Helen Bond

So there's a difference.

Where he sort of conducts most of his ministry is in this Jewish area.

And he's only got to worry about Herod Antipas.

As soon as he goes south, though, it's the Romans in control.

And then he's got to worry about the Roman prefects.

I mean, yeah, there's lots of different ways of being Jewish in the first century, and some of them clashed with the authorities, some of them didn't.

I mean, it's interesting to look at what happened to John the Baptist.

He got killed.

The New Testament makes out that Herod didn't really want to kill him, but Josephus is pretty clear that...

And Herod got worried because he was attracting large crowds.

People were all going out to him in the wilderness.

And Herod just starts to think, you know, I can't let this guy carry on.

Because like everybody else, he doesn't want any kind of a riot.

So he's thinking, you know, this could be trouble.

So better just to nip it in the bud, you know, get rid of the ringleader.

And that's pretty much the way...

Rome as well treated everyone in the first century.

I mean, Jesus is one amongst many of these sort of holy prophetic type figures.

They sort of emerge, they get a following, and then the ruler of the day, generally speaking, gets rid of them.

You don't have to love your enemies, particularly not the Romans.