Two Witnesses for Jesus

from Google Images

Josephus mentions an interesting event that occurred about a year prior to Jesus’ crucifixion. Pilate had built an aqueduct into Jerusalem using Temple funds for its financing. When many Jews objected to his use of Temple funds to pay for the project, he had some of his military men disguise themselves and mingle with the crowd of Jewish demonstrators. When Pilate gave the signal, his men began killing Jews in the crowd. They were supposed to kill only the most vocal demonstrators, but they killed indiscriminately, and with such vigor that they slew the lambs, too, which some of the Jews carried, intending to have them slain for the Passover celebration. Thus, the blood of the men was mingled with that of the animals (cf. Luke 13:1), a very distasteful matter among the Jews. Many of these Jews were Galileans, and, when this event was told to Herod Antipas, he also viewed the ordeal with contempt, putting Pilate and him at odds with one another.