The Rebellious Shepherd

There was not one Jesus Christ but two. The first was the Jesus who was born of a virgin birth, who walked on water, turned water into wine, raised people from the dead, and was himself resurrected after death. But the second, and perhaps even more remarkable, Jesus was a real-life his­to­rical figure, who lived in Palestine circa 4 BC to 33 AD, and who arguably changed the course of world history more than any other living person. Of the first Jesus, we know a good deal, thanks to Biblical sources; of the second, we know almost nothing. And that is something that author Reza Aslan sets out to address with this book.

Aslan seems to have the right credentials for the job. He has a master’s in theological studies from Harvard Divi­nity School and a PhD in the sociology of religions, is fluent in Biblical Greek and has spent most of his life studying the origins of Christianity. He looks at Jesus in his historical context, starting with a detailed introduction to 1st century Palestine, and its political, economic and religious milieu as a colony of the Roman empire. Jesus was born into this milieu and, according to Aslan, grew up to be an artisan. He was also a Jewish preacher who, in that troubled time and place, spread the message that a “kingdom of God” would soon come, to replace the oppressive Roman regime and its powerful local supporters, the Jewish priestly and mercantile elites.

Jesus’s proletarian movement culmina­ted in his leading a band of followers into the Temple—the Jewish holy of holies—in a move to “cleanse” it. It was, in effect, an attem­p­ted political coup d’etat. The authorities had to act swiftly to contain the threat this posed to the esta­blished order. They arrested Jesus, tried him, found him guilty, and crucified him.

What is significant, says Aslan, is that the crime Jesus was tried for was not blas­phemy but, in fact, sedition. This was a crime for which Roman law prescribed the extreme punishment of crucifixion, in order to deter any would-be secessionists who threatened the unity of the empire (it would have been much too extr­eme a punishment for a mere religi­ous preacher, no matter how irksome). Jesus, Aslan concludes, was essen­tially a political revolutionary, not someone who ever really inten­ded to start a religion. When he told the temple authorities, for example, to “give back to Caesar the pro­perty that belongs to Caesar, and give back to God the property that belongs to God”, it was basically a call for an independent, theocratic Israel, free from Roman rule, rather than words of wisdom on man’s duties to state and church.

Aslan goes on to say that the real, historical Jesus was not, as we think, a pacifist who believed in turning the other cheek. He was, in fact, a vigorous political warrior, defined by his statement of “I have not come to bring peace, but the sword”. So how did he come to acquire the gentle, “loving shepherd” image we know him for today? It was, apparently, a development that began long after his death, when the Romans crushed the Jewish revolt in 70 AD, and destroyed the temple. As a result of this new political reality, Jesus’s followers were compelled to temper their beli­efs—a development that ironically gave their faith a far wider appeal, and prope­lled its spread across the Roman empire, and beyond. Aslan’s version is, admittedly, not necessarily the gospel truth (no pun intended). But it is a histo­rian’s way of studying the facts of the times and carefully piecing together the probable truth based on those facts (the 296-page book, significantly, contains 52 pages of detailed historical endnotes.)

For us in India, this new theory about Jesus would have two interesting imp­lications. First, it seems to squelch the popular belief that Jesus spent his “missing” years in Kashmir; according to Aslan’s research, he spent those years right there in Galilee, spreading his message. And second, it prompts us to relook at St Thomas, who came to Kerala after Jesus’s death, in a rather different light: as a political refugee fleeing from the Roman authorities, rather than someone who came primarily to spread the teachings of Jesus in India. The book is a major bestseller internationally, having topped the New York Times and Amazon bestseller lists. Given its thought-provoking content, and its compelling presentation, that’s not surprising.