The Eric Metaxas Show - Socrates: Eugenia Constantinou (continued)

Episode Date: April 7, 2023

Eugenia Constantinou continues discussing "The Crucifixion of the King of Glory" with Eric at a recent Socrates in the City event held in New York City.

Folks, welcome to the Eric Mattaxas show, sponsored by Legacy Precious Metals. There's never been a better time to invest in precious metals. Visit legacy p.m.investments.com. That's legacy p.m. Investments.com. Welcome to the Eric Metaxus show. I shouldn't tell you this, but Eric hired someone who sounds just like him to host today's show. But since I'm the announcer, they told me, so I'm telling you, don't be fooled. The real Eric's in jail.

Hey there, folks. Welcome to a special edition, Holy Thursday special edition of the Eric Metaxas show, where we're going to be airing starting right now. My conversation from Socrates in the city, we did it on February 28th, with the extraordinary Eugenia Constantino. The woman is obviously Greek, but she is, if you've read her book, The Cruciction of the, King of Glory, an utter genius, not just in her scholarship, but in communicating with super clarity, the events of Holy Week, what happens on Good Friday. We thought it was appropriate to air it today because it's just that wonderful. I can't recommend her book, The Crucifixion of the King of Glory, highly enough, to anybody interested in what happened that week. It's the latest scholarship. It is brilliant. It is powerful. And it's a devotional thing. So that,

That's why I wanted to air that today. So coming up in a couple seconds, don't miss it, share it. Here it is. The Romans saw the Jews as a nation. So whether they lived in Rome or Babylon or Alexandria or Asia Minor or Greece or Palestine, the high priest as the leading person among the Jewish people had authority over all Jews everywhere. And in the synagogues, we see this at Acts. They would sometimes beat Jews and punish Jews,

whom they thought we see them doing this to Paul and to Sast the New. they beat them in front of the Romans, right? So they were allowed to exercise jurisdiction in religious matters over their own people. So when they come to Pilot, Pilot realizes that they don't have a charge. Pilate just can't put people to death. He has to follow Roman law.

There has to be a violation of Roman law for him to even hold a trial. So, you know, when we get stopped for a speeding ticket or something by a... policeman gives us a ticket. The ticket alleges what statute we violated. That was the same thing in Roman law.

Pilot wasn't just there to rubber stamp their decisions. Just bring somebody. Now, I'm glad you brought up Pilot because a lot of Bible scholars have actually said that the presentation of Pilot in the New Testament is not genuine, is not correct. Because we know... These are theologically very liberal scholars

to question. in the New Testament. That's right. That's not surprising. I don't take them seriously, but you're a scholar. You have to. I want to show how really they're not thinking clearly through the process. They're not following it the way I, you know, presented it. But here's what they're thinking.

They're saying, well, either he already knew who Jesus was and decided to put him to death or that the gospel portrayal is not accurate. So in the beginning of my book in the introduction, I described to discuss the historicity of the Gospels. I thought that was important to lay that out. But it's because we know that Pilate was very tough and very ruthless. So they say, well, he wouldn't have been so careful about not condemning Jesus.

He wouldn't have been trying to release Jesus the way the gospel is described. But if you really think about it, first of all, he cannot put Jesus on trial without a Roman charge. And the first thing the Jewish leaders say is he says, okay, why are you here? And they say, well, what do you want with this, mad? And what do they say? If he were not an evildoer, we would not have brought him to you. So evildoer is not a crime. Right.

Okay? So he realizes immediately, and as he says, take him away and judge him according to your own law. They had the right to whip Jesus and up to 40 times. But not to kill him. That's right. But they want him dead. So that's what I'm saying. This is the conundrum that I just found.

It's like, as I said, it's like the plot of a thriller. They need him to be dead. Yes. But they do not have the mechanism. They themselves cannot put him to death. Not legally. They could have secretly murdered him. Right.

So why don't they? You say it, because they obviously write about it. Because, well, by you ask your audience there, why don't they put him to death? They want him publicly disgraced and humiliated. He's so popular. That's right. But this is what I'm saying. This is the kind of stuff that as I was reading the book,

this is coming out to me like, this makes sense. I didn't get this before. He was so extremely popular that if he had just been killed, they would have turned him into a martyr. He would have been celebrated. They wanted to kill him in such a way that he would be forever disgraced and humiliated and categorized as not conceivably the Messiah because he was crucified. They were very successful in that way. Yes. But they also were. wanted to distance themselves from the act. So they could say the Romans did it. We didn't have anything to do with it. That was Rome that put him to death. So a lot of people will say, well, Pilot was, you know,

killing, putting a lot of people to death, and he was, but not somebody that he believed to be innocent. And it's clear because he knows these people. He was governor from 26 to 36, and this was the year 33. Pilot has worked with these people. He knows them very well. And he's not going to simply rubber stamp and order the execution of somebody.

He has to answer to his own superiors. He has to keep records. On what charge do you bring this man here? Oh, he's an evil doer. Where is that in the violation of Roman law? So there is actually really good reasons for his hesitancy, not to mention other more serious reasons for his hesitancy.

Let's go back. So first, they arrest him secretly at night on purpose. Well, that's where Judas comes in. Judas is helpful. Judas wasn't necessary, but he was helpful. They got lucky with him. They got lucky that Judas approached them. They didn't go looking for a traitor.

They didn't know where Jesus was spending his night. They were afraid to arrest him publicly because the people loved him. So when Judas comes forward and says, What will you give me if I betray him to you? then they, Judas is the one who leaves them to the place on the Mount of Olives where Jesus and the disciples were spending the night. So they're able to arrest him in the middle of the night, put him on trial in the middle of the night, find him guilty, and by Friday morning he's standing in front of Pilate. Okay, now, let's not rush ahead here. So they arrest him? Yes.

They take him away to the house of Annas or Caiaphas? Caiaphas. Canis. Annis was there too, but it seems to this house of Caiaphas. So... There's a church there, by the way, you know. I'm not surprised. You can see it.

Presbyterian church? It was an Orthodox church. Now it's a Catholic church. I'll say Peter of the Cock Crow. Wow. Because Peter was outside of the courtyard, warming his hands, denying Jesus. All right. So this brings...

You can go there and see the courtyard. It's pretty awesome. Whoa. Yeah. You should really do that. Okay. So one of the things that you mention, and again, I was, you know, to use the British phrase, gobsmacked when I read this.

I said, how have I never seen this before? You write in this book, and it's right there in scripture, and I must have read it, many times, never saw it, that Peter and John are the only ones that kind of follow Jesus, the other scatter, that he's arrested, they follow to see what's going on, and they follow and follow to the house of Caiaphas. and so Jesus is taken inside

and there's a sham trial it was you make it very clear the trial violated Jewish law but they didn't care about well obviously any trial that happens in the middle of the night we can be pretty confident as a sham trial

but you talk about this again you're a lawyer you talk about there's several ways that it violated Jewish law but what blew my mind what I couldn't believe that I'd never seen before is you say that people Peter doesn't get in the gate of Caiaphas's courtyard, but John does because John knew the high priest. I thought, what? It's in the scriptures.

Yeah, it's not to the high priest. It's in the scriptures, but how, I mean, we think there's just a bunch of bumbling fishermen or something. You're telling me that John, the beloved disciple, was known to the high priest. The high priest is as big a deal as it gets. Yes. How is it possible that John, humble John, was known to the high priest? Because of that little detail, some scholars have said John did not write the gospel, because how could this be possible?

But we do have a historical fact, again, that's preserved in the early church tradition, that when John died, he was buried in priestly vestments. That is preserved in a letter that was written. from the Bishop of Ephesus to the Bishop of Rome, telling him that John, when John died. Legacy precious metals has a revolutionary new online platform that allows you to invest in real gold and silver online. In a few easy steps, you can open an account online, select your medals of choice, and choose to have them stored in a vault or ship to your door. You have access to a dashboard where you can track your portfolio growth in real time anytime. You'll see

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This is an amazing book. And I thought an amazing conversation. So here is more of that. So I know the people say, well, John, the beloved disciple could. And how could he be? That means John was a priest. That means Zebedee was a priest. And the reason for that is because... His father, James and John, were coming for them. That's right. So how exactly they knew the high priest? We don't know.

But it's not impossible because the ordinary priests, of which there were at least 10,000, some people say as made as 18,000, ordinary priests who served in the temple, served on a rotation basis two weeks out of the year and all the major and the major feast days. And so they couldn't really earn their living from the temple the way the chief priests did.

