Truth About The Crucifixion — Page 164
The first refuge of Jesus was in the traditional place of. Jewish exiles, that is Damascus, probably among the Essenes of the Community of the New Covenant. But soon Jesus had to feel the hatred of the Jewish hierarchy. It hired Saul to kidnap Jesus and bring him back to Golgotha. This persecution did not stop even after the victory of Jesus over Saul as can be deduced from the advice of Abu Huariah: O Jesus, move from one place to another, lest thou shouldst be recognised and persecuted!. As apparently Jesus was not safe in Damascus, his hosts tried to find for him a shelter more reliable. The range of the then political situation in Mesopotamia can give us an idea whether Jesus' hopes were realistic. . Although a peace had been signed between Rome and. Parthia by king Fraates IV, for a period of one hundred years, reaching to 36 A. D. , the Romans mingled in the dynastic quarrels of Parthia so that Artabanus III had to oppose their interventions. Nevertheless King Volagases had soon after to meet them in open war. . Under Artabanus Jesus had the best hopes because a Jew, by the name of Asinai, was installed in the satrapy of Babylonia. . His adventurous career is described by Josephus Flavius in. Antiq. 18, 12. For fifteen years was Asinai's rule excellent but then he was poisoned by his sister-in-law. His brother Anilai ruled then but as a brigand, was defeated and killed. A terrific pogrom of Jews in Seleukia followed. So vanished the possibility of Jesus' refuge in Babylonia about 40 A. D. . A report of Jesus' second potential shelter in Mesopotamia is preserved in the apocryphic correspondence of Jesus and King. Abgar IV of Edessa. Probably this is not a genuine document, yet it is worth studying. It is reported in the Church. History of Eusebius who claims having got it from the archives of Edessa, May be that Bishop Kune of Edessa, trying to raise the prestige of the Christian community by this pious falsehood had it written according to a local tradition about some negotiations that had taken place between Damascus and. Edessa on behalf of Jesus. The letter does not boast of any splendid success. Its point is only an unaccepted invitation. I feel this modesty to be strong evidence in favour of the historicity of such negotiations. . The third place where Jesus could have hope of a kind 169