Sermon on the Mount?

Judea, during the Roman governorship, was not a place to lead crowds out into the desert.
War, 2.13.4. p. 483

These were such men  as deceived and deluded the people under pretence of divine inspiration, but were for procuring innovations and changes of the government; and these prevailed with the multitude to act like madmen, and went before them into the wilderness, as pretending that God would there show them the signal of liberty; but Felix thought this procedure to be the beginning of a revolt; so he sent some horsemen and foot men, both armed, and destroyed a great number of them.

But the nation of the Samaritans did not escape without tumults. The man who excited them to it, was one who thought lying a thing of little consequence, and who contrived everything so, that the multitude might be pleased; so he bade them get together on Mount Gerizzim, which is by them looked upon ass the most holy of all mountains... But Pilate prevented their going up, by seizing upon the roads with a great band of horsemen and footmen, who fell upon those that were gotten together... And when it came to an action, some of them they slew, and others of them they put to flight, and took a great many of them alive, the principal of whom, and also the most potent of those who had fled away, Pilate ordered to be slain.

The synoptic versions do not take the Roman occupation into account at all. Jesus attracts crowds wherever he went and not a peep from the Romans or the troops of their ally Herod Antipas. This is so highly unlikely that I have to dismiss the Sermon on the Mount as a pious fiction, including the miracle.
 

(Luke 9:10-17)  On their return the apostles told Jesus all they had done. He took them with him and withdrew privately to a city called Bethsaida. {11} When the crowds found out about it, they followed him; and he welcomed them, and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed to be cured. {12} The day was drawing to a close, and the twelve came to him and said, "Send the crowd away, so that they may go into the surrounding villages and countryside, to lodge and get provisions; for we are here in a deserted place." {13} But he said to them, "You give them something to eat." They said, "We have no more than five loaves and two fish--unless we are to go and buy food for all these people." {14} For there were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, "Make them sit down in groups of about fifty each." {15} They did so and made them all sit down. {16} And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. {17} And all ate and were filled. What was left over was gathered up, twelve baskets of broken pieces. [See also Mat.5:1,2 & 14:13-21, Lk. 6:17-20]

Gerasene Swine
 

This episode is one of the most puzzling of the miracles. Not just the miraculous element of the demons, but the whole setting. Jesus travels from Capernaum across the lake, destroys a herd of swine and immediately returns to Capernaum. Why?
 

Josephus, Jewish War bk.III	Pseudo Gospel of Barnabas	Luke 8:26-39
IX. 7. He (Vespasian) came with three Legions, and pitched his camp thirty furlongs off Tiberias,... IX. 8. Now the seniors of the people, and such as were of principal authority among them fled to the camp of the Romans... and fell down before Vespasian... and besought not to overlook them, nor to impute the madness of a few to the whole city, to spare a people who had been ever civil and obliging to the Romans. X. 5. Hereupon those that were upon the walls were seized with terror at the boldness of (Titus’) attempt, nor durst any one venture to fight with him or hinder him; so they left guarding the city, and some of these that were about Jesus fled over the country, while others of them ran down to the lake,.. X. 7. Now this lake of Gennesareth is so called from the country adjoining it... X. 8. The people of the country call it Capharnaum.... X. 9. Now those which were driven into the lake could neither fly to the land, where all was in their enemy’s hand... one might see the lake all bloody, and full of bodies, for not one of them escaped... The number of the slain,... was six thousand and five hundred.	21. 1. Jesus went up to Capernaum, and as he drew near to the city behold there came out of the tombs one that was possessed of a devil, and in such wise that no chain could hold him, and he did great harm to the man. The demons cried out through his mouth, saying: “O holy one of God, why are you come before the time to trouble us?” And they prayed him that he would not cast them forth. 2. Jesus asked them how many they were. They answered: “Six thousand six hundred and sixty-six.” When the disciples heard this they were affrighted, and prayed Jesus that he would depart. Then Jesus said: “Where is your faith? It is necessary that the demon should depart, and not I.” The demons therefore cried: “We will come out, but permit us to enter into those swine.” There were feeding there, near to the sea, about ten thousand swine belonging to the Canaanites. 3. Thereupon Jesus said: “Depart, and enter into the swine.” With a roar the demons entered into the swine, and cast them headlong into the sea. Then fled into the city they that fed the swine, and recounted all that had been brought to pass by Jesus. Accordingly the men of the city came forth and found Jesus and the man that was healed. The men were filled with fear and prayed Jesus that he would depart out of their borders. Jesus accordingly departed from them and went up into the parts of Tyre and Sidon.	Then they arrived at the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. As he stepped out on land, a man of the city who had demons met him. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he did not live in a house but in the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he fell down before him and shouted at the top of his voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me”-- for Jesus had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many times it had seized him; he was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the wilds.) Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” He said, “Legion”; for many demons had entered him. They begged him not to order them to go back into the abyss. Now there on the hillside a large herd of swine was feeding; and the demons begged Jesus to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. Then the demons came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned. When the swineherds saw what had happened, they ran off and told it in the city and in the country. Then people came out to see what had happened, and when they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. Those who had seen it told them how the one who had been possessed by demons had been healed. Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them; for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned.  Luke 10:15. And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? No, you will be brought down to Hades.

