they did not get along with each other. Herod had to be close to the temple and Fort Antonia for Christ to be on that cross by 9:00am. Especially, when you think that he had to walk, after a sleepless night and a whipping at Fort Antonia, out of the east gate of the fort, down and across the red heifer bridge, and then the climb up to near the summit of the Mount of Olives, where he was crucified.

I called upon my friend Barnes again to give me more information on this situation.
[Herod's jurisdiction] Herod Antipas, a son of Herod the Great. This was the same Herod that put John the Baptist to death. Jesus had passed the most of his life in the part of the country where he ruled, and it was, therefore, considered that he belonged to his jurisdiction-- that is, that it belonged to Herod, not to Pilate, to try this cause.
[Herod with his men of war] With his soldiers, or his body-guard. It is probable that in traveling he had "a guard" to attend him constantly.

to be continued...