The Story
The Story
Every great story has unforgettable people, places, settings and plot. The story of the Gospels and the life of Christ is no different. This page has interesting and essential information on the major characters, places, 1st century culture and events that drive the most amazing story that has ever been written about the greatest God-man who has ever lived.
Quick Comparison of Major Sects of Judaism
The Pharisees. The community activists. In their earlier days the Pharisees had sometimes been able to ally with the Jewish leaders, but in Jesus' day they held no political position. They were more like a pressure group. Their aim went like this: when ejected from the halls of power, start a grass-roots campaign to get your vision for Israel adopted by the masses, tell everyone to have their own ritual bath if they can, have your bones buried in ossuary boxes waiting for resurrection. If we can be obedient enough, get pure enough, keep Torah most accurately, then maybe the "son of David" will come.
The Sadducees. Keep the Temple going, offer sacrifices pleasing to God, maintain the peace, get along with your political bosses as well as you can, do as well out of it as you can, and hope that God will somehow validate it all.
The Zealots. For them, the rule was clear: say your prayers, sharpen your swords, make yourselves holy to fight a holy war, and God will give you a military victory over the hordes of darkness.
The Essenes. The quietest and taken by the writers of the Dead Sea Scrolls at Qumran: separate yourself from the wicked world, say your prayers, and wait for God to do whatever God is going to do. Source: The New Testament in It's World by N.T. Wright (p. 118)
-Jesus' encounters with the Sadducees was primarily in Jerusalem because they controlled the Temple activities and were centralized their accordingly. But his struggles with the Pharisees were scattered all over the nation and in charge of the schoolhouses and places of worship in every city and village. They were the real leaders of the intellectual and religious life of the nation, even though the Sadducees controlled the temple. Source: Studies in the Life of Christ by R.C. Foster p. 48
-It is customary to trace the life of Jesus in relation to the weak and the sinful--to broken humanity-- but one needs to make a study of Him in relation to his deadly enemies to get a full-rounded picture. Source: Studies in the Life of Christ by R.C. Foster p. 50
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-Out of all the sects of Judaism there is none more important for the study of the New Testament than the Pharisees. First, they are depicted in the Gospels as Jesus' primary adversaries. Second, the Apostle Paul claims to have been once a zealous Pharisee. Third, the Pharisees eventually came to dominate the Jewish world after the capture of Jerusalem in AD 70.
-Jesus was in some ways closer to the Pharisaic movement than to any other sect. His debates with them was closer to insider debates between different visions of the same goal: the coming of God's kingdom on earth as in heaven. This is evidenced by the fact Jesus had Pharisaic sympathizers like Nicodemus; Jesus received and accepted dinner invitations from Pharisees; some Pharisees warned Jesus that Herod Antipas was trying to kill him, and many Pharisees joined the early church.
-The Pharisees were not a separatist religious club, but rather, more like a Jewish renewal movement, seeking to draw Israel by summoning the people to return to the true ancestral traditions; to restore Israel to its independent theocratic status; and to be, as a pressure group, in the vanguard of such a movement through the study and practice of the Torah. The Pharisees aimed to demonstrate, in the present time, that they were the ones whom Israel's God would vindicate when, as expected, he acted to rescue his people.
-The clash between Jesus and the Pharisees must be seen in terms of two alternative political agendas. Jesus was announcing the kingdom in a way that did not reinforce, but rather called into question, the agenda of revolutionary zeal that dominated the horizon of the leading group within Pharisaism. The coming of the kingdom, as Jesus announced it, put before his Pharisaic contemporaries a challenge, an agenda: give up your interpretation of your tradition, which is driving you towards ruin. Embrace instead a very different interpretation of the tradition, one which, though it looks like the way of loss, is in fact the way to true victory, the way of the cross! p. 126 Source: The New Testament in It's World by N.T. Wright (p. 124-126)
-The more learned of the Pharisees were called Scribes, and had supplanted the priests as instructors of the people when the Pharisees gradually won the favor of the masses. The scribes ruled in the synagogue, as the Sadducees in the Temple. Source: Studies in the Life of Christ by R.C. Foster p. 44
-The Pharisees regarded Jesus as a breaker of the sacred traditions of the elders, and continually tried to prove that he set at naught the Old Testament law. But when challenged, Jesus either showed that their traditions were false or that they had supplanted the great principles of the Old Testament with oral traditions, which they reverenced more than the law itself. Source: Studies in the Life of Christ by R.C. Foster p. 49
Pharisees Distinctive Beliefs
A. Belief in a coming Messiah, which was influenced by interbiblical Jewish apocalyptic literature like I Enoch.
B. Belief that God is active in daily life. This was directly opposite from the Sadducees (cf. Acts 23:8). Many Pharisaic doctrines were theological counterpoints to the doctrines of the Sadducees.