       Whiston’s Translation               After Rodney Blackhirst                         N.R.S.V.
 
 

The Gospel of Luke and consequently Acts are written as a conscious reworking of history into miracle. This is apparent in the episode of the Demoniac and the Gerasene Swine found in the Luke 8:26-39, (Mark 5:1-20 & Matthew 8:28-34).

There have always been problems with this episode. Why did Jesus cross the sea from Capernaum, only to return immediately? What is meant by “opposite Galilee,” how can one be “opposite” a lake? Why was the demon called “Legion?” Why did Jesus cast the demon(s) into swine? Why did the “Legion” destroy themselves in the sea? To whom did the swine belong, and why did they not demand payment for their lost property? What is the purpose of the whole episode?

These and other problems have been noticed by scholars. Sanders remarks in a recent work:

The story is strange on all counts. It is by far the most dramatic exorcism attributed to Jesus, and it combines exorcism with ‘nature’ - the swine. One of its details renders it unlikely. Gerasa is about thirty miles south-east of the Sea of Galilee, and there is no other large body of water around. Matthew shifts the scene to Gadara, six miles from the sea, perhaps thinking that this reduces the problem - though a six mile leap is just as impossible as one of thirty miles. I am at a loss to explain the story in the sense of finding a historical kernel. [Sanders, E.P., The Historical Figure of Jesus, Penguin, Harmonsworth, 1993, p. 155]

The solution to the ‘historical kernel’ is that it is to be found, not in the gospels or combination of them, but, in the History of Josephus. The location of the story is the core of the solution. I suggest Capernaum as the disputed location. Outside of the Bible there are two mentions of Capernaum.

The first, Josephus’ War, is a straight-forward account of a successful military campaign. The second, Pseudo-Gospel of Barnabas, gives the gospel miracle but sets the scene, properly, in Capernaum. Luke, gives us a miracle across the lake. If we change Gerasenes to Capernaum Luke would conform to the other accounts, especially Josephus.

In any case we are led to one of two conclusions:
(I) We believe Jesus crossed the lake merely to demonstrate to his disciples how he could work a miracle to destroy swine and then returned immediately to Capernaum - or;
(II) The account in Luke alters the situation at Capernaum as found in Josephus.

In other words, do we believe in a senseless miracle or a conscious reworking of history?

In reading Luke we must remember that he wrote after Josephus and used him for historical purposes. The official history, Josephus’ Jewish War, was published by the Romans before 75 CE. Josephus was writing less than ten years after the Capernaum massacre. Luke, on the other hand, is writing at least sixty years after his supposed miracle. However, Luke, writing from an anti-Jewish/pro-Roman stance reworked his material for a special audience - potential Christians. The new sect of Christians needed to identify with the ruling power and disassociate themselves from the extremely unpopular Jews, who were always revolting.

This in mind, we can see how Luke revised reality and produced a parody of the actual events. He read the report in Josephus about the suppression of the revolt at Capernaum. Then, he merely turned the events upside down and wrote a miracle story which turned Jews into swine!

