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The Background
Many
Christians in Europe and North America today feel that the stories
in the New Testament should not perhaps be taken as literally as
they were a few generations ago. Of course Darwin’s theory of
evolution has contributed much towards this. Also, in industrial
societies, we do not feel such a need to pray to God for harvests,
even though we may appeal to him for good weather for our holidays
as a kind of insurance policy. There are, of course, those who take
every word in the New Testament literally, and their beliefs have to
be respected.
However, we have to bear in mind that Palestine
at the time of Jesus Christ was a country in chaos. Three thousand
Jewish rebels were crucified under the occupying power of the Romans
after they had assumed direct rule of the Jews in 6AD. Pontius
Pilate was a cruel and corrupt ruler who compounded the atrocities
committed by his predecessors. It is therefore surprising that there
were no openly anti-Roman writings in the Bible to relate these
circumstances. Not even such incidents as the burning of Rome
by Nero were mentioned.
Beit She’an Roman Theatre, Israel
There was a bewildering array of
active Jewish sects and sub-sects at the time. Jesus Christ was a
Jew, and there is evidence that his sympathies were with the Jewish
uprisings organised by such groups. According to The
Dead Sea Scrolls Deception, Jesus Christ seemed to have
connections with most of them. It is difficult to differentiate
among the various groups. There were the Pharisees who, despite what
is said in the Bible, were anti-Roman, although rather more
passively so than other sects. The original Greek version of the
Bible refers to Jesus Christ as a Nazarene. This was later wrongly
interpreted to mean that he came from Nazareth. It is believed that
the town of Nazareth did not exist at the time of Christ’s birth as
there is no contemporary mention of it. The sect, the Nazarines or
Nazarites, were certainly in existence at the time of Christ, and
Christ’s brother, James, and John the Baptist were both Nazarites.
The modern Arabic word Nasrini means Christian, and derives
from the Hebrew Nazrim, a plural noun that comes from the
term Nazrie-ha-Brit which means ‘Keeper of the Covenant’. a
rank of the Essenes Community at Qumran on the Dead Sea. The
Nazorites were associated with the Community of the Essenes in the
time of the Gospels. The Essenes were an austere mystical sect whose
influence at the time is underestimated. The Nazarites were an
important sub-sect of the Essenes.
It is highly probable that if Christ did not actually
belong to the community known as the Essenes, he was well-versed in
their beliefs and sympathised with them. The Essenes believed
strongly in the coming of the Messiah, descended from the line of
David.
There was also a group called the Zealots. They were
not an independent sect, rather a group whose members originated
from other sects, and constituted the ‘strong-arm’ of the movement
against the Romans. Their activities would today be termed
‘terrorist’ and the uprising of the whole of Judea against the
Romans in 66 AD was the result of their activities. Although the
Jews were massacred by the Romans after this revolt, the activities
of the Zealots continued unabated for another century after Jesus
Christ’s death.
The alleged place where Jesus was judged by Pontius
Pilate
Even if Jesus Christ had not been a Zealot himself, he was
crucified as one. The two men who were crucified with him certainly
were Zealots. Jesus Christ embarrasses the church by being reported
as saying that he has come not to "bring peace but a sword". He asks
his disciples to purchase swords [Luke 22:36], and checks that they
have swords after the Passover meal[Luke 22:38]. According to
the fourth Gospel, Simon Peter is carrying a sword when Jesus is
arrested. In the context of the day, these are surely the
descriptions of a leader who is prepared for and willing to take
part in violence. Certainly Christ was executed by the Romans in the
way that they reserved for revolutionaries.
Jesus Christ had
no intention of forming a new religion. The idea that the Messiah
was regarded as divine would have been preposterous to the Jews. The
Greek word for Messiah is ‘Christ’ or ‘Christos’, and means anointed
one, or king. When David became king, he was also a ‘Messiah’ or
‘Christ’. When Jesus was born, he was also seen as being the Messiah
because of his Davidic pedigree The Jews felt that this new-born
king would be the one who would deliver them from the Romans.
