Session 12 - Lecture

The Jewish Sects / Life of Jesus

I. The Jewish Sects

A. Introduction

The Jews of the Jesus' ministry were split into several factions or parties. These groups represent the several different approaches to Judaism that were present during the time of Christ. The Sadducees emphasized formalism, devotion to the Temple, and to the Temple rituals. The Pharisees were typical of a group that adjusted to circumstances. The Essenes were the ascetics, emphasizing self-denial and self-discipline. The Zealots were the radicals. And the Herodians favored a return to the rule of one of Herod's descendants.

B. The Sadducees

1. Little is known of the Sadducees. Most of what is known comes from Josephus, the New Testament, and the literature of the Pharisees.

2. The Sadducees were the party of the wealthy priests and their friends in the aristocracy. They first appear in the reign of Hyrcanus (134-105 B.C.).

3. The word Sadducee has two possible origins. It may have derived from Zadok, the high priest who served David and Solomon, or it may come from the word "saddiq" which means righteous.

4. The Sadducees took an ultra-conservative religious attitude. Politically, they were realists who cooperated with the ruling powers to ensure national survival.

5. The Sadducee had little contact or concern for the ordinary people of Judea. They are the wealthy priests and aristocracy. Their only concern was with running the Temple. The Sadducees disappeared from history after the destruction of the Temple in A.D. 70.

6. Sadducee teachings and beliefs:

a. They accepted only the Torah (first five books of the Bible) as scripture and rejected the oral law of the Pharisees.

b. They emphasized human freedom and responsibility before God.

c. They denied bodily resurrection, and the idea of eternal rewards and punishments.

d. They denied the elaborate angelology and demonology developed by the Pharisees.

C. The Pharisees

1. The most familiar of the groups, the Pharisees, probably originated among the Hasidim who fought the Seleucids in the Maccabean revolt.

2. The name Pharisee probably comes from the word "parush" which means separated. They were probably teachers and interpreters of the Torah, and were not priests like the Sadducees.

3. The Pharisees were particularly concerned with the laws of purity, Sabbath observations, and tithing. Keeping the law as it was laid out in oral tradition was paramount. As compared to the Sadducees, they were progressive theologically. They held a moderate position that maintained a theological balance between God's sovereignty and human freedom.

4. The Pharisees valued the Torah above all else. In addition, they constructed a complex oral tradition designed to specify in detail how the law applied to every circumstance. The Pharisees believed that this oral law was as authoritative as the written law of the Torah.

5. The Bible records many episodes between Jesus and the Pharisees. Jesus did not hold that oral tradition was authoritative as did the Pharisees. He also questioned their motives when it came to keeping the law. The Pharisees condemned Jesus because he consorted with those the Pharisees considered sinners.

6. Pharisee beliefs

a. The two pillars of the Pharisaic system were Torah and tradition.

b. The Pharisees were open to new doctrinal developments including resurrection of the body, last judgment, and eternal rewards and punishments.

7. The Pharisees were the only group to survive the destruction of the Temple in A.D. 70.

D. Essenes

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1. The Essenes were members of a Jewish religious brotherhood, organized on a communal basis and practicing strict asceticism. The order, with about 4000 members, existed in Palestine and Syria from the 2nd century BC to the 2nd century AD.

2. The Essenes are not mentioned in the Bible or in rabbinical literature, and information regarding them is largely confined to the writings of Philo Judaeus, a Hellenistic Jewish scholar and philosopher of Alexandria, the Roman historian Pliny the Elder, and the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus.

3. Important features of the organization were community of property, distributed according to need; strict observance of the Sabbath; and scrupulous cleanliness, which involved washing in cold water and wearing white garments. Prohibited were swearing, taking oaths (other than oaths of membership in the Essenian order), animal sacrifice, the making of weapons, and participation in trade or commerce.

4. The order drew its recruits either from children it had adopted or from the ranks of those who had renounced material things. A probation of three years was required before the novice could take the oath of full membership, which demanded complete obedience and secrecy. Breaking the oath was punishable by

expulsion. Because of the continuance of the binding requirement that no food should be eaten that was ceremonially unclean, this penalty was often equivalent to death by starvation.