There are too many parallels in the two stories not to be the same event. The massacre of Jews - ...those which were driven into the lake - became a herd of swine destroyed by a demon called “Legion,” rather than the Legion which destroyed the Jews. The number of the swine, variously given, equals the number in a Roman Legion, and of Jews killed, about six thousand.

Now, if Jesus sent six thousand swine into the sea, who was going to repay the owners of such a valuable herd? Furthermore, why was the demon in Luke called Legion if not to refer to the real event in the minds of the contemporary members of the early church? The largest massacre in Galilee would not have gone un-noticed. The audacity of Luke must be admired, but, what an insult to the Jews and what amusement to the gentiles of the early Christian community!

The account of Jesus’ pacifying the sea precedes the miracle of the swine - as if it were a description of the subsequent account, Luke then gives a parody of the Jews driven into the sea, and its pacification by the Roman Legions.

If we want to follow Matthew and place the exorcism at Gadara, let us see what happened to the Gadarenes in the Jewish War of Josephus:

War 4. 7. 4-6

Vespasian sent Placidus with 500 horse and 3000 foot to pursue those who had fled from Gadara,... (5) Placidus, relying on his cavalry and emboldened by his previous success, pursued the Gadarenes, killing all whom he overtook, as far as the Jordan. Having driven the whole multitude up to the river, where they were blocked by the stream, which being swollen by the rain was unfordable, he drew up his troops in line opposite them. Necessity goaded them to battle, flight being impossible... Fifteen thousand perished by the enemy’s hands, while the number of those who were driven to fling themselves into the Jordan was incalculable; about two thousand two hundred were captured... (6) This blow was the greatest that had befallen the Jews, and appeared even greater than is was; for not only was the whole countryside through which their flight had lain one scene of carnage, and the Jordan choked with dead, but even the [Dead Sea] was filled with bodies, masses of which were carried down into it by the river.

Again the Jews are driven into the water by the Romans and thousands are drowned. So much for the Gadarenes. What about the people of Gerasa? They fared no better on dry land:

War 4. 9. 1.

He also sent Lucius Annius to Gerasa, and delivered to him a body of horsemen, and a considerable number of footmen. So when he had taken the city, which he did at the first onset, he slew a thousand of those young men who had not prevented him by flying away; but he took their women and children captive, and permitted his soldiers to plunder them of their effects; after which he set fire to their houses, and went away to the adjoining villages, while the men of power fled away, and the weaker part were destroyed, and what was remaining was all burnt down. And now the war having gone through all the mountainous country, and all the plain country also, those that were at Jerusalem were deprived of the liberty of going out of the city.

These massacres of the Jews at Capharnaum, Gadara and Gerasa must have been on the minds of the gospel writers; if not the first readers of those gospels. Anyone who had read Josephus’ War  would have certainly made the connections.
 

Parable of the Vineyard

Josephus, Ant. 20.9.7

And now it was that the temple was finished. So when the people saw that the workmen were unemployed, who were above eighteen thousand, and that they, receiving no wages were in want, because they had earned their bread by their labours about the temple; and while they were unwilling to keep them by their treasures that were deposited, out of fear of their being carried away by the Romans; and while they had to make a provision for the workmen, they had a mind to expend those treasures on them; for if any one of them did but work a single hour, he received his pay immediately;

Matthew 20:1-15

"For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. {2} After agreeing with the laborers for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. {3} When he went out about nine o'clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace; {4} and he said to them, 'You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.' So they went. {5} When he went out again about noon and about three o'clock, he did the same. {6} And about five o'clock he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, 'Why are you standing here idle all day?' {7} They said to him, 'Because no one has hired us.' He said to them, 'You also go into the vineyard.' {8} When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, 'Call the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.' {9} When those hired about five o'clock came, each of them received the usual daily wage. {10} Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage. {11} And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, {12} saying, 'These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.' {13} But he replied to one of them, 'Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? {14} Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. {15} Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?'

