Unreported Moments From First Century Jerusalem (3)
A Temple Trader’s Glee
He lashed me with a rope of knots
And wrecked a whole day’s trade,
But I’ve just seen him flayed alive,
It’s been a great, great day!
For generations we have served
The people of this land,
By always having Temple coin
Kept readily to hand.
Exchanging it for Roman dross
Or valued artefacts,
Of course, we have made profits,
Even after sky-high tax.
The priestly leaders love us,
Our business keeps them clean
From handling ‘filthy lucre’,
which to them is quite obscene.
So when this Galilean
Disturbed the Festal flow,
When profit margins always peak,
He simply had to go.
The priests were quite ecstatic,
We’d drawn the Rabbi’s wrath,
And given them a reason just,
At least to have him flogged.
