Follow-up on my piece 👇 on the killing of Jesus:

The biblical texts referring to Jesus lashing the money changers, overthrowing their tables and driving them out of the temple court in Jerusalem a few days before he was arrested and killed, don't mention at all that the temple was much more than a religious building.

The texts don't mention that the temple also was the largest and most powerful bank in the region.

Neither do they mention that Pontius Pilate most certainly taxed the profits that the high priests made from deposits, loans and money changing.

Therefore, the story about Jesus chasing away the money changers lacks important context.

Directly after his arrest, the high priests held a meeting where they interrogated Jesus, before they led him to Pilate.

The high priests took Jesus to Pilate and asked him to execute the rebel.

According to the gospel of Luke, they said to Pilate:

"He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be Messiah, a king.”

It seems likely that "taxes to Caesar" referred to taxes on the temple's banking business, which were paid by the high priests to Pilate on behalf of the Roman empire, and which Jesus directly or indirectly had objected against when he created the ruckus in the temple yard.

However, when Pilate went on to examine Jesus, he didn't mention the subject of taxes at all.

The scriptures also make it seem like Pilate was reluctant to the proposed execution of Jesus.

All of this seems very odd to me.

I suspect that it throughout history has been a great deal of politically motivated editing of these texts.

I believe that the motive for this censorship has been to steer clear of the fact that political control over religion, especially when it comes to the the monotheistic religions of Judaism and Christianity, goes hand in hand with political control of the monetary system.

It's an unholy marriage that stretches a long way back in time, long before Jesus lived.

He demonstrated against this sinful arrangement and was punished accordingly.

And instead of focusing on the evil profiteering of the state and the high priests, today's narrative seems to me to focus a whole lot on Judas the betrayer, who became a useful fall guy.

It's disgusting.

I have no other word for it.

We shouldn't be kept in the dark about these things.

I'm experimenting with a new podcast where we discuss a host of intriguing ideas from the edge.