Chuza
Chouza is a Judean of high society, close to Herod Antipas whose goods he manages. His father and grandfather already belonged to the court of Herod the Great.[1] Chouza is a handsome man, about forty years old. Not very tall, but well-built, with black hair graying at the temples, sharp dark eyes, a pale complexion, and a square beard.
He marries a princess of royal blood: Joanna, one of the holy Women.
He owns many properties in Tiberias, Jerusalem, and in the Decapolis, near the Tetrarchy of Philip which Herod asks him to oversee.[2] It is probably at this property that Joanna was taken before dying, until being healed by Jesus[3]. His steward is Jonathas, one of the shepherds of Bethlehem.
At Jesus' instigation, Chouza becomes the adoptive father of Mary and Matthias, abandoned orphans.[4]
Chouza is a courtier. Indecisive and calculating: "He seems to himself to be a king, because he is with the king... And he has fear of the royal disgrace."[5] However, he suffers from living in the toxic climate of the Court but endures it. He contentedly keeps his Woman away from it.
He is favorable to Jesus, who healed his wife. He is the one who evangelizes Manaen, milk-brother of Herod Antipas[6] and the royal officer[7] whose son will be healed.[8]
He decisively takes Jesus' side when the princess Salome makes a provocative intrusion during the Charity Banquet organized at his home by his wife.[9]
However, he remains a man of the Court. When the ambiguous words of Judas raise fears of a power grab by Jesus, he asks his Woman to break with Jesus: "He only told me in the name of his marital authority that I must leave you because he, an official of Herod, cannot allow his wife to conspire Against Herod."[10]
This does not prevent him from plotting himself: sidelined and humiliated by Herod, he dreams, along with Manaen, of seeing Jesus king instead of Herod.[11] For this, Chouza brings Jesus to his house in the Decapolis where about forty notables are gathered, ready to conspire: "No," Jesus responds categorically and withdraws.[12] and [13].
After his failed "coup d'état," Chouza keeps a low profile. Confident in Jesus’ forgiveness, he seems to awaken to faith after the spectacular resurrection of Lazarus: "Great! Great! He is truly God!" he exclaims.[14] But his faith does not withstand the Passion of Jesus: he forbids his Woman from professing faith in Jesus and expels his steward Jonathas.
His name
Chouza, Chuza, Cuza, Kouza, Kuza: Origin unknown.
Where is he mentioned in the work?
EMV 99EMV 103 EMV 107 EMV 110 EMV 116 EMV 121 EMV 133 EMV 151 EMV 158 EMV 167
EMV 334 EMV 338 EMV 368 EMV 370 EMV 371 EMV 376
EMV 400 EMV 401 EMV 402 EMV 445 EMV 461 EMV 462 EMV 463 EMV 464 EMV 465 EMV 478 EMV 488
EMV 541 EMV 548 EMV 549 EMV 583 EMV 589 EMV 596
EMV 622 EMV 634
Learn more about this character
Excerpts from the Dictionary of Gospel Characters, Salton Maria Valtorta (Mgr René Laurentin, François-Michel Debroise, Jean-François Lavère, Salvator Editions, 2012):Chouza is mentioned by Flavius Josephus, who calls him a Sadducee. Dr. Johann Sepp, in his Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ[15] attributes to him an Idumean ancestry, the same as Herod’s.