told the parable against them.” They attempted to arrest him, wanting to put
him to death, but were afraid of the masses. So, they left “and went away”
(Mark 12:12; Luke 22:2).
While Jesus’ opposition to the Jewish theocracy (the Pharisees and the
priests) is explicit, his opposition to Caesar and the Romans is watered down.
Regarding the coin of tribute he said, “Render to Caesar the things that are
Caesar ’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Mark 12:17; Luke 20:25).
This can be interpreted either as acquiescence or as indifference to material
things. Pilate is said to have only ordered Jesus to be crucified in order to
satisfy the crowd (Mark 15:15). This appeasing attitude toward Rome is far
removed from Jesus’ originally rebellious attitude (Kautsky 1925:393). Jesus
was not only an opponent of the ruling class in Judaism but also that of the
Romans (Kautsky 1919:421–422).
Jesus’ message about war and peace appears equally as contradictory. On
the one hand, Jesus is associated with pacifism. He preached “love your ene-
mies” (Matthew 5:44; Luke 6:27). His Sermon on the Mount warned of the
consequences of violence: “All who take the sword will perish by the sword”
(Matthew 26:52). But, he also said the exact opposite: “Do not think that I
have come to bring peace on earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a
sword” (Matthew 10:34). In his anger, he overturned the tables of the money-
lenders in the temple. These contradictory statements are hard to reconcile.
Jesus’ prophecies were apocalyptic: “nation will rise against nation, and
kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines, and earthquakes.” This
is “the beginning of the birth-pangs” (Matthew 24:7; see also Luke 21:10–11).
Jerusalem will be surrounded by armies and the temple will be destroyed
(Mark 13:2; Luke 22:20). We do not know whether this was written before or
after the destruction of the second temple. One way to make a prophecy is
to speak of an event which has already happened.
The early Christian community had a communistic character (Kautsky
1925:319, 331). Jesus lived together communally with his disciples (Kautsky
1925:334). The early Christians and the Essenes engaged in a communism of
consumption (Kautsky 1925:410). Early Christian communism and the mes-
sianism, which brought it about, stood in opposition to the rule imposed by
the Roman Empire (Kautsky 1925:380–381).
Both Jesus and Paul had questionable psychological states. People said of
Jesus “‘He is besides himself’” (Mark 3:21). Paul explained the reasons behind
his psychological disturbance: “I am talking like a madman – with far greater
labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death”
218 • Warren S. Goldstein