Jesus in the Talmud

106 Chapter 9plays off his magical power against the authority of his fellow rabbis 38 —andloses this power struggle until his death: rabbinic authority cannot andmust not be compromised by magic. 39 The same is true for Jacob of KefarSama and his anonymous colleague: their magical healing works, evenbetter than the rabbis wish (they cannot prevent it, unless they forestall itby letting the poor victim die), but still, it is unauthorized magic and mustbe fought against at all costs. The magical power displayed by Jesus and hisfollowers threatens the authority of the rabbis and their claim to lead thepeople of Israel. Hence, what is at stake here is the authority of the rabbisversus the authority of Jesus, reasoning—and deciding—among equal partners40 versus unbridled individual power. For the rabbis, the keys to thekingdom of heaven have been given to them (through the Torah, whichGod did not want to remain in heaven but decided to hand over to them);for the Christians, the keys are now in the hands of the new Israel, whohave access to God not least through their magical power.Idolatry and BlasphemyHow closely magic and idolatry are connected in the Jewish perception ofJesus becomes apparent in the Bavli’s story of Jesus’ execution. There, theherald summarizes his crime: he practiced sorcery and instigated (hesit)and seduced (hediah) Israel. As we have seen, mesit and maddiah aretechnical terms for someone who seduces an individual secretly, or manypublicly, into idolatry, and Jesus was explicitly accused of both: he did hisdisastrous and abhorrent work in secret as well as openly and hence deservesthe death penalty even twice. His particular variety of idolatryaffected—and threatened—the whole community of Israel.The worst idolater is someone who propagates not just some pagangods—horrible enough, but only too well known to the rabbis—but declareshimself God or the Son of God. 41 This falls under the category ofblasphemy, which, according to the Bible, deserves the death penalty ofstoning: “And he who blasphemes (noqev) the name of the Lord, he shallsurely be put to death, and all the congregation shall stone him; as well the