Ultimate Conspiracy
The conspiracy occurred a very long time ago. The result of the conspiracy was the death of a significantly popular man who was disruptive to the ‘powers-that-be’ to the point where they obviously felt threatened by him.
The controlling figures two thousand years ago were significant in the Jewish hierarchy who were cosying up to the Roman governor of the time. It is of no doubt that pressure from the Romans was a driver in the generation of the conspiracy.
For the most part the need to get rid of this guy didn’t become urgent until he returned to Jerusalem with a significant following of ordinary folks. He could have been said to have signed his own death warrant by disrupting the money-making efforts that were going on in the temple. Reports suggest that he overturned tables and drove people out of the holy place, shouting and accusing them of desecrating God’s house.
The question for the bosses was how to go about getting rid of the guy who was openly questioning their methods. Someone so popular with a vociferous gang of supporters is difficult to move on without creating repercussions. They decided to ‘turn’ one of the teacher’s close supporters.
It must have taken some time for them to identify a suitable candidate and they may have had to force the issue by tempting his group with promises of money for their charities. In fact the main man himself may well have presented an opening by taking up with someone described as a known prostitute. Irrespective of his pure intentions, to people on the outside looking in he was being at least unwise, perhaps even acting illegally. The combination of her using expensive oils to clean the man’s feet and the nature of the woman provided the perfect opportunity to drive a wedge between one of his close followers and the man himself. Eventually, a weak link was identified, and the plan proceeded.
As with all such plans, finding the person likely to break was the hard part, from then it was a case of polishing and persuading. Money talks and if connected to the good things the group were trying to do is an even more effective lever to obtain the required result.
Parading into the city created an immediate opportunity for the Jewish hierarchy. It was a populist, almost anarchic act that allowed the controlling power to point towards disruptive and potentially dangerous uprising of the ordinary people in the city. It generated the opportunity for a watch to be put on the whole group. Intelligence was important for the success of the conspiracy to be guaranteed.
The art of pulling off the conspiracy was to drive a psychological wedge between the establishment’s ‘mark’ and the target group. Of course, he was spotted by the man almost immediately. It may have been that the betrayer was missing from the group at inopportune times or that he was guilty of expressing increasingly disruptive opinions. He disapproved of the leader’s prostitute friend. In reality she may not have been a ‘woman of the night’ that reputation could have been developed by the establishment, whatever, she was intensely loyal to the leader.
Once a degree of discontent has been sown it is difficult to get past it – as the saying goes ‘mud sticks’. The establishment driven by Roman masters were in a rush. Now that he was in the city his popularity was spreading like wildfire. Facts are sketchy at this stage but it must have been at the beginning of the week when the betrayer was given his bribe, although it was probably not described as such. A charitable donation perhaps!
From the final meal until the crucifixion was a very short time span. The establishment had galvanised supporters to begin casting doubts on the voracity of this new leader.
The crunch point came when the target group went to Gethsemane. The leader was fully aware of the rapidly approaching ending to his ministry on Earth. As a human the stress on his mental health would have been colossal, however, he received the inner strength to maintain his calm dignity in the face of such antagonism. It was probably just as well that he did else the outcome could have been exceedingly bloody. In fact, the Romans would possibly have been more satisfied with a few more bodies and the destruction of the movement.
As the final acts evolved there was a deal of misleading legal proceedings, false testimony and crowd management that effectively brought the movement, to which the Romans and Jewish establishment had taken such offence, to an end.
In fact, the death of the dignified and charismatic leader was the catalyst for the establishment of a worldwide following founded on love and charity. Perhaps if the powers that be had left him and his followers alone, ostracised the group, even prevented them from entering the city, the long term outcomes would have been different. The desire for maintaining control had the opposite affect .
This is one conspiracy that seriously backfired.
©D. L. Atkinson April 2023
God Bless
Thoughts of D L Atkinson 