So they were fishermen and they were farmers and they were potters. They had trades and occupations. And then they would come to the temple to serve when it was their turn. So we don't know how it was known, but that is what it says in the gospel by the eyewitness. But that's what's amazing to me. It's there in the scripture. But you kind of pass over. But you just kind of, you know, and then I think, wait a minute.

John knew Caiaphas or was known by Caiaphas? It's unbelievable. Well, at least he knows the girl at the gate. She knows him. Right. So I don't know. Maybe he was familiar, but for some... It's interesting to imagine that, right?

But somehow they were in these circles. Maybe because, you know, among the priests, they had run into each other. Well, whatever it is. I'm just telling you, when you write about it in your book, I thought, I can't believe I've never even seen this before. People said there's no way he's a priest because he's a fisherman from Galilee. Yeah. But we do have that evidence from the early church that tells us that he was buried wearing the priestly breastplate that the Jewish priest used to wear. Well, in any event, so the trial happens at the home of Caiaphas. And that itself, you really do very cinematically and beautifully tell the story. It's fascinating.

and they get Jesus to say, in effect, I am he. They get him to say that. To admit divinity. But they don't really trick it. Maybe they think they tricked him into it, but obviously he's in full control and he decides to do this. So now they have what they need. Okay.

He says it because the high priest puts him under oath, a specific kind of oath. I abjure you. Abjure you. And that is like the opposite of our right against self-incrimination. They had the right to force people to incriminate themselves. They put them under oath. So this couldn't happen in America.

Couldn't happen. Well, who knows these days? But it doesn't look like it. But they had the right. He puts them under the oath and forces him to testify. And in other words, if Jesus doesn't say it, he will be found guilty anyhow. So he says who he is. Are you the Messiah, the son of the living God?

And he says, you said so. why does he say that Eric? Why does he just say yes? He doesn't say yes. He says you said so because it means that first of all that the words of his identity came out of the high priest's mouth. The high priest cannot say I didn't know who Jesus was because he said the actual words. That's the most important statement of the church. He's the Messiah and the son of God. So those words come out of the high priest's mouth and Jesus doesn't stop there. He says, and furthermore, you will see the son of man, seated at the right hand of the power, coming on the clouds of heaven. And that's Jesus sealed his fate.

He knew they were going to find him guilty anyhow. So he might as well say the truth to them. So nobody can say we didn't know. Well, what's interesting to me, you talk also about how the high priests were under these tremendous requirements. They couldn't do this, they couldn't do that. they couldn't even enter a house and one thing they could never do is mourn publicly, tear your clothes or whatever.

And the high priest tears his clothes in total contravention of what he's supposed to be able to do. It's as dramatic as it gets. Yes, he does that on purpose, of course. Yeah. And St. John Christmas,

he says to add force to the accusation. So he says, this is blasphemy and he's never supposed to tear his clothes even if his own parents died. But he does it because he and the rest of the chief priest and the members of the saidhedrin are determined that Jesus should die. So this is when they're like, okay, now we're going to take him to pilot. Now they've justified the death penalty. In their minds, they've justified the death penalty.

Did you notice that when they bring him forward? That's not the first question they ask him, right? when he's brought forward they bring a lot of witnesses and they finally get two witnesses who say this man said he would destroy the temple. That's very key to the story. It goes

back to the cleansing of the temple and his disruption of the temple cult. That's why they were afraid of him. Now Jesus never said he was going to destroy the temple. He said that they would destroy this temple meaning his body and in three days he would raise it up. But once

they start with this, now they can have a trial. Unless there were two witnesses who agreed on a charge, they couldn't even begin the trial. Then they have the two witnesses that they probably got them to agree on their testimony, because it took them all night. They couldn't get two witnesses to agree.

Right, right. And then now the high priest says, what do you have to say for yourself? Now, why is the question about the temple? Why does that lead to the next question, which is, are you the Messiah?

That's something that most people don't know. Because in the Jewish tradition at that time, and among the prophets, they associated with the Messiah with someone who would come and build a new temple. And this is in Zechariah. And there's a term for the Messiah in the Jewish scriptures, or kind of a nickname, branch. A root will arise from the Jesse. So as soon as he says he is the Messiah, that's how they can, in other words, otherwise you don't understand why does Caiaphas suddenly ask him if he's the Messiah because these witnesses said he claimed to

destroy the temple. That's a connection there. Well, that's what I'm saying. There's so much in here that I have not seen before and again we can't really do it justice here. So they take him to Pilot Pilate says, not interested and he sends him, he's thrilled to find out, oh

he's a Galilean and I don't have any jurisdiction over Galilee we're in Judea, but guess what? Herod, who has jurisdiction over Galilee. He just happens to be in town, so why he'd he take him to his house? Yes. And Herod was happy. So they take him to Herod.