C. A belief in a physically-oriented afterlife based on earthly life, which involved reward and punishment (cf. Dan. 12:2).
D. Belief in the authority of the OT as well as the Oral Traditions (Talmud). They were conscious of being obedient to the OT commands of God as they were interpreted and applied by schools of rabbinical scholars (Shammai, the conservative and Hillel, the liberal). The rabbinical interpretation was based on a dialogue between rabbis of two differing philosophies, one conservative and one liberal. These oral discussions over the meaning of Scripture were finally written down in two forms: the Babylonian Talmud and the incomplete Palestinian Talmud. They believed that Moses had received these oral interpretations on Mt. Sinai.
E. Belief in a highly developed angelology. This involved both good and evil spiritual beings.
F. Belief in the sovereignty of God, but also the exercise of human free will (yetzers).
They were the only sect of first century Judaism to survive the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple by the Romans in a.d. 70. They became modern Orthodox Judaism. Source: http://www.freebiblecommentary.org/special_topics/pharisees.html
-Put explicit emphasis and obedience on the written and oral law traditions. In all, there were 613 laws, 248 were positive, 365 negative, which they felt were contained in the Torah, or Law of Moses. Source: Understanding the Times of Christ by William Menzies p. 36
The Sadducees. Keep the Temple going, offer sacrifices pleasing to God, maintain the peace, get along with your political bosses as well as you can, do as well out of it as you can, and hope that God will somehow validate it all. Source: The NT in It's World by N.T. Wright (p. 118)
-The Sadducees were the liberal theologians, the cultured aristocrats, and the smooth politicians of the time. They were of the priestly class, but not all priests were Sadducees, only those with sufficient wealth and cultural status.
-They were moved by policy continually, and usually adopted the principles of the Pharisees when they secured an official position.
-Their liberal views make it evident that they accepted the OT Scripture in about the same way in which the radical critic accepts it today.
-They were influential in the Sanhedrin, and had a practical monopoly of the high priesthood. Source: Studies in the Life of Christ by R.C. Foster p. 44-45
-They denied the resurrection of the dead. Their view "resurrection" was a symbol and metaphor for the total reconstitution of Israel, the return from Babylon, and the final coming redemption in which God would put everything right. Source: The NT in It's World by N.T. Wright (p. 130)
Distinctive Beliefs
A. They were the priestly conservative faction (accept only the Torah-Gen thru Deut- as inspired) of the sects of Jewish life during the Hasmonean and Roman periods.
B. They were especially concerned with temple procedures, protocol, rituals, and liturgy.
C. They held to the written Torah (i.e., Genesis – Deuteronomy) as authoritative, but rejected the prophetic books and the Oral Tradition (i.e., Talmud and the "traditions of the elders").
D. They, therefore, rejected many of the cherished developed doctrines of the Pharisees:
1. the resurrection of the body (cf. Matt. 22:23; Mark. 12:18; Luke 20:27; Acts 4:1-2; 23:8)
2. the immortality of the soul (cf. Antiquities 18.1.3-4; Wars 2.8.14)
3. the existence of an elaborate hierarchy of angels (cf. Acts 23:8)
-They took the "eye-for-an-eye" literally and supported physical punishment and the death penalty (instead of a monetary settlement) Source: http://www.freebiblecommentary.org/special_topics/sadducees.html
-Since they only believed in the Torah, not the subsequent prophetic books where resurrection was taught, they were able to claim scriptural validation and charge their opponents-particularly the Pharisees, with following new-fangled and dangerous innovatory ideas.
-What happened to the Sadducees? Either they were wiped out in the revolt against Rome (partly by the Romans and by other Jewish factions", or they assimilated in varying degrees into the general greco-roman society around them. Their worldview, whose central symbol was the Temple, and whