The larger story
The larger story
stories are forged in the fires of
tragedy
PHARAOH
~1446/1350? B.C.E.
“I have observed the misery of my
people who are in Egypt; I have
heard their cry on account of their
taskmasters. Indeed, I know their
sufferings, 8 and I have come down
to deliver them from the Egyptians,
and to bring them up out of that land
to a good and broad land, a land
flowing with milk and honey,…
- Exodus 3:7-8
Solomon’s Temple
SENNECHARIB
722 B.C.E.
NEBUCHADNEZZAR II
586/7 B.C.E.
“On the ninth day of the fourth month
the famine became so severe in the
city that there was no food for the
people of the land.”
- 2 Kings 25:3
The tongue of the infant sticks
to the roof of its mouth for
thirst; the children beg for food,
but no one gives them
anything.Those who feasted on
delicacies perish in the streets;
those who were brought up in
purple cling to ash heaps.
- Lamentations 4:4-5
Happier were those pierced by the
sword than those pierced by hunger
- Lamentations 4:9
ALEXANDER THE GREAT
333/2 B.C./B.C.E.
He fought many battles, conquered
strongholds, and put to death the
kings of the earth. He advanced to the
ends of the earth, and plundered many
nations. When the earth became quiet
before him he was exalted, and his
heart was lifted up.
- 1 Maccabees 1:2-3
In those days certain renegades
came out from Israel and misled
many, saying, “Let us go and make a
covenant with the Gentiles around
us, for since we separated from them
many disasters have come upon us.”
This proposal pleased them, and some
of the people eagerly went to the king,
who authorized them to observe the
ordinances of the Gentiles.
So they built a gymnasium in
Jerusalem, according to Gentile
custom, and removed the marks of
circumcision, and abandoned the holy
covenant. They joined with the Gentiles
and sold themselves to do evil.
- 1 Maccabees 1:11-15
ANTIOCHUS EPIPHANES
163 B.C./B.C.E.
Mother and Seven Sons
POMPEY
63 B.C.E.
…but now all was full of slaughter;
(70) some of the Jews being slain
by the Romans, and some by one
another; nay, some there were who
threw themselves down the
precipices, or put fire to their
houses, and burnt them, as not
able to bear the miseries they were
under. (71) Of the Jews there fell
twelve thousand; but of the
Romans very few. - Josephus
VESPASIAN
r.69-79 A.D./C.E.
Gamla
…a great number also of those
that were surrounded on every
side, and despaired of
escaping, threw their children
and their wives, and
themselves also, down the
precipices, into the valley
beneath, which, near the
citadel, had been dug hollow to
a vast depth;
but so it happened, that the anger
of the Romans appeared not to be
so extravagant as was the madness
of those that were now taken, while
the Romans slew but four
thousand, whereas the number of
those that had thrown themselves
down was found to be five
thousand.”
- Josephus, Wars VI, 1:79-30
As Jesus came out of the temple
and was going away, his disciples
came to point out to him the
buildings of the temple. Then he
asked them, “You see all these, do
you not? Truly I tell you, not one
stone will be left here upon
another; all will be thrown down.”
July, 70 A.D.
-Matthew 24:1-2
July, 70 A.D.
Those caught by the Romans
were promptly and prominently
crucified, so that the Jews could
see — and, as the corpses rotted,
smell — whom they were dealing
with. The siege lasted most of a
year, during which something like
ten thousand crosses sprouted in
a ring around the inner city, each
with its stinking cadaver.
- James Carroll, Christ Actually, p.51
July, 70 A.D.
Masada
“Come! While our hands are free
and can hold a sword, let them do
a noble service! Let us die
unenslaved by our enemies, and
leave this world as free men in
company with our wives and
children.” - Elezar Ben Yair
PHARAOH
~1446/1350? B.C.E.
SENNECHARIB
722 B.C.E.
NEBUCHADNEZZAR II
586/7 B.C.E.
ALEXANDER THE GREAT
333/2 B.C./B.C.E.
ANTIOCHUS EPIPHANES
163 B.C./B.C.E.
POMPEY
63 B.C.E.
VESPASIAN
r.69-79 A.D./C.E.
stories are forged in the fires of
tragedy
We forget the “extreme
human suffering — the
evil — that formed the
context within which
both Christianity and
Rabbinic Judaism came
into being.”
- James Carroll
And you will hear of wars and rumors
of wars; see that you are not
alarmed; for this must take place, but
the end is not yet. For nation will rise
against nation, and kingdom against
kingdom, and there will be famines
and earthquakes in various places:
…all this is but the beginning of the
birth pangs. Then they will hand you
over to be tortured and will put you to
death, and you will be hated by all
nations because of my name.
“Then many will fall away, and they
will betray one another and hate one
another. And many false prophets will
arise and lead many astray.
And because of the increase of
lawlessness, the love of many will
grow cold. But the one who endures
to the end will be saved.
And this good news of the
kingdom will be proclaimed
throughout the world, as a testimony
to all the nations; and then the end
will come.
-Matthew 24:6-14
1. What happened to Jesus
is now happening to us…
1. What happened to Jesus
is now happening to us…
2. Don’t give up…
1. What happened to Jesus
is now happening to us…
2. Don’t give up…
3. If you do, you’re still in…
4. Hope & Love…
1. What happened to Jesus
is now happening to us…
2. Don’t give up…
3. If you do, you’re still in…
“Humans are forever on
the hunt for meaning,
but brute experience
can force radical
breakthroughs into
other orders of
existence.”
- James Carroll
“Savage war generates, in
reaction, new ideas. This
principle undergirds the
line of thinking here — that
the Roman War against
the Jews prompted radical
shifts in the religious
imagination of the Jews.”
- James Carroll
The ability to turn pure
destruction into creative
transformation.
The ability to turn pure
destruction into creative
transformation.