Yes, Herod was happy to see him because Herod wanted to see him. Herod was the Tetrarch of Galilee or King of Galilee, and he happened to be there for the Passover. By the way, that's why Pilate was in Jerusalem for Passover because he wanted to control the crowds. He normally wasn't there.

So yes, they take him there and Pilis hoping to just pass off Jesus. He's got a very busy schedule. Doesn't want to be bothered with his guys. He realized that the Jewish leaders really despised Jesus. He hadn't committed a crime. Pilate never heard of Jesus before. We can be confident of that.

Actually, that's another big thing in the book when I read that. I thought, Pilate had, and you proved this, Pilate had never heard of Jesus before. Why would he? Where did Jesus go preaching? He didn't preach to Romans. He's preaching in synagogues and in houses and fields and places where Jews were gathering.

And this is the reason for the question about, paying tribute to Caesar. They were hoping to get him to say, yes, you shouldn't pay the tax, so that they could report him to Pilate, because if somebody had gone to Pilate, say, Pilot, there's something you should know. What is it? Where there's

this rabbi who's going around preaching to big crowds. And so, why are you bothering me with this? They had to have a reason to report him to the Romans. Jesus was never political. Right, so if they had been able to say, he said, don't pay the tax to the Romans. That's right. It'd be like, open and shut.

He's guilty. They would have brought knowledge of that to Pilate, and a pilot at least would have been aware of him, but at this point, Pilate knows nothing about Jesus. So he realizes that this is kind of a religious, for the same reason as a religious dispute, you cannot go, if you belong to a certain church, you cannot sue that church in court

because they're teaching something that disagrees or the pastors teaching something disagrees with the faith. That will be thrown out of the courts. They don't deal with that. So the Romans had the same, they're not going to sit and deal. So they sent him to Herod. Yes, they said him. And Herod similarly is not really interested in doing anything.

He wants a show. He hears that Jesus said... That's right. And he doesn't get it. Jesus just, the Jewish leaders are furiously arguing against him. Pilots figuring if this guy deserves to die, Herod would know. You see, that's very important because Jesus never fomented rebellion of any kind. If he was suggesting rebellion, Herod would have...

put him to death. Herod wouldn't have really hesitated to do that. So when Bible scholars today say that the portrayal of Pilate is not accurate because he willingly would have put Jesus to death that's presuming that Jesus was suggesting

some kind of revolution or revolutionary message and Jesus was never doing that. Jesus was saying love your enemies turn the other cheek, these kinds of things. He was never a threat to roll. That's why that's why Herod never did. anything about him. So let's talk this through then. So Pilate says, leave me alone, sends him to Herod.

Herod is, I guess, annoyed that Jesus won't do a miracle. Well, he was hoping it would do a miracle. And so... I think he concluded that Jesus was that all those stories that heard about Jesus were not true. Because what person, if he was going to save his life, wouldn't do a miracle, just save his life. So he probably just figured that these things were exaggerations. Tell me why Relief Factor is so successful at lowering or eliminating pain. I'm often asked that question just the other night. I was asked that question.

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So Herod mocks Jesus. So this is part of the whole thing. He mocks him, puts him in royal robes. is he the one that put the crown of thorns or his that was done later after the okay so now we go back to pilot you're right and pilots like oh you're back you're back why are you back he was hoping he here this is so the chief priests are back and and what do they say now in other words okay so pilot sees that they're back and he was hoping that herod would take care of it for him so he wouldn't have to deal with him

with this, be bothered with this, but that causes him to be less likely to want to put Jesus to death because he figures, and he actually says this, Herod didn't find anything wrong, you didn't find him deserving of death, so what I'm going to do is I'm going to punish him, I'm going to satisfy you, I'm going to chastise him, I'm going to have him scourged. And that's when he says Jesus to be scourished. And he's hoping to placate their hatred toward Jesus by having Jesus scourged. We have to be clear. That was the hardest part of the book for me to read when you describe the scourging. So Pilate is such a practical, cynical, cynical, soulless human being that even though he knows Jesus is innocent,

to pacify these furious, powerful people that have come. He says, I will do what I am able to do, which is to say, I will have him scourged, which is worse than being whipped by the Jews. It's horrifying. We don't need to go into it. But he does that, hoping to end it there. He does that to save Jesus' life, ironically. Because as bad as it was, it's better than being crucified. He didn't think Jesus, he might have thought this, well, Jesus must have annoyed them for something. maybe he deserves to be punished for something, but he hadn't violated Roman law. But so he's effectively saying,