5. As a society, the Essenes were the first to condemn slavery as a violation of human fellowship. It is reported that they bought and freed slaves owned by others. The Essenes lived in small communities of their own. Their industries were farming and handicrafts.

6. After 1947, new light was thrown on the Essenes by certain ancient Hebrew scrolls called the Dead Sea Scrolls. They were discovered in caves near the Dead Sea at Khirbat Qumran, which may have been the site of an Essene community of the 1st century AD. Among the scrolls is a Manual of Discipline, which can be associated with the Essene pattern of life as known from Greek and Latin sources.

Caves at Qumran

Jar from Qumran

Isaiah Scroll

A Scroll

A Scoll Piece

Manual of Discipline

7. Many scholars today believe that the chief Essene settlement was Qumran, on the shores of the Dead Sea. Also called Khirbet Qumran ("stone ruin"), it is the ancient Jewish settlement in Palestine, near which the so-called Dead Sea Scrolls were found in 1947. About the time of Christ, Qumran was the center of a large religious community, probably one of the Essene sects. The Essenes broke away from other Jewry in the 2 nd century BC and, persecuted by the Maccabees, went into the wilderness, which seemed well suited to their ascetic way of life. The site at Qumran, where many lived in the caves of surrounding cliffs, was probably settled about 135 BC. It was temporarily abandoned after an earthquake in 31 BC and was finally destroyed by the Romans in AD 68.

Aerial of Qumran

Ruins of Qumran

8. After the discovery of the scrolls, Qumran was carefully excavated. Archaeologists were able to identify some rooms that had been used for study and worship, others apparently used for communal meals, a spacious chamber with

inkpots (perhaps the scriptorium where scrolls were copied), and pools for bathing. A cemetery located nearby revealed more than 1000 graves.

Dining Room

Scriptorium

Mikvah - Ritual Bath

Cemetery

9. Please remember that there is still a large debate about who the Essenes were and whether they lived at Qumran. There are those who believe that Qumran was not an Essene settlement and that the Dead Sea Scrolls were not written by the Essenes.

E. Zealots

1. The Zealots were a Jewish religious-political faction, known for their fanatical resistance to Roman rule in Judea during the 1st century AD.

Zealot

2. The Zealots emerged as a distinct political group during the reign (37-4 BC) of Herod the Great. In AD 6, when Judea was put under direct Roman rule and the authorities ordered a census for purposes of taxation, the Zealots, led by Judas of Galilee, called for rebellion. Acknowledging the authority of the pagan Roman emperor, they argued, would mean repudiating the authority of God and submitting to slavery. An extremist group of Zealots, called Sicarii ("dagger men"), adopted terrorist tactics, assassinating Romans and also some prominent Jews who favored cooperation with the Roman authority. The rebellion led by the Zealots in AD 6 was quickly put down, and many of them, probably including Judas, were killed. However, others continued to advocate uncompromising resistance to the Romans.

Likely Type of Blade used by Sicarii

3. According to Flavius Josephus, the Jewish historian, the Zealots played a major role in inciting and sustaining the general Jewish uprising against the Romans that began in 66. Although they continued to attack other Jewish groups, they fought bravely in defense of Jerusalem until its fall in A.D. 70. Another group of Zealots held the fortress of Masada against besieging Roman troops until A.D. 73, when they committed suicide rather than surrender.

Masada

F. The Herodians

The Herodians are not mentioned outside the Gospels and the Gospels tell us nothing about them. They were evidently supporters of the Herodian Dynasty and were probably nothing more than a political party.

II. Jesus' Life and Ministry

A. Introduction

Jesus Christ is the focal point of the Christian faith. As such, it is important to study his life and ministry. Most of what is known about Christ comes from the Gospels. The Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) portray Jesus in a similar way, though each contains its own distinctiveness. The Gospel of John is somewhat different in that John emphasized Jesus' ministry especially as it was related to Jerusalem.

