King Herod lived at a time when the Jews were under the rule of the Romans. This meant that his kingdom had strong influences form their Roman rulers. Herod embraced the Romanicization of his cities into commercial hubs. This flew in the face of Jewish expectations of a city built to the utopist standards of fairness recommended in Jewish teachings. Herod acquired his expansive kingdom through violence in a series of takeovers that were endorsed by Rome. He started by freeing his family and dethroning their arch rivals the powerful Hasmonean. Thereafter, he ran a successful offensive against all cities that were in opposition of his rule. His campaign ran throughout Galilee and later moved south to Judea and Jerusalem (Crossan, John & Reed 99). Herod’s first motivation for building many cities, fortresses and temples was reinforce his presence and strength throughout the conquered regions. He built structures that showed his strength and majesty as a king.
Secondly, Herod built structures that largely betrayed his persona. Granted, his architectural inspiration came from a combination of his Hasmonean roots, Hellenistic influences from the Mediterranean and Roman architectural styles. The overall result was unique structures that may have been functional but largely a reflection of Herod’s needs and desire to rule (Crossan, John & Reed 99). Herod was paranoid about security but consistent of his display of opulence. Archeological evidence from the construction of his cities show that he imposed order, upheld the social hierarchy and had a predilection for facades. He also balanced his need to show allegiance to their Roman rulers and his desire become the king of the Jews (Crossan, John & Reed 99)
Agriculture was the economic base of the Herodian kingdom. The wealth of the kingdom came from productive agricultural methods and an efficient tax collection system. Poly cropping on small pieces of land was replaced with mono cropping on larger tracts private or royal parcels of land. Consequently, land ownership became one of the hallmarks of wealth (Crossan, john & Reed 104). The kingdom had an efficient coinage and currency system. This guaranteed efficient tax collection and remittances to the Roman rulers. What was left was used in the construction of magnificent structures such as the temple in Jerusalem, amphitheatres and ports.
The secret of the cities’ commercialization lay not in the merchantable products available but in the efficiency of the distribution system. There were efficient transportation rules which ensured that the wealth produced in the farmlands arrived in the city (Crossan, John & Reed 104). The Harbor also increased efficiency in the exportation of excess good in and out of the kingdom. The wealth of the kingdom was concentrated in the hands of the few landlords and royal officials. The Roman Empire took a sizable portion through taxes. What remained was used to put up magnificent structures throughout the kingdom. In a way, these buildings helped to pacify the people since they enjoyed the grandeur the cities and temples displayed.
The New Testament in the bible does not mention Siphoris and Tiberia perhaps because the cities were filled with tributes to Roman gods. This would have been unacceptable to the writers of the New Testament, who were the disciples of Jesus and ardent Jews. Tiberias was built from the ground while Sipphoris was rebuilt by Antipas the son of Herod. He borrowed heavily from the principles that his father had previously used. Antipas upheld social order, a facade of opulence and hierarchy. He wanted to inherit the title of “King of the Jews”. To gain legitimacy, he adopted most of what his father did and incorporated new ideas to attract the support of Rome. Antipas went as far as marrying Herodias, a Hasmonean and the wife of his half brother Philip just to increase his chances of becoming King of the Jews.
Siphoris and Tiberia were filled with ample pagan iconography characteristic of Roman symbols. In the Bible, John the Baptist distanced himself from Antipas. He openly criticized Antipas ambitions and blatant disregard for Jewish traditions. This is not to say that he completely ignored the traditions of his people. Antipas knew that the Jews provided the resources he needed to build a powerful kingdom through taxes. He pacified them by combining acceptable Jewish symbols with Roman engravings and architecture. Archeological evidence shows that he attempted to use traditional Jewish symbols such as palms on coins and buildings (Crossan, John & Reed 106).
Tiberia was a port city built on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. The city was built form the ground and deliberately named Tiberias in honor of the reigning emperor of the Romans (Crossan, John & Reed 106). Antipas hoped that this politically suggestive move would encourage the emperor to declare him as the bonafide “King of the Jews” like his father was. The city designed as a modern port city which would open up the Western end of Galilee to commerce. Antipas hoped that the new city would identify him to the Romans and demonstrate his willingness to build commercial hubs throughout the Jewish territory.
The life of Jesus and his disciples as depicted in the bible seems to resist the elitist lifestyle that was established in Herodian system. The bible gives prominence to Capernaum which was a small village compared to Sipphoris and Tiberias which are completely omitted. Jesus preached about life in the Kingdom of God which was very different form life in the earthly kingdom established by Herod and his predecessors. Jesus preached of an everlasting Kingdom where there was equality and fairness under one sovereign God. The Kingdom led by Antipas was exploitative, with wealth concentrated in a few hands. Hierarchy of power was observed with the Roman emperors at the top most tier ( Crossan, John & Reed 134)
Biblical stories embody this defiance repeated references to humble setting. Capernaum is given prominence despite its small size. The simple way of life is lauded as the godly way to live. They ate from clay vessels and shared meals in humble homes. (Visual Guide,60) Biblical stories are against unscrupulous commercial services, excessive wealth and greed. Many stories depict Jesus sharing simple meals with his disciples. They led simple lives, and lived in cities that were simple and lacked most of the Roman inspired affluence that was sought by Antipas.