I can do this, and so I will do this. So the horror... Maybe I'll make them happy and... Right. So the horror of the scourging takes place. Remember also, they accuse Jesus of being a king. When they first say he's an evildoer, and Pilate doesn't do anything,

he goes out, talks to them, comes back inside the Praetorium and says to Jesus, are you the king of the Jews? And Jesus says, my kingdom is not of this world. So there is that idea of a treasonous charge that they concoct. They change it from blasphemy to a charge that does carry the death penalty. But Pilate does not think that Jesus is a threat. So he doesn't buy that. He realizes, because the first thing out of their minds is he's an evildoer. Out of their mouths is an evildoer. And then they concoct this idea of treason. So he's not. buying it. So he has Jesus scourge. So Jesus is scourged and then he questions Jesus. He had questioned Jesus before but he

comes back out and says I find no crime in him but you know I will go ahead and have him scourged. So he has him scourged. Brings him back and Jesus is very bloody from the

scourging and this is when Pilate says behold the man. Look at him. isn't that enough for you? But he, rather than molifying them, it seems to inflame them, crucify him. This is what really,

it's not enough to see him like that. This is what, he says, why? What is he done? This is what Pilate does not understand. So this is when they say, we have a law, and by that law he ought to die

because he made himself this son of God. So one of the, again, the people don't, seem to understand the way Pilot is portrayed in the Gospels is exactly correct. Pilot was reluctant to do anything with Jesus because from the beginning Jesus did not behave like a guilty person. He wasn't begging for his life. You say that several times in here and the most dramatic example of it, which again most of us have heard, but you managed to paint the scene so beautifully that

it strikes with fresh power that Jesus, Jesus, has been brutalized in a way that's difficult to read. And Pilate is now questioning him and in a sense saying like, hey, your kingdom is not of this world. What is going on here? Like give me, in a sense. That's after the scourging. Yeah, no, that's what I'm saying. After the scourging. So Pilate was always reluctant, but after the scourging, when they say he claims to be a God, the son of God, now Pilate is. really concerned because Jesus was not afraid of Pilate and that was obvious. Now he goes back inside the Praetorium and says, where are you from? And Jesus doesn't answer. And now Pilate gets angry,

right? Don't you know that I have the power to crucify you or the power to release you? Because he's not used to people not responding to him. And then Jesus says, you have no power unless it was given to you from above. Now Pilate really. doesn't want anything to do with Jesus. Well, but that's what's so... I'm just saying, like, if somebody's an agnostic and they're reading this and they read your book, you...

It's hard to conclude anything other than that there is no one in the universe like Jesus, because if you have been brutally scourged, so horrific, and then you're talking to the man who has power over life or death, and you respond with this level of clarity and truth and fearlessness, that you have no, to tell Pilot.

You have no power. You have no power over me unless it has been given you from above. If I was pilot, I would have been scared to death of who am I talking to. I think he absolutely was. We continue with a special edition of the Eric and Texas show. This is my conversation with Eugenia Constantine at Socrates in the city from a few weeks ago. This is amazing. I hope you're listening and enjoying it.

The province, every provincial governor came to the province with the Imperium. That means with all the power of the emperor, the power of life and death over everybody in the province, immensely powerful. And Jesus was not afraid of him. That's why I think Pilate was unnerved by Jesus. Jesus is presence from the beginning. But once they say he claims to be the son of God, then he was really afraid. And then with now, Pilate really wants to have nothing to do with Jesus.

So this is when he suggests Barabbas. But see, again, this is what I keep noticing is that the way you do it so masterfully is like, it's like a movie, like the plot keeps turning and turning and turning. So now Pilot is stuck. Right. And he comes up with one, an idea. There's another way. for me to get out of crucifying him.