This parable raises the question why did the last worker receive the full wages? From Josephus we find just such a circumstance; the temple’s solution to the unemployment problem after the temple was completed. There was the threat that thousands of unemployed workers would soon lead to tumult and possible sedition. What the gospel writer meant is beyond understanding except on an allegorical level, and it does not sit well with that. The modern commentators would have us read: ‘The last converts will have the same reward in heaven as the first’. That may be so, but, where did the gospels get their example of this extraordinary action, unheard of in the ancient world, if not from Josephus? The account in Josephus is socially motivated to defuse a potentially serious problem. The account in the gospel is somehow unreal, and needs a fertile imagination to make any sense of it whatsoever, Josephus’ is simply logical.
 

Pilate’s Character

Philo, Embassy to Gaius, 299-305, c. 39-40 CE.

One of his [Tiberias’] lieutenants was Pilate, who was appointed to govern Judea. He, not so much to honour Tiberias as to annoy the multitude,... When he, naturally inflexible, a blend of self-will and relentlessness, stubbornly refused... he feared that if they actually sent an embassy they would also expose the rest of his conduct as governor by stating in full the briberies, the insults, the robberies, the outrages and wanton injuries, the executions without trial constantly repeated, the ceaseless and supremely grievous cruelty. So with all his vindictiveness and furious temper, he was in a difficult position.

At this the multitude had great indignation; and when Pilate was come to Jerusalem, they came about his tribunal, and made a clamour at it. Now when he was apprised beforehand of this disturbance; he mixed his own soldiers in their armour with the multitude, and ordered them to conceal themselves under the habits of private men, and not indeed to use their swords, but with staves to beat those who made the clamour. He then gave them the signal from his tribunal (to do as he had bidden them). Now the Jews were sadly beaten, that many of them perished by the stripes they received, and many of them perished as trodden to death, by which means the multitude was astonished at the calamity of those who were slain, and held their peace.

Antiquities, 18.3.1. p.379

But Pilate undertook to bring a current of water to Jerusalem, and did it with the sacred money,... However the Jews were not pleased with what had been done about this water; and many ten thousands of the people got together and made a clamour against him, and insisted that he should leave off that design. Some of them also used reproaches, and abused the man, as crowds of such people usually do. So he habited a great number of his soldiers in their (civilian clothes), who carried clubs hidden under their garments, and he sent them to a place where they might surround them. So he bade the Jews himself to go away; but they boldly casting reproaches upon him, he gave the soldiers that signal which had been before agreed on; who laid upon them much greater blows than Pilate had commanded them, and equally punished those that were tumultuous, and those who were not, nor did they spare them in the least; and since the people were unarmed, and were caught by men prepared for what they were about, and there were a great number slain by this means, and others who ran away wounded; and thus an end was put to this sedition.

(Luke 23:1-25)

Then the assembly rose as a body and brought Jesus before Pilate. {2} They began to accuse him, saying, "We found this man perverting our nation, forbidding us to pay taxes to the emperor, and saying that he himself is the Messiah, a king." {3} Then Pilate asked him, "Are you the king of the Jews?" He answered, "You say so." {4} Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, "I find no basis for an accusation against this man." {5} But they were insistent and said, "He stirs up the people by teaching throughout all Judea, from Galilee where he began even to this place."

{6} When Pilate heard this, he asked whether the man was a Galilean. {7} And when he learned that he was under Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him off to Herod, who was himself in Jerusalem at that time. {8} When Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, for he had been wanting to see him for a long time, because he had heard about him and was hoping to see him perform some sign. {9} He questioned him at some length, but Jesus gave him no answer. {10} The chief priests and the scribes stood by, vehemently accusing him. {11} Even Herod with his soldiers treated him with contempt and mocked him; then he put an elegant robe on him, and sent him back to Pilate. {12}

That same day Herod and Pilate became friends with each other; before this they had been enemies. {13} Pilate then called together the chief priests, the leaders, and the people, {14} and said to them, "You brought me this man as one who was perverting the people; and here I have examined him in your presence and have not found this man guilty of any of your charges against him. {15} Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us. Indeed, he has done nothing to deserve death. {16} I will therefore have him flogged and release him." {17}

{18} Then they all shouted out together, "Away with this fellow! Release Barabbas for us!" {19} (This was a man who had been put in prison for an insurrection that had taken place in the city, and for murder.) {20} Pilate, wanting to release Jesus, addressed them again; {21} but they kept shouting, "Crucify, crucify him!" {22} A third time he said to them, "Why, what evil has he done? I have found in him no ground for the sentence of death; I will therefore have him flogged and then release him."