The first similarity in the Nativity story between the gospel of Mathew and Luke is that both place the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. This was a royal city associated with David from whom Jesus was a direct descendant according to his genealogy (Mathew 1:1-17; Luke 3:23-38). Both books agree that Jesus was a direct descendant of David. Thirdly, both books speak of an angelic announcement of the divine conception. Another commonality is that both writers speak of a group of people who came to worship the new born; this is in recognition to the royalty of the baby because of his divine purpose. Finally, both authors acknowledge that Jesus and his parents settled in Nazareth (Mathew 2:19-23; Luke 2:39)
There are several differences in the story of the Nativity between the accounts of Mathew and Luke. These differences are attributed to the audiences that Mathew and Luke wrote for.
- Mathew begins his story with the genealogy of Jesus (Mathew 1:1-17) while Luke ends with it Luke 3:28-38). Mathew’s list of descendants stops at Abraham while Luke goes as far back as Adam.
- Mathew continues the lineage through Solomon the son of David while Luke states that Jesus descended from Nathan another son of David.
- In Mathew’s account, the angel of God spoke to Joseph directly and informed him about the nature and the purpose of the conception and birth (Mathew 1:18-25). In Luke, the angel spoke to Zachariah, who spoke Mary about being the mother of Jesus (Luke 1:26-38). Luke gives the early history of John the Baptist while Mathew does not.
- Luke mentions that there was a census ordered by emperor Augustus (Luke 2:1-5) this is not mentioned anywhere in Mathew
- Mathew recognizes Bethlehem as the hometown of Mary and Joseph, while Luke recognizes Nazareth as their hometown. In Luke ( 2:31), he speaks of their return to Nazareth after the census, birth and circumcision of Jesus.
- In Mathew, Baby Jesus is visited and worshipped 3 wise men from the east who came bearing gifts of frankincense, gold and myrrh (Mathew 2:11). In Luke, baby Jesus was visited and worshipped by shepherds (Luke 2:8-9)
- Mathew gives an account of how King Herod massacred young boys hoping to kill baby Jesus before he grew up to become a king Mathew (2:16-18). An angel of god warned the 3 wise men not to return to Herod with the news of the location of the baby and warned Joseph to flee to Egypt to save his baby. There is no such account in the book of Luke.
- In the book of Luke, the circumcision of Jesus is detailed with an account of Simeon and Anna old faithful who have hoped to see the Messiah (Luke 2:21-38). This story is not present in Mathew.
- Luke includes a story about Jesus as a 12 when he got lost from his family and was later found having speaking with the teachers in the temple (Luke 2:41-52)
- Chapter 3 of the book of Mathew narrates the story of John the Baptist and his mission. The last chapters of Luke have both the story of john the Baptist (Luke 3:2-22) and Jesus’ genealogy (Luke 3:23-38).
Jesus made spoke widely on various social issues. Some of his parables have both spiritual and practical applications. The Parable of the Sower( Luke 8:4-11) is a direct reference to the economic activity of farming. Jesus explains various types of soils with reference to the ability of the sowed seed to sprout. In economic terms, this simply means that one has to invest carefully in order to make good returns. Jesus also spoke of vines that do not bear fruits. Such vines can be compared to economic ventures that are no longer profitable. He recommends that just like vines, unproductive ventures should be shut down. Jesus discourages an obsession with material wealth. He advised his disciples in the story of the rich fool (Luke 12:13-21) and the ravens (Luke 12: 13-21) to focus on divine wealth. He stated that raves do not plow or harvest and yet they never go hungry because God provides for them. Other stories encourage generosity and giving back to the poor. Business men should be king enough to forgive debts (Luke 7:41-43).
The kingdom of God is just. There is equity and fairness in all things. Additionally we learn that God’s will reign supreme and that God is fair. Furthermore, there is plenty of resources and wealth in the kingdom. There will be no need for wealth generating economic activities that are conducted in conventional earthly kingdoms. Finally, the kingdom of God is spiritual and requires one to be pure in spirit in order to experience it.
Work cited
Crossan, John D, and Jonathan L. Reed. Excavating Jesus: Beneath the Stones, Behind the Texts. Pymble, NSW: HarperCollins e-books, 2009. Internet resource.
The Bible, The Gospel of Mathew, chapter 1-7
The Bible, The Gospel of Luke chapter 1-7
The Bible, The Gospel of John Chapter 1
Visual guide;Galilee and the World of Jesus Ministry, chapter 4.