But he never found him guilty of anything. Right. He didn't really have to crucify him. What he was trying to do, and this is the ironic part, he was trying to help the Jewish leaders save face because they had brought Jesus to him. And he knew because he worked with these people. These were on the highest level of Jewish authority in Jerusalem.

And he knew that if he just released Jesus, it would be an embarrassment to them. So he's figuring, okay, How can I get out of this in a way that they can just say, well, the Romans released him, but really he's guilty. He's trying to help them. And that's why he feels stabbed in the back when they don't appreciate that. Okay, so you have to explain.

Yes. He's the one who thinks of Barabas. He remembers the prisoner release. That you, you Jews have a custom to release a prisoner at Passover. At Passover. That's right. And not necessarily that that happened every year, but he knows he's been there long enough.

But he's come up with a novel way of getting out of this horrible mess. Shall I release for you the king of the Jews? No, no, no, not him, but Barabbas. Meanwhile, Barabbas really is a danger to Rome. That's the last person he would want released. But now he's suggested the prisoner release, and they've put him into a bind. And when they insist upon Barabbas,

he says well what am i going to do about jesus but just because he asked him released barabbas because a riot was beginning doesn't mean jesus has to die right it doesn't mean that jesus has been what about jesus will crucify him but why what wrong has he done what evil has he done he actually asked it they insist right and this is when and again this is where it ends but oh my goodness the idea that it keeps taking these twists and turns and twists and turns it is like a a gripping legal drama. You're just on the edge of your seat, and I've never seen it presented that way,

which is one of the reasons this book is so amazing, but only one. But so he's then in this situation where he's thinking, look, I do not want to crucify him. I can't really crucify him. He's starting to pilot. It's conceivable that he's thinking like,

I'm playing with fire. I don't know who this man is. I'm a little friday. And then the chief priests play the Trump card. That's right. And they say, that's right. Because, well, what happened, of course, we have to, you know, explain that the reason why he thought he might be a God is because the Greeks and the Romans had these ideas. They had these mythologies, these stories, plays.

It was very much a part of their culture that sometimes the gods came down from Olympus and looked like people. and if you offended them, even just insulted them, let alone scourge them, they could come back and take revenge. You'd be sorry. So Pilate is very afraid. He thinks it's very possible that Jesus is a God. So he says they're insisting, the Jewish leaders are insisting that Jesus be crucified. They concoct this little crowd that's outside the Praetorium because the temple is just yards away.

And they're in charge of the temple. This is one reason why this. group is not the average ordinary group because ordinary Jews are down in the city below they're getting ready from Passover they have a million things to do they're not just hanging around outside the Antonia

Fortress you know just because so the group there has been instructed and one of the scriptures one of the gospel says that has been instructed to shout for Barabbas and to shout for the crucifixion of Jesus so they create the mob that shouts

for his crucifixion But the Trump card that they now play, and this is just amazing to me. But he says first, take him away and crucify him yourselves. I find no fault in him. And then they say, they say what? You could take it. I think you wrote the book. The only reason I know the answer is because I read your book last night.

You say it because it's so amazing. They say, he's disgusted with them because he knows Jesus is not guilty. of a Roman crime, but they keep pushing and pushing. He says, take him away and judge him, take him away and crucify himself. He wasn't giving them permission to crucify him. He's just saying, I don't want anything to do with this. And they say, if you don't crucify him, you are no friend of Caesar. Amazing.

I mean, like the levels of hypocrisy are astonishing that as if they gave a damn about Caesar. He's their enemy. But they're using this. When they say we have no king but Caesar, that's blasphemy. They have committed blasphemy. On their terms. On their terms, that's blasphemy. I mean, I'm saying there's so much drama here that it's hard to take in,

that they would say to him, then you are no, they're threatening him. They're threatening him, but he knows this is, you see, when the Gospels were written, the people who wrote them, they weren't thinking, well, 2,000 years from now somebody's going to be reading this book, they were, the people. people who were alive in the church at the time knew all the back story of the things I'm telling you about. That they knew. So what did they know? And what they knew was that Tiberius Caesar was notoriously paranoid like most of the Caesar's were. They were always afraid of getting murdered. And he had put to death one of his closest advisors of man named Sejanus on the charge of treason. And that had happened only a few months before, maybe the year, prior. And that

news had come to Jerusalem. The Jewish leaders knew it. And with this, you are no friend of Caesar. Sejanus was friend of Caesar. Okay? That's a title of like a person who was given special privileges and honors by Caesar.