{23} But they kept urgently demanding with loud shouts that he should be crucified; and their voices prevailed. {24} So Pilate gave his verdict that their demand should be granted. {25} He released the man they asked for, the one who had been put in prison for insurrection and murder, and he handed Jesus over as they wished.

(Matthew 27:11-26)

Now Jesus stood before the governor; and the governor asked him, "Are you the King of the Jews?" Jesus said, "You say so." {12} But when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he did not answer. {13} Then Pilate said to him, "Do you not hear how many accusations they make against you?" {14} But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed. {15} Now at the festival the governor was accustomed to release a prisoner for the crowd, anyone whom they wanted. {16} At that time they had a notorious prisoner, called Jesus Barabbas. {17} So after they had gathered, Pilate said to them, "Whom do you want me to release for you, Jesus Barabbas or Jesus who is called the Messiah?" {18} For he realized that it was out of jealousy that they had handed him over. {19} While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, "Have nothing to do with that innocent man, for today I have suffered a great deal because of a dream about him." {20} Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus killed. {21} The governor again said to them, "Which of the two do you want me to release for you?" And they said, "Barabbas." {22} Pilate said to them, "Then what should I do with Jesus who is called the Messiah?" All of them said, "Let him be crucified!" {23} Then he asked, "Why, what evil has he done?" But they shouted all the more, "Let him be crucified!" {24} So when Pilate saw that he could do nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took some water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, "I am innocent of this man's blood; see to it yourselves." {25} Then the people as a whole answered, "His blood be on us and on our children!" {26} So he released Barabbas for them; and after flogging Jesus, he handed him over to be crucified.

After the Gospels’ softening up of Pilate’s reputation we have the Apocryphal Gospels dating from the late 2nd century to the fourth. They continued the rehabilitation of Pilate to such an extraordinary degree that they not only cleared him of any blame, the Coptic church made him a saint! Embedded in the Gospel of Nicodemus there are several Letters, or Reports of Pilate to Caesar and the Acts of Pilate. In the Introductory Notice of the A-N. F. to the Apocryphal Gospels the editor wrote:

Probably some of the Apocryphal Gospels and Acts were not intended to be forgeries, but only novels with a purpose. [Ante-Nicene Fathers. Vol. 8, p. 350]

I would hold that to be true not only of the Apocryphal Gospels but of the Canonical Gospels as well.

But to return to the character of Pilate we read in the translator’s Introduction:

The Paradosis of Pilate. - It has been well remarked... that the early Church looked on Pilate with no unfavourable eye; that he is favourably shown in the catacombs; that the early Fathers interpreted him as a figure of the early Church, and held him to be guiltless of Christ’s death; that the creeds do not condemn him, and the Coptic Church has even made him a saint... Dante finds punishments for Caiaphas and Annas, but not for Pilate. [A-N. F.. Vol. 8, p.354]

In the first of these Apocryphal Letters of Pilate he says,

Had I not been afraid of the rising of sedition of the people, who were just on the point of breaking out, this man would have been alive to us... [ A-N. F. Vol. 8, p. 459]

And Pilate said: “O almighty king [Caesar], I am innocent of these things; but the multitude of the Jews are violent and guilty...” The Caesar says, “For what reason didst thou follow out their counsel?” And Pilate says, “Their nation is rebellious and insubmissive, not submitting themselves to thy power...” “On account of the wickedness and rebellion of the Jews of the lawless and ungodly Jews I did this.” [A-N. F. Vol. 8, p. 464]

“...Lord do not destroy me along with the wicked Hebrews, because I would not have laid hands upon Thee, except for the nation of the lawless Jews, because they were exciting rebellion against me. But Thou knowest that I did it in ignorance...” And, behold when Pilate had finished his prayer, there came a voice out of the heaven, saying, “All generations and families of the nations shall count thee blessed...” And when the prefect struck off the head of Pilate an angel of the Lord received it. [A-N. F. Vol. 8, p. 465]

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