Book Title: Unknown Life of Jesus Christ New Edition 2009 Publication
Author(s): Nicholas Notovitch, Virchand R Gandhi, Kumarpal Desai
Publisher: World Jain Confederation

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Page 157
________________ The Unknown Life of Jesus Christ I do not wish to attribute to Jesus the role of revolutionist, but it seems to me very probable that Jesus worked upon the people with the view of re-establishing the throne which belonged to him by right of inheritance. Divinely inspired and at the same time convinced that his pretensions were legitimate, Jesus preached the spiritual union of the people in order that a political union might result. Alarmed at these rumors, Pilate called the learned men and the elders of the people together and ordered them to forbid Jesus to preach publicly, and even to condemn him in the temple under the charge of apostasy. This was the best way of ridding himself of a dangerous man, of whose royal origin Pilate knew and whose fame was increasing; among the people. We must remark here that far from persecuting Jesus the Israelites recognizing in him the descendant of the illustrious dynasty of David, made him the object of their secret hopes, as is proven by the Scriptures which relate that Jesus preached freely and openly in the temple in the presence of the elders, who could have forbidden him not only access to the temple, but even more, the right to preach. By Pilate's order, the Sanhedrim met and summoned Jesus to appear before its tribunal. At the close of the inquest the members of the Sanhedrim informed Pilate that his suspicions were groundless, as Jesus made only a religious propaganda and not a political one; that he preached the divine word and that furthermore he claimed to have come not to overthrow, but to reestablish the laws of Moses. The Buddhist chronicle only confirms the sympathy which undoubtedly existed between Jesus, the young preacher, and the elders of Israel. Hence their reply, "we will not judge a just man." Pilate was not satisfied, however, and sought another opportunity to bring Jesus before a new and regular tribunal; with 152

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