In many ways, good Antipas and noble Rufinus, I am in agreement with your assessment of the main character of my narrative. Jesus did, in fact, hold out the promise of better things to the poor among whom he lived, not only in the age to come but already in the present, as God’s empire begins to take hold. And with regard to the way that the elite such as yourselves bring benefits to many, there can be no doubt. In fact, in volume 2 of my monograph, I demonstrate the extent to which the spread of Christianity has itself benefited from the generosity of elite benefactors.
But benefaction is only one means of civic beneficence, and it may have its own weaknesses and deficiencies. In my travels and studies, I have met many who simply fell through the rather large gaps in the safety nets of benefaction. The poor and diseased already permeate the countryside and infiltrate cities throughout the empire. Their very presence is a testimony to the fact that Rome’s power does not extend to eradicating this imbalance in the social register. From my understanding, Jesus recognized that benefaction can promote the good for some factions of society, but he nonetheless advocated a different model of promoting the good in what he envisaged as the empire of the God of Israel.
With regard to Jesus’s impractical and unrealistic expectations, I am in full agreement. In my opinion, the human heart that empowers society does not seem able to live up to the standards that Jesus set in his style of life and death. But that, my friend, is to get ahead of you in the narrative. Calpurnius always chides me for saying little about what I believe and writing much about it. I think this is his way of teasing me for having written such a lengthy monograph. He himself is not a lover of books like his father, Theophilus. But since he is probably correct about my tendency to dictate with verbosity, I will refrain from writing more in response to your intriguing views of Jesus as depicted in my narrative. To learn more of my own views, you need only to read further.