54 Jesus, Prophet of Islam
There is seant record of what happened to the close followers of
Jesus after he had disappeared. It appears that many of them scat
tered after his supposed crucifixion. After sorne time they began to
re-group in Ierusalem, Exactly how many of the twelve disciples
and seventy-two dosest followers came back is not known. It is
certain, however, that those who did were men of faith, sincerity,
and courage, and possessed a very deep love for Jesus.
Barnabas's eminence as a man who had been close to Jesus made
him a prominent member of this small group of disciples. They
continued to live as Jews and practice what Jesus had taught them,
observing the Law of the Prophets, which Jesus had come 'not to
destroy, but to fulfil.' (Matthew 5: 17). That the teaching of Jesus
could ever be regarded as a new religion did not occur to any of
them. They were sincere practising Jews and were distinguished
from their neighbours only by their faith in the message of Jesus.
In these early days, they did not organise themselves as a separate
sect and did not have a synagogue of their own. There was noth
ing in the message of Jesus, as understood by them, to necessitate
a break with what was clearly the continuance and revivifying af
firmation of the guidance which Moses had brought.
The conflict between sorne of the Jews and the true followers of
Jesus, which had already arisen during the time that jesus had been
delivering his message, peace be on him, had been started by those
Jews who had changed and adapted Moses's message to suit their
own ends, and who feared, quite correctIy, that to support Jesus
and his followers would inevitably lead to their losing the wealth,
the power and the position which they enjoyed. The pact which
the upper echelon of Jews had made with the Romans, to safe
guard their vested interests and the privileges which they had en
joyed for centuries, had necessitated their departing even further
from the guidance they had been given.
This group of [ews continued to actively support the Romans
after the disappearance of Jesus in the persecution of those whose
actions and words threatened to expose what they had done. Thus
it was that a fol1ower of Jesus accepted Jesus while a [ew rejected
him. It could not have been an easy time for the early followers of
Jesus. On the one hand, they were hounded by the Romans who
regarded them as a threat to their political power, and on the ether
hand they were pursued by the Jews who feared that their own
'religious authority' would be undermined by them.
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