So Sejanus, who was friend of Caesar, a very close advisor of Tiberius Caesar, was put to death by Tiberius. And a lot of people who were part of his circle. So by saying to Pilate, you are no friend of Caesar, they were saying, if you don't kill Jesus, we will tell Tiberius that we brought a man to you who we told you claimed to be a king, that's treason,

and you didn't do anything about it. So maybe you won't kill him today, but we're going to tell Tiberius, you're going to be called to Rome, and he'll take care of you there. So this is why immediately after they say this, he ascends the judgment seat. to send his Jesus to death. If you change your mind, Take a chance, on the first in line. Honey, I'm still free.

Take a chance on me. More of my conversation with Eugenia Constantine. The book is the Crucifixion of the King of Glory. Highly recommended. This is my Socrates in the City conversation. Continuing. This is so fascinating. Have you ever thought of putting this in a book?

It's really, you really, you really should. I know it's a lot of work. There's so much else in here that we don't have time for. We're really out of time. I want people to be able to get a copy and to get it signed by you.

Final quick question. Are you writing, I know we talked about this, a sequel called... The resurrection of the king of glory. I haven't started it, but I did all start to the research for it, so I hope to do the same.

with this. And then there will be a third book, but I will leave that for the future. Well, can you give us a hint of what that third book might include? The nativity of the King of Glory. The Nativity? Yes. You know that happened before all this other stuff. Okay. He is trying to put it into historical context.

Yeah. Jeannie, I'm sorry we're out of time, but we have a patron's dinner following this. I think it's all that is left is to ask this crowd to give a warm round of thanks to my guest, Holyland.israel.trial.travel. Why do I mention that? Because the Israeli Ministry of Tourism is a sponsor of this program. And everybody who's a sponsor on this program, we're thrilled to have them. But I keep saying that because we're living in crazy times, which we talk about every day, we need each of us to deepen our faith. If you do not have faith, let me encourage you. The Bible is true.

The God of the Bible is real. And if you're interested in the truth and injustice, that's a good place to look. I've written many books on this subject in case you need a kind of a leg up. my book is atheism dead is designed to at least prove to you that there is a God. There is no doubt. In other words, if you want to be intellectually honest, when I wrote that book, I said, you know what, this is game over. In other words, I'm convincing myself, this is not like I prove there's no God. But I said, just from what I put in this book, if you're intellectually honest, it's game over.

You know there's a God. And the more you want to find out about that God, the more you find out who that God, the more you find out who that God. is. So in that book, I talk about many things in Israel, which is why I keep saying, I can't wait to get back to Israel because we want to film a documentary series around is atheism dead. So the first part is science. The second part is archaeology. The archaeology part, we're going to be in Israel filming at the sites that I mention in my book. And so I would just recommend to you. If you just, you can use my book, you can do whatever you want, but you can use my book as a template. Like, let's go visit these places. Hezekiah's Tunnel. Let's go to Nazareth to see

the site of Jesus is. I mean, it's really crazy stuff. So I want to recommend holyland.israel.com. Also, we should recommend, Albin, the film Nefarious is coming out. April 14th. Yeah. We've both seen it. We both recommend it. You know, a lot of times we recommend films because friends have been involved, and we know it's worth seeing, but we haven't had the chance to see it, or I haven't had the chance to see it. I had the chance to watch this so I can say. Yeah, and Kevin Sorbo is not in this one, but we still love it to death. But we still love it. Yeah. Even though Kevin Sorbo is nowhere to be seen. And let me tell you something, we looked. Man, we looked at every frame, no Kevin Sorbo anywhere.

Didn't do background work or extra work. And that's how you know that it's not officially a Christian film. Because if Kevin Sorbo is not in it, it doesn't get the little TM. Like, ding, Christian film. No. So, but it's really profoundly Christian. It's called nefarious. Not for the kids, though. It's not for the kids. No, it's hard in some ways to see. Okay, folks, that concludes my Socrates and the city conversation

with Eugenia Constantinou. Now, you've been listening to the audio. If you want the video, you can go to Socratesinthecity.com's YouTube page. We've just posted. Sign up for the Socrates in the city emails. Just go to Socratesin the city.com because lots of stuff we don't get to share with you on this program.

Thanks for listening.