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B. The Birth and Childhood of Jesus

Two of the Gospels, those of Matthew and Luke, provide information about Jesus' birth and childhood. They also provide genealogies tracing Jesus' descent through

the Hebrew patriarch Abraham and the 10th-century B.C. king David (Matthew 1:1-17; Luke 3:23-38). Presumably, the genealogies are offered as proof of Jesus' messiahship. According to Matthew (1:18-25) and Luke (1:1-2:20), Jesus was miraculously conceived by his mother. He was born in Bethlehem, where Joseph and Mary had gone to comply with the Roman edict of enrollment for the census. Matthew alone (2:13-23) describes the flight into Egypt, when Joseph and Mary took the child out of reach of the Judean king Herod the Great. Only Luke relates the compliance of Joseph and Mary with the Jewish law, which required circumcision and presentation of the firstborn son at the Temple in Jerusalem (2:21-24). Luke also describes their later journey (2:41-51) with the young Jesus to the Temple for the Passover feast. The Gospels mention nothing concerning Jesus from the time he was 12 years old until the time he began his public ministry, about 18 years later.

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C. John the Baptist

John the Baptist was born between 8 and 4 B.C. and died about A.D. 27. According to all four Gospels, he was the precursor of Jesus Christ and was born in Judea, the son of the priest Zacharias and Elizabeth, cousin of Mary, the mother of Jesus. John was a Nazarite from birth and prepared for his mission by years of self-discipline in the desert. At about the age of 30 he went into the country around the Jordan River preaching penance to prepare for the imminent coming of the Messiah. He baptized penitents with water as a symbol of the baptism of the Holy Spirit that was to come. With the baptism of Jesus, his office as precursor was accomplished, and his ministry came to a close soon afterward. John angered Herod Antipas, the Judean ruler, by denouncing him for marrying Herodias, the wife of his half-brother Herod, and was imprisoned (see Luke 3:1-20). At the request of Salome, daughter of Herodias, John was beheaded (see Matthew 14:3-11).

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In 1999, a discovery was made that is called the cave of John the Baptist.  "The cave is 7 mi (11 km) west of Jerusalem and 2½ mi (4 km) from Ein Kerem, the traditional birthplace of John the Baptist.  The cave is actually a stone-carved subterranean structure with a horizontally cut entrance and steps leading to the floor. A niche was carved in the right wall along the steps and at the bottom was a large oval stone with a "right-foot" impression on the top, associated with another niche cut in the sidewall. From the base of the steps a gravel walkway led to a reservoir cut in the floor on the cave's far end. Cut into the plaster that lined the cave were schematic reliefs depicting a man holding a staff (and wearing an animal skin garment?), a face (disembodied head?) and a cross. Large quantities of Byzantine and Roman pottery were found on and above the structure's floor." (from www.biblearchaeology.org, Feb 22, 2006)

Some have suggested that this cave was used by John the Baptist before the start of his ministry as the place where he developed his views on baptism. Â The site was most likely a cultic (religious) site, but there is no real proof that it was ever associated with John the Baptist.

Cave of John the Baptist at Tzoba

Inside the Cave

Figure on Cave Wall

D. Jesus' Early Ministry

1. All three Synoptic Gospels record Jesus' public ministry as beginning after the imprisonment of John the Baptist. The Gospel according to John describes it as beginning with the choosing of his first disciples (1:40-51), and as lasting for perhaps three years.

2. The account of the public ministry and immediately preceding events is generally the same in the Synoptic Gospels. Each describes the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River by John the Baptist. Each reports that after the baptism Jesus retired to the neighboring wilderness for a 40-day period of fasting and meditation. All three synoptists mention that in this period, which some biblical scholars view as a time of ritual preparation, the devil, or Satan, tried to tempt Jesus. Matthew (4:3-9) and Luke (4:3-12) add descriptions of the temptations to which Jesus was subjected.

Traditional Mount of Temptation

3. After Jesus' baptism and retirement in the wilderness, he returned to Galilee, visited his home in Nazareth (Luke 4:16-30). It was in Cana, near Nazareth where Jesus preformed his first miracle. However, his fellow Nazarenes objected to him, and then moved to Capernaum and began teaching there. About this time, according to the synoptists, Jesus called his first disciples, "Simon who is called Peter and Andrew his brother" (Matthew 4:18) and "James the son of Zebedee and John his brother" (Matthew 4:21). Later, as his followers increased in number, Jesus selected 12 disciples to work with him (see Apostle).

