There is an insight in the Bible that is least noticed by most Christians. That insight pertains to the deep but hidden connection between worshippers and murderers.
The earliest hint is in the book of Genesis, chapter 4: Cain invited Abel, his brother, to join him in worship, when he wanted to kill him. And Cain did kill Abel, his brother.
Herod, in the New Testament, wanted to mask his murderous intention by saying that he wanted to worship Jesus (read the second chapter of the biography of Jesus written by Matthew the Apostle). Herod tells the Magi to report back to him regarding the location of the Babe, so that he may go ‘and worship him’. When the Magi depart without telling Herod the location of Jesus’ birth, what does Herod do? He orders the slaughter of every child below two years of age. How much fear and hatred was there displayed, and what is it that was worshipped?
We associate priests with worship. Most Christians overlook the glaring fact that the priestly class was behind the murder of Jesus. Like priests of all ages and religions, they got it done by ‘the secular authority’.
Perpetrating crimes and improprieties is incompatible with the facade of piety and gentleness priests have to sport in order to deceive people. But priests need to perpetrate crimes to protect and perpetuate their own interests. They are not averse to doing so. But, they can’t do that themselves. So, what do they do? They get others to do it for them.
In India, it was the duty of the Kshatriyas to fight for the Brahmins in order to protect their interests. Crimes done for this purpose were regarded as righteous – indeed, even as heroic and commendable.
The Hindu priests did not bring the Babri Masjid down. They got it done by their secular agents: the politicians.
The judicial murder of Jesus was no different to this pattern. It was instigated by the priests of the times. It was only they who needed to kill Jesus. They got it done by Rome. They forced the hand of Pilate to perpetrate this heinous crime.
The Creed we recite every Sunday misrepresents this historical fact. (That means that we are made to repeat a lie as part of worship.) It merely states that Jesus died.
No, he didn’t die. He was killed.
Who killed him?
The priestly class.
But this fact is excluded from the Creed. The Creed in this detail makes us party to a sanitized lie. It forces us to believe: ‘Jesus came. He died. He rose from the dead.’
If we have any regard for truth, we should say:’Jesus came. The priests got him killed. But God raised him from the dead, for God is just.’
The very same priestly class now preaches the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. That too is typical of priests.
After all, they were innocent of the blood of Jesus in a technical sense. They only instigated the crowd to bay for the Innocent’s blood. They did not commit the murder themselves .
It is like your hiring a professional killer to get rid of your adversary and then organizing condolence meetings year after year, pontificating on the tragic significance of that murder. Then you have a double advantage – you can kill while you also enhance your public image through the very same murder you have brought about.
Truth to tell, the one class of people who should have no right whatsoever to shed crocodile tears on the Crucifixion of Jesus is the priestly class.
You could object: “The priests who brought about the murder of Jesus were Jewish, not Christian. Ours are Christian priests.”
The truth is this: priests are priests. It doesn’t matter what their religion is, or what part of the world they belong to. All priests are the same. Religious differences do not make any difference in outlook or strategies when it comes to class interests.
All priests are professionals. They merely discharge certain functions for a living as appropriate to their professions. Like all other classes, they too have their class interests. They won’t let even God stand in the way of their interests. That is the message in the Crucifixion.
To the extent that Jesus helps to boost their interests, they will swear by Jesus. But if he or his teachings hinder their interests, they will without hesitation swear at Jesus.
Take an obvious example. Jesus renounced violence. On the other hand, the Christian priestly class has always invoked and sanctified violence whenever it suited their convenience. The Inquisition was not done to save Christianity. It was done to protect the control of priests. The priestly class of Spain forced the hand of the Spanish king to perpetrate this unforgettable outrage on Christians who refused to be mindless slaves to those priests.
Try and make the truth of what Jesus taught, for your liberation and mine, prevail in the life of any church, and you will be cast out at once! Priests are not believers. Only lay Christians are believers. This is the truth.
Priests are a professional class, they merely market matters of belief for a living. You cannot sell something and believe in it at the same time (I mean ‘belief’ in the religious sense of ‘abiding in’, as in Jesus’s statement in the biography of Jesus written by John the Apostle, chapter 15, verse 4). You sell what you have no use for, so that others may use it, while you benefit from the money arising from the sale. If you dare not accept that most palpable truth, then you cannot be liberated by the truth.