Herod’s Northern Palace with 2000
year old frescoes
It is evident that the stories in the
New Testament are told in an allegorical way; in a code that would
be understood by some of the Jews and not by their Roman rulers.
Words that are used seem strangely unrelated to their actual
meanings, until, perhaps, we consider how certain terms have come
into the English language. We can say, for example, "He used to be
on the board, but now he is in the Cabinet." This, of course, does
not mean, "He used to be on a piece of wood, but now he is in the
cupboard."
These words and phrases (in Hebrew pershar
in the singular, persharim in the plural) had the same
meaning each time they were used. Additionally each time the meaning
was required, the persharim were used.
Before looking at
some of the more familiar stories from the Bible, here are some of
the words used in the New Testament and the explanation of what they
really mean. The following explanations are taken from the
Persharim, the Manual of Discipline, the Community
Rule and the Angelic Liturgy as quoted in The
Bloodline of the Holy Grail.
for those with ears to hear
this was the
signal that a statement that there would follow a message that could
be interpreted by those who knew the code
Babylon
Rome
the word of God, the
word
Jesus Christ
the lion
the Roman Emperor
the poor
those who had been initiated into the
higher ranks of the Community and had therefore had to give up their
worldly wealth
the many
the head of the celibate
Community
the crowd
a designation of the regional
Tetrarch (governor)
the multitude
the governing
council
the children
the novices within the
community
the Way
the doctrine of the
Community
the Children of Light
those who followed
the doctrines of "the Way"
leper
a person who has
not yet been initiated into the higher Community
the
blind
those who did not follow the doctrine of "the Way"
the Power, the Kingdom, the Glory
the Priest, King
and Prophet of the
Community
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The Loaves and the
Fishes
The story of the loaves and fishes is
an example of a parable. As an example of how the coding was used to
inform "those with ears to hear" let’s look at one of the more
familiar stories from the Bible, and see how the code was
used.
Gentiles who wanted to be baptised in the Judaic
tradition were referred to as "fishes". They were hauled out of the
water into boats by "fishermen" to be blessed by the "fishers" who
were the priests. Similarly, the Levite officials of the Sanctuary
were known as "loaves". In the ordination rite, the Levite priests
would serve seven loaves of bread to the priests and five loaves and
two fishes to the celibates. The Gentiles were allowed to receive
baptism only as "fishes" whereas only Jews could become "loaves".
At these ceremonies the "fishermen" would take their boats
out into the water, and the Gentile fishes, who were to be baptised,
would walk out into the water. When this had taken place, the priest
"fishers" would walk out into the water along jetties, and thus
"walking on water" to the boats. As Jesus had been born into the
house of Judah, and was therefore not a Levite, he was not entitled
to act as a baptismal priest, but he chose to disregard this
convention, and "walked on the sea" to the disciples’
boats.
One of the main aims of Jesus Christ’s philosophy was
to bring the "unclean" Gentiles together with the Jews, and
furthermore to let them take part in what had been reserved for the
Jewish priesthood. There was a group of uncircumcised Gentiles known
as the "Five Thousand", and Jesus granted the "multitude" (in other
words, their governing body) the serving of five loaves and two
fishes that were otherwise the reserve of the Jewish priesthood
candidates.
None of this detracts from any skills Jesus
Christ may have had as a healer. However, it was not a healer
that was predicted to arrive as the Messiah. What differentiated
Jesus from the others was that, despite the feelings of such groups
as the Pharisees, he extended his medical expertise to the
"unworthy" and "unclean" Gentiles, thus illustrating his ideal of a
united people against the authority of the Romans.
Bibliography
The
Holy Blood and the Holy Grail by Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh
and Henry Lincoln
The
Messianic Legacy by Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh and Henry
Lincoln
The
Dead Sea Scrolls Deception by Michael Baigent and Richard
Leigh
The
Bloodline of the Holy Grail by Lawrence Gardner
We also
recommend that you read the article Tracy Twyman and Boyd Rice Go
Grail-Hunting for Fox TV in www.dagobertsrevenge.com.
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