E. The Growth of Jesus' Ministry

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1. Using Capernaum as a base, Jesus, accompanied by his 12 chosen disciples, traveled to neighboring towns and villages, proclaiming the advent of the kingdom of God, as had many of the Hebrew prophets before him. When the sick and infirm asked help from him, he sought to heal them by divine power. He stressed the infinite love of God for the humble and weak, and he promised pardon and eternal life in heaven to the most hardened sinners, provided their repentance was sincere. The essence of these teachings is presented in Matthew 5:1-7:27, in the Sermon on the Mount, containing the Beatitudes (5:3-12) and the Lord's Prayer (6:9-13).

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Capernaum

Mount of Beatitudes

2. Jesus' emphasis on moral sincerity rather than strict adherence to religious ritual incurred the enmity of the Pharisees, who feared that his teachings might lead to disregard for the authority of the Law, or Torah. Others feared that Jesus' activities and followers might prejudice the Roman authorities against any restoration of the Davidic monarchy.

3. Despite this growing opposition, Jesus' popularity increased, especially among social outcasts and the oppressed. Eventually, the enthusiasm of his followers led them to make an attempt to "take him by force, to make him king" (John 6:15). Jesus, however, frustrated this attempt, withdrawing with his disciples by ship over the Sea of Galilee (Lake Tiberias) to Capernaum (John 6:15-21).

4. In Capernaum, he delivered a discourse in which he proclaimed himself "the bread of life" (John 6:35). This discourse, emphasizing spiritual communion with God, bewildered many in his audience. They thought the discourse a "hard saying" (John 6:60), and thereupon they "drew back and no longer went about with him" (John 6:66). Jesus then divided his time between travels to cities in and outside the province of Galilee and periods of retreat with his disciples in Bethany (Mark 11:11-12) and Ephraim (John 11:54), two villages near Jerusalem.

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5. The synoptists generally agree that Jesus spent most of his time in Galilee, but John centers Jesus' public ministry in the province of Judea, reporting that Jesus made numerous visits to Jerusalem. His discourses and the miracles he performed at this time, particularly the raising of Lazarus in Bethany (John 11:1-44) made many people believe in him (John 11:45). The most significant moment in Jesus' public ministry, however, was Simon Peter's realization at Caesarea Philippi that Jesus was the Christ (Matthew 16:16; Mark 8:29; Luke 9:20), although, according to the synoptic Gospels, Jesus had not previously revealed this to Peter or the other disciples.

Caesarea Philippi

Cave at Caesarea Philippi

Artist Concept of Caesarea Philippi during Time of Christ

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F. The Last Week of Christ

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1. Sunday

On the approach of Passover, Jesus traveled toward Jerusalem for the last time. Please note, that John mentions numerous trips to Jerusalem and more than one Passover, whereas the synoptists roughly divide the public ministry into a Galilean section and a Judean section and record one Passover, which came after Jesus left Galilee for Judea and Jerusalem. On the Sunday before the Passover, Jesus entered Jerusalem, where he was met by crowds of people who acclaimed him enthusiastically.

2. Monday

On Monday, Jesus drove from the Temple the traders and moneychangers who, by long-established custom, had been allowed to transact business in the outer court (Mark 11:15-19).

3. Tuesday

On Tuesday, he disputed with the chief priests, the scribes, the Pharisees, and the Sadducees questions about his authority, tribute to Caesar, and the resurrection. He

also revealed to his disciples the signs that would usher in his Parousia, or second coming.

4. Wednesday

On Wednesday, while Jesus was in Bethany, a woman anointed his head with a costly ointment. Jesus interpreted this act as a symbolic preparation for his burial (Matthew 26:6-13; Mark 14:3-9). Meanwhile, in Jerusalem, the priests and scribes, concerned that Jesus' activities would turn the Romans against them and the Jewish people (John 11:48), conspired with Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples, to arrest and kill Jesus by stealth, "for they feared the people" (Luke 22:2).

5. Thursday

On Thursday, Jesus ate the Passover supper with his disciples and during the meal referred to his imminent betrayal and death as a sacrifice for the sins of humanity. In blessing the unleavened bread and wine during the Passover services, he called the bread his body and the wine his blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins (Matthew 26:27), and he bid the disciples partake of each. This ritual, the Eucharist (Lord's Supper), has been repeated by Christians ever since and has become the central act of worship in the Christian church. After the meal Jesus and his disciples went to the Mount of Olives, where, according to Matthew (26:30-32) and Mark (14:26-28), Jesus predicted his resurrection. Knowing then that the hour of his death was near, Jesus retired to the Garden of Gethsemane, where, "being in agony" (Luke 22:44), he meditated and prayed. A crowd sent by the religious authorities, and led by Judas Iscariot, arrested him in Gethsemane. According to John (18:13-24), Jesus was brought after his arrest to Annas, the father-in-law of the high priest Caiaphas, for a preliminary examination.

Upper Room

Mount of Olives

Olive Tree in Garden of Gethsemane

6. Friday

Jesus was taken to a meeting of the supreme council of the Jews, the Sanhedrin. At the council meeting, Caiaphas asked Jesus to declare whether he was "the Christ, the Son of God" (Matthew 26:63). Upon his affirmation (Mark 14:62), the council condemned Jesus to death for blasphemy. Only the Roman procurator, however, was empowered to impose capital punishment, and so, on Friday morning, Jesus was taken before the procurator, Pontius Pilate, for sentencing. Before pronouncing judgment, Pilate asked him if he was the king of the Jews, and Jesus replied, "You have said so" (Mark 15:2). Thereafter, Pilate tried several expedients to save Jesus

before ultimately leaving the decision to the people. When the populace insisted on his death, Pilate ordered him executed (Matthew 27:24). Jesus was taken to Golgotha and executed by crucifixion, the Roman punishment for political offenders and criminals. Two robbers were crucified also, one on each side of him. On the cross, above Jesus' head, "they put the charge against him, which read 'This is Jesus the King of the Jews'" (Matthew 27:37). Late in the day, his body was taken down, and because of the approach of the Sabbath, when burial was not permitted; it was hastily laid in a nearby tomb by Joseph of Arimathea. (John 19:39-42 relates that Joseph was assisted by Nicodemus.)

A Possible Golgotha

7. Sunday

Early on the following Sunday, "Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James" (Mark 16:1), going to the tomb to anoint Jesus' body for burial, found the tomb empty. (Matthew 28:2 reports that an angel appeared after an earthquake and rolled back the stone.) Inside the tomb, "a young man" (Mark 16:5) clothed in white announced to them that Jesus had risen. (This news is announced by the angel in Matthew 28:5-6 and by two men "in dazzling apparel" in Luke 24:4. According to John 21:11-18, Mary Magdalene saw two angels and then the risen Christ.) Later on the same day, according to Luke, John, and Mark, Jesus appeared to the women and to other disciples at various locations in and around Jerusalem. Most of the disciples did not doubt that they had again seen and heard the master they had known and followed during the time of his ministry in Galilee and Judea. A few disciples, however, doubted it at first (Matthew 28:17). Thomas, who had not been present at these first appearances, also doubted that Jesus had risen (John 20:24-29). As recorded in the New Testament, the Resurrection became one of the most compelling doctrines of Christianity, because, according to this doctrine, by rising from the dead, Jesus gave humanity hope of a life after death.

Garden Tomb

G. After the Resurrection

All the Gospels add that, for a brief time after his resurrection, Jesus further instructed his disciples in matters pertaining to the kingdom of God. He also commissioned them to "Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 28:19). Finally, according to Luke (24:50-51), at Bethany Jesus was seen to ascend into the heavens by his disciples. Acts 1:2-12 reports that the ascension occurred 40 days after Jesus' resurrection. The doctrines that Jesus expounded and those concerning him were subsequently developed into the principal tenets of Christian theology.