The authors of the Gospels were very aware of the typology in Hebraic literature and were, in effect, showing that they were able to produce a more perfect, more complex form of it.Moreover, there was a profound irony in the authors requiring the Gospels and Wars of the Jewsto be read in the manner of Judaic literature in order to learn that they had created a false Judaism. (page 168)
In other words, if a prophet predicted that next week a dog will bite a mailman and a historian recorded that during that week a cur sank its teeth into a letter carrier the prophecy, in fact, came to pass even though the prophet and the historian used different words to describe the event.The concept the prophet predicted was the same as the one the historian recorded.
The fulfilled prophecy of the bitten postman cannot be seen through an analysis of the individual words that the historian and the prophet used.Likewise, the satirical system that exists between the New Testament and Wars of the Jewscannot be seen by analyzing their individual words and nuances of grammar.The system is made up of parallel concepts, not parallel words.
Notice also that the parallel heart piercings of the two Marys are prophetically logical.That is to say that the Mary in the New Testament is the one predictedto have her heart pierced through in the future, and the Mary in Wars of the Jews, which occurred later, is the one who fulfilled this prophecy.If the New Testament had stated that Marys heart had beenpierced through, then the logic of this prophecy would have been contradicted.And notice also that the statement in the New Testament, though innocuous isa prophecy. [innocuous- having no adverse effect, harmless]One reason that the satiric level of the New Testament has remained unseen is because scholars have failed to recognize the many seemingly innocuous New Testament prophecies that are fulfilled within Wars of the Jews.
To summarize, within this short passage Josephus has used a number of concepts and names that are parallel to those associated with the New Testaments symbolic Passover Lamb.It is unlikely that there is another passage in all of literature that contains by chance, as many as half the number of parallels with a concept as singular as Christianitys Passover lamb.When I first recognized these parallels I felt that the simplest explanation for such an improbable grouping was that it had been deliberately created.Therefore, the passage was a lampoon of Jesus.
To argue against this proposition one must accept this idea that Josephus unknowingly recorded these parallels in such detail within a passage of less than two pages.However, because Josephus wrote Wars of the Jewswhile living in the Flavian court, a place where Christianity flourished, and was one of the few historians to have recorded Jesus existence, he would seem to be among the authors least likely to have recorded a satire of Christ accidently.
For example, if the passage in question had occurred within a work by Tolstoy, there would be virtually complete agreement that it was a deliberate satire.And notice that when viewed from such a perspective the passage would certainly be seen as darkly comical, the irony being self-evident.The satire suggests that the Messiah who instructed his followers to symbolically eat of my flesh was actually eaten by his mother. (pages 59-61)
If one interprets Jesus words metaphorically they can be seen to have a spiritual meaning, but if interpreted literally they are black comedy. (page 95)
If Josephus was lampooning Jesus, what was his purpose?An obvious explanation is that he wrote the passage to amuse a group by whom the grim joke would be understood.In other words, he would have created it to be enjoyed by the Flavians and their inner circle.
This conclusion is especially plausible in light of the fact that there were individuals within the Flavian court who were aware of Christianity around the time Josephus published Wars of the Jews.Further, there were four colleges in Rome that were responsible for overseeing the religions within the empire.Because religion was an important tool of the state, these colleges had considerable political power.From Augustus on, the emperor was a member of all four colleges, one of which, the Quindecimviri Sacris Faciundis, was responsible for the regulation of foreign cults in Rome.All the Flavian emperors were members of this college and would have studied Christianity as a foreign cult during this era.
Moreover, the most obvious reason to believe that the Flavians were familiar with Christianity is that so much of the New Testament is related to the family.The Flavians brought about the fulfillment of all of Jesus doomsday prophecies the destruction of the temple, the encircling of Jerusalem with a wall, the towns of Galilee being brought low, and the destruction of what Jesus describes as the wicked generation.Titus mistress, Bernice, and Tiberius Alexander, his chief of staff during the siege of Jerusalem, are actually named within the New Testament.A cult whose canon prophesied the accomplishments of the Flavians, named individuals within its inner circle, and actually had converts within the imperial family, would certainly have been scrutinized during an era when the regulation of religion was so important that the emperor himself was involved with it.
Titus is known to have reviewed Wars of the Jews.As noted above, Josephus wrote that Titus so wished that the knowledge of these affairs should be taken from these books alone, that he affixed his own signature to them.Thus, Titus certainly had read the passage describing the Mary who ate her son and, considering the traditions connecting his family to Christianity, could well have understood its ironic parallels with the mother of Jesus.Again, though Jesus seems to be speaking symbolicallywhen he speaks of having his flesh eaten as a Passover sacrifice, in Josephus history we see a literalinterpretation of Jesus words, which renders them blackly comic. (pages 61-62)
It is implausible that one of the few groups that ever knowingly used typology would have also created the only accidentally typological relationship in all of literature. (page 389)
While it is possible to argue that each New Testament episode that appears to satirize an event in Wars of the Jewsdoes so accidentally, if that were the case these accidents would occur in a random sequence and at random locations.It was not required that Jesus use the expression fishers of men while standing on the beach at Gennesareth, any more than it was required that he meet the demoniac at Gadara.Nor was it necessary for him to offer his flesh at Jerusalem, or to condemn Simon but spare John at the conclusion of his ministry.The fact that these five events occur in the New Testament, in the same sequence as their parallel events in Wars of the Jews, strongly supports the contention that one work was created with the other in mind.
Therefore, the parallel sequences, concepts, and locations make the authors intent clear.In the same way that they show the first savior of Israel, Moses, to have been the type for Jesus, the second savior of Israel, through their parallel infancy experiences, they also prove that Titus is the last and greatest savior because Jesus ministry is the type for Titus campaign through Judea.
Finally, the parallel sequences of Jesus and Titus ministries must be considered in the context of their historical overlaps.As I noted above, Jesus predicted that a Son of God would come to Judea before the generation that crucified him had passed away, then encircle Jerusalem with a wall and destroy the temple.Titus is the only individual in history who can be seen as having fulfilled these prophecies.
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