The betrayal of Jesus Christ by Judas Iscariot, one of his twelve disciples, is another issue I will raise with the Heavenly Father because of the baffling different reports on his arrest in the first four Books in the New Testament, known as the Gospels. The authors of Matthew, Mark and Luke have it that Christ was arrested by a large crowd armed with swords and clubs sent by the Chief Priests, the teachers of Law (Pharisees) and the Elders. Who were led by Judas Iscariot who moved over to kiss Jesus to let the mob know he was the one they came to arrest. See Matthew 26: 47 – 56; Mark 14: 43 – 50 and Luke 22: 47 – 53.

But in the Book of John 18: 1 – 11 it was a group of Roman soldiers and some temple guards that Judas went with for the arrest of Jesus. And instead of the traitor moving forward to kiss him, it was Jesus who identified himself. As the team came into the garden where he was with his disciples Jesus was said to have stepped forward and asked them, “who seek ye?” When they answered “Jesus of Nazareth,” he told them: “I am he.”

The soldiers were said to have moved back and fell to the ground. Jesus again asked them: “who is it you are looking for?” They replied, “Jesus of Nazareth.” He told them he had already identified himself and that if he was the one they wanted, they should let his disciples go away. The issue of those who came to arrest Jesus falling down is not reported in the Books of Matthew, Mark and Luke. Is such an omission by the three authors not strange? Or was it John that had a wrong account?

According to the biographies of the authors of the 66 Books in the Holy Bible on the internet, Matthew and John were written by the disciples of Jesus who bore the names (Matthew 10: 1 – 4; Mark 3:13 – 19; and Luke 6:12 – 16). So, Apostles Matthew and John must have been physically present when Jesus was arrested. Is it, therefore, not perplexing that while Matthew had it that those who arrested Jesus was an unruly mob, John said they were soldiers and temple guards? Ditto Matthew’s report that Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss, while John said Christ identified himself to the crowd.
To be continued next Wednesday

 

Phenomenal matriarch of the Adedipes, Falaes, Ade – Ojos & others

I concluded last week’s tribute to Dele Ojo, the juju music icon, who went to glory penultimate Thursday, with my answer to the question from Prince Kolade Roberts asking if he was related to Chief Micahel Ademiyan Ojo (a.k.a Ade – Ojo), the proprietor of Elizade Nigeria Plc (a motor company) and Elizade University, Ilara – Mokin. I told him I did not think so because if they were related I would have known since the Ade – Ojos and some other families in the town have the same great grandmother with our Elemo Adedipe chieftaincy dynasty of Akure.

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I am writing this because of some readers who wanted me to give details of the relationship, including some of my cousins who do not know of our Ilara – Mokin connections. I am also doing so for the lessons to be learned from our paternal great grandmother, the instrument of God in making the Elemo Adedipe chieftaincy dynasty the most prominent and successful family in Akure in the last one hundred and sixty – eight years or so. And our siblings in Ilara – Mokin, the Adefehinti royal dynasty and the Ade – Ojos to be among the four families that have made the town known to people across the country and internationally. The other two high profile families are those of Dele Ojo and late Major – General Solomon Kikiowo Omojokun, a former Director – General of the National Youth Service Corps and one – time Minister of Labour in the late 1970s.

My relationship with Chief Olu Falae is that his paternal grandmother was my father’s elder sister. The mother of late Chief Nathaniel Kolawole Adamolekun, a former Registrar of the University of Ibadan in the 1960s – 70s was also an elder sister of my dad. They were the children of High Chief Adedipe I, the tenth Elemo of Akure.
Our relationship with the Adefehintis and Ade – Ojos is that we have the same great grandmother because she went back home to marry another husband when circumstances made her to leave our great grandfather, High Chief Atoosin (or Atooshin), the ninth Elemo of Akure.

Continues next week

 

Ebenezer Babatope, the great (3)

Since we met in Lagos in 1971, Chief Ebenezer Babatope and I have remained in touch and through our columns in the Nigerian Tribune and Sunday Concord respectively advanced each other’s cause. When the elected government of President Shehu Shagari was overthrown on Saturday, December 31, 1983, by the military which replaced him with General Muhammadu Buhari, Ebino was one of the politicians who were arrested and detained in 1984. He was behind bars for twenty months until the Buhari junta was toppled on August 25, 1985.

It was a vindictive action because he was not a legislator neither did he hold any political appointment at the federal or state level like the others, politicians and non – politicians alike, who were incarcerated. He was arrested for an article he wrote in his column about October 1983, three months before the Buhari coup titled: “Beware of this man.”
It was in reaction to a statement made by General Buhari, then the General Officer Commanding the 3rd Division of the Nigerian Army, that soldiers should start reading the Nigerian Constitution. Ebino said such a pronouncement was indicative of an officer planning a coup. A week or two after President Shagari was ousted the Nigerian Tribune republished the article and a few days later Ebino was arrested. It was predictable because in the interview he had with Dele Giwa, the Editor of the Sunday Concord a few days after assuming office, General Buhari had said he would repress the press.
More to come next week