Almost all of last week was a crazy week for many of us, not just in Malawi but globally. In Blantyre you could see traffic jams as early as 3 in the afternoon, which on normal days happens around 16: 45. It must have been the same in Lilongwe and further afield.
Christmas fever was upon us. It reigned for a few weeks and culminated in the Christmas Day itself, which was yesterday. People celebrate Christmas in many different ways depending on what it means to them.
One thing that almost everybody seems aware of is that Christmas is a day on which we remember the birth of a man called Jesus. There are divergent views, even within Christendon, regarding 25th December being the appropriate time for remembering the birth of Jesus. Although the majority of people in the Christian church do not have any problems with the day, some have great reservations and do not find it proper to celebrate Christmas at all. This is a subject for another day.
The views are even more sharply divergent when it comes to who Jesus was. Many people, too many to number, regard Jesus as a fictitious character, that somebody simply made up the story about him. After all, they argue, you do not come across him outside the Bible, right? Wrong!
We have been given a rare glimpse of Jesus by the celebrated Jewish historian, Josephus, who, unlike the Gospel writers, was not a follower of Jesus. He was a secular recorder of first century Jewish history. His major works were History of the Jewish War, The Antiquities of the Jews and Against Apion.
Josephus was born at Jerusalem in 37 AD, just four years after the crucifixion of Jesus. His original name was Joseph Ben Matthias (Joseph the son of Matthias). He later became a Pharisee and an army general. In the Jewish rebellion against Roman rule in 66 AD, Josephus was made military commander of Galilee as the Romans descended on it to crush the rebellion. Under the command of a future emperor, Vespasian, the Roman arrived in Galilee in the spring of 67 AD and broke the Jewish rebellion.
Following the defeat of the Jews, Josephus was taken as a prisoner to Rome. After some time, he regained his freedom and became a resident of Rome, changing his name to Flavius Josephus, the first name being Vespasian’s family name. His literary pursuits were carried out while he lived in Rome.
As he grew up, Josephus must have heard a lot about Jesus and his movement, much like people growing up in Malawi hear about John Chilembwe although he lived before most people’s grandparents were born. Josephus was later to write about Jesus and about his associates.
In Antiquities 18: 63 – 64, he wrote: “At this time there was a wise man who was called Jesus, and his conduct was good, and he was known to be virtuous. And many people from among the Jews and the other nations became his disciples. Pilate condemned him to be crucified and to die. And those who had become his disciples did not abandon their loyalty to him. They reported that that he had appeared to them three days after his crucifixion, and that he was alive. Accordingly they believed that he was the Messiah, concerning whom the Prophets have recounted wonders.”
Here is a man simply putting on record the things he had heard, without trying to prove anything or to persuade anybody to accept his version of the story. Each reader is at liberty to make up their mind about the hisoricity of Jesus.
Josephus also wrote about John the Baptist. In chapter 5 of Antiquities 18, he describes how the army of Herod the Tetrach was destroyed by Aretas the king of Arabia Petres. Then he turns to John by recounting the following: “Now some of the Jews thought that the destruction of Herod’s army came from God, and that very justly, as a punishment of what he did against John, that was called the Baptist: for Herod slew him who was a just man, and commanded the Jews to exercise virtue, both as to righteousness towards one another, and piety towards God, and so to come to baptism….. Now when others came in crowds about him for they were very greatly moved by hearing his words, Herod, who feared lest the great influence John had over the people might put it into his power and inclination to raise a rebellion, thought it best, by putting him to death, to prevent any mischief he might cause.”