It's Black Jesus, Part Two: Long Day at The Mount of Olives

This is a portrait of what Jesus might actually have looked like -- based on a first century skull (and Jesus' African-Asiatic bloodlines) by medical artist Richard Neave for Jesus: The Complete Story.

Yesterday Jesus went to his house of worship and saw that it had become a marketplace -- so he literally braided a whip and cleaned house. What in the world happened today?

After he and his associates pass that fig tree, they go back to the Temple, where Jesus is confronted by the religious leaders who try to ensnare him in some sort of an argument that will create an opportunity for his arrest.  After he flummoxes them and chews them out, he gives them the slip and leaves the city for the Mount of Olives, where -- prompted by the disciples casually admiring the Temple's architecture -- gives a prophesy on its destruction and then launches into what Biblical scholars call the Olivet Discourse, wherein he talks at length about the end times in parables.

This is also the day that Judas Iscariot negotiates with The Sanhedrin and makes arrangements to betray Jesus.

What a long, pivotal, exhausting day.

Matthew 24
Now Jesus left the temple and was going away. His disciples came to point out to him the temple buildings. ² He responded, “Do you see all these things? I assure that no stone will be left on another. Everything will be demolished.”

As Jesus predicted, the Temple was destroyed -- in 70 AD when the Romans torched it.  Apparently, the fire melted the gold in the Temple, which ran down into the cracks in the stone walls. Later, people searched for that gold, knocking over the stones to find any of it.

Interesting stuff.

I can't even begin to touch the history of this region with a stick -- and yet, a little history goes a long way...!

The Mount of Olives (it was covered with olive trees at one point, hence the name) is one of three mountain ridges -- Mount Scopus to the north and Mount of Corruption (or Mount of Offense) to the south -- located east of Jerusalem's Old City, in an area called The Valley of Jehoshophat.  The ridge isn't suitable for construction, so man-made burial caves were built.  A portion of the mount has been a necropolis for well over 3,000 years -- with an estimated 150,000 graves.  (A Jewish group is in the process of mapping every tombstone there.) Several Old Testament prophets are buried there. So is Absalom.

In Jesus day, Jerusalem was known as "the city of seven hills". Interestingly, so was Rome.

                                                           Arial photograph of the Mount of Olives

Today's Bonus is the TV documentary Jesus: The Complete Story.


                                               Volume 1: The Beginnings


                                               Volume 2: The Mission

It's Black Jesus, Part One: Jesus Goes To Church And Beats The Brakes Off The Moneychangers!

Now that Passover is upon (some of) us and Sunday is Easter, I'm celebrating Holy Week (or Passion Week) with a daily dosage of Black Jesus. Here's today's heady installment -- Jesus Goes to Church and Beats the Brakes Off of the Moneychangers.  (And no, I can't get enough of this picture.)

 ^{Black Jesus and the Moneychangers}

Matthew 21
¹² Then Jesus went into the temple and threw out all those who were selling and buying there. He pushed over the tables used for currency exchange and the chairs of those who sold doves. ¹³ He said to them, “It’s written, My house will be called a house of prayer.  But you’ve made it a hideout for crooks.”

John 2
¹⁴ He found in the temple those who were selling cattle, sheep, and doves, as well as those involved in exchanging currency sitting there. ¹⁵ He made a whip from ropes and chased them all out of the temple, including the cattle and the sheep. He scattered the coins and overturned the tables of those who exchanged currency. ¹⁶ He said to the dove sellers, “Get these things out of here! Don’t make my Father’s house a place of business.” ¹⁷ His disciples remembered that it is written, Passion for your house consumes me.^[a]

A little context is usually a good idea.

Jesus and his disciples were amongst the many thousands of pilgrims that came to Jerusalem from all over the world for Passover.  The pilgrims had to exchange their currency to pay the required annual temple tax of a half shekel. Only Tyrian shekels were accepted by the Temple officials because they contained more silver than other coins. Conveniently enough, the moneychangers were there to provide that service -- with a fee that was shared with the Temple priest.  No need to search for animals to make the required sacrifices in the Temple.  Merchants were there to sell them to the highest bidder.  These exchanges turned the Temple into a bustling market, of sorts -- not the holy sacred place that God intended.  Needless to say, Jesus was pissed.

Well, I suppose a handmade whip is one way to clear the decks. Interesting that this happened right after Palm Sunday, on the last week of Jesus' life on earth.

Today's Bonus: the Good Times' Black Jesus episode!

Here's some good news: Aaron McGruder is bringing Black Jesus to Adult Swim this year -- featuring Charlie Murphy, Corey Holcomb and yes, John Witherspoon.  I wonder what Fox News' Megyn "Jesus is white" Kelly will have to say about it.

Speaking of Megyn "...and Santa is white, too" Kelly, I leave you with a panel discussion that includes Tim Wise. It's so much fun to watch him go off, in part because the white people aren't expecting him to sound like a black Baptist preacher.

Sunday Sermonette