Project J by Sean Brandywine Page B

coming of the ‘Son of Man’ and the apocalypse, when God would cleanse the land of the impure and install Israel to its proper place.   He had troubles with the established priesthood in Jerusalem who felt him a menace.   You must always remember that their land was under the rule of Rome, and the Pharisees feared Roman intervention.   And the Pharisees just plain did not like anyone teaching against their rules.
     
    “Do not get Jesus off on the subject of the Pharisees.   He hates the way they defiled the Temple – at least in his view.   One of the main bones of contention was the manner in which sacrifices were made in the Temple.   But I won’t get into that.   Suffice it to say that there was no love lost between him and the ruling priesthood.
     
    “Now here is where I have to back up and explain something.”   He took a deep breath.   “Up to a certain point, Jesus had preached that the ‘Son of Man’ would come to inaugurate the Kingdom of God during the apocalypse.   He firmly believed that this apocalypse would happen very soon.   This was a common belief of many Jews at that time.   God would step in and set everything right.   And any day now.
     
    “But...   He taught that this Son of Man was a divine one sent directly from God.   He always referred to him in the third person.   This man would be as an angel, holy and blessed with powers by God.
     
    “At some point, his view changed.   I think he grew tired of waiting.   Or something like that.   Or maybe he had always been heading in that direction anyway, but at some point be began to think of himself as that appointed agent of God.   It was he who would do as God wished, bring in the Kingdom of God, to be the Messiah, the savior of the people.
     
    “He began to really believe this.   You can see a hint of that inspired belief in his eyes when he talks of it.   But also a bitter sense that he had failed or was wrong to begin with.
     
    “Regardless of what he thinks right now, at that time, and right up to his crucifixion, he believed that he was the Son of Man, God’s own chosen one.   That affected his thinking and actions from that point on.   He felt that it was upon his shoulders alone to help bring about the apocalypse.   He had prophecies of the old prophets to guide him.   He set out to fulfill them.
     
    “Eventually, this led him to Jerusalem on that fateful Passover, and you know what happened then.
     
    “I have tried to understand when this change in understanding of his nature happened and what, if anything, triggered it.   So far, I have been unsuccessful.   Perhaps it was always there, lurking in his subconscious.   Are not there enough examples throughout history of men who proclaimed themselves to be the Messiah?   Even in Jesus’ time and before, there were Messiahs.   Even today, there are men who claim to be Jesus returned or a part of God in some way.”
     
    He sighed, and suddenly looked a lot older.
     
    “I’m sure a psychiatrist would have a lot to say about this.   Perhaps someday one will examine Jesus.   Oh, that will be interesting!”
     
    He shook his head.
     
    “Sorry to be so long-winded.   The simple answer to your question is that the Jesus we have here, as far as I can tell, is simply a man.   There is nothing divine about him.   He cannot work miracles.   He cannot walk on water.   He is a man.   Just a man with a vision, and depressed that his vision never came true.”
     
    It was Tamara’s turn to shake her head.   “But what about the claims of the gospels?   That he did perform these miracles?   Raise the dead?   That he is the Son of God?”
     
    Myers leaned back in his chair.   “First,” he said, “you have to understand and accept that God does exist.   Of that there can be no doubt.   But Jesus, even if he thought he was fulfilling God’s will, was a man.   Those who wrote of him did so many years after the events.   And, for the