Jesus in the Talmud

Jesus in the Talmud 105b. Hyrkanos). 34 Hence, it is not so much the practice of magic that disturbsthe rabbis; rather, they attack the claim that comes with it: competingauthority and power. Not by coincidence, the master in the Bavli storyabout Yehoshua b. Perahya and his student concludes from Jesus’ brickworship that he “practiced magic and deceived and led Israel astray.” 35And this is precisely the reproach that some Jews express against Jesus inthe Gospel of John: “And there was considerable complaining about him[Jesus] among the crowds. While some were saying: He is a good man,others were saying: No, he is leading the people astray!” (John 7:12, 47).A prime example of this magical power struggle between competing authoritiesis preserved in the New Testament story about Simon Magus: 36(9) Now a certain man named Simon had previously practicedmagic (mageuōn) in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, sayingthat he was someone great. (10) All of them, from the least to thegreatest, listened to him eagerly, saying: This man is the power ofGod called “Great” (hē dynamis tou theou hē kaloumenē Megalē).(11) And they listened eagerly to him because for a long time he hadamazed them with his magic (tais mageiais). (12) But when they believedPhilip, 37 who was proclaiming the good news about the kingdomof God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, bothmen and women. (13) Even Simon himself believed. After beingbaptized, he stayed constantly with Philip and was amazed when hesaw the signs and great miracles that took place.Simon, the great magician and, because of his magical powers, the directoutflow of divine power (some other candidate for the “Son of God”) followsthe message of the apostles and becomes baptized. Why? Not onlybecause of the Christian message but also (and probably mainly) becausehe is convinced of the superior magical power of the apostles. Even afterhis baptism he continues to be impressed by their magical performances(which, of course, are miracles). The better magic “leads him astray,”namely seduces him into the idolatry of the new Jewish sect.The danger inherent in the exercise of magical power (idolatry) isthe reason why the rabbis in the case of R. Eliezer b. Hyrkanos react soallergically and uncompromisingly to his magical intervention. R. Eliezer