Political Background During John and Jesus' Ministry

LUKE 3:1-2

In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar–when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene–during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the desert.

TIBERIUS CAESAR (Emperor A.D. 14 - 37)

Tiberius was a depressed man who did not want to be a leader. Even though he helped secure the German boarders, his rule was marked with immorality and terror. He had sex with children and adults, men and women, boys and girls. He killed those who spoke against him and may have thrown little children off cliffs for sexual satisfaction. He was a very cruel man and when he died, the people danced in the streets.

PONTIUS PILATE

There were over 40 provinces in the Roman Empire, each of which was typically ruled over by one governor who ruled for one to three years. Pontius Pilate lasted 10 years as a governor.

Pilate was also known to be cruel. His reign was marked with corruption, violence, robbery, ill treatment of people, and continuous executions without formal trials (Philo). He angered those in Jerusalem on at least three major occasions. Once by allowing Roman soldiers to carry by night standards with images on them, and once by taking money from the temple in order to build an aqueduct for Jerusalem. He was met both times with enraged people who forced him to retreat on the first occasion, but he quieted the mob on the second occasion by sending his men into the crowd with daggers, stabbing and killing people at will.

The third occasion was when he set up in Herod's palace shields dedicated to Tiberius Caesar. Caesar himself told him to remove the shields.

HEROD TETRARCH OF GALILEE (ANTIPAS)

I have already written about Herod Antipas and will only remind the reader that Antipas was known for building cities and divorcing his wife in order to marry his brother's wife who was a widow. He is best known for imprisoning and killing John the Baptist because John publicly denounced Herod's divorce and marriage to his brother's wife. The Bible also tells us that John had other things to say about Herod, but the Bible does not let us know what else John said.

PHILLIP TETRARCH OF ITUREA AND TRACONITUS

Little is known about Phillip. He is the half brother of Antipas and married his neice Salome, who together with her mother had John the Baptist killed.

LYSANIAS TETRARCH OF ABILENE

He was the ruler of a small area of whom little is known. There is some discussion about who he was and when he ruled, but because it is all so speculative, I will not deal with it.

ANNAS AND CAIAPHAS

Annas was High Priest from AD 6 until AD 15 when the Roman Governor Valerius Gratus deposed him. After 2 short termed High Priests, his son Antipas was made High Priest. Because both names are mentioned as High Priests, it has been assumed that Israel never really accepted the forced resignation of Annas.

The Talmud described Annas as being cruel and filled with greed. He was a wealthy and arrogant man. Annas had a monopoly on the sale of sacrificial animals as well as the exchanging of money in the temple courts.

It seems that the Caiaphas had a powerful father who may have pulled his strings.

CONCLUSION

Living in Galilee, I would not feel connected to the state or to the capital city (Jerusalem) as I do in the modern world. Secular rulers were foreigners, immoral and vicious to the extreme. It was dangerous to talk to loud about their immoralities or their cruelties.

I would also feel a vast distance from the religious leaders because they were arrogant, very wealthy while I lived in poverty. They lived down South and I lived in the North.

There was a lot more that separated the rich from the masses of poor people that is often overlooked - clothing, behavior, morals, values, dignity, possessions, houses, and even the food that was bought separated the few who were rich such as the Saducees and the High Priests from the masses.

Some in Israel left society in discust and started communities in the desert, but most remained in society and put up with the corruption and inequalities. They endured the arrogance and disdain the wealthy showed them.

In time many in Israel would try but fail to overthrow the Roman government. During Jesus's day however there were a handful of people who tried, but most bided their time waiting for God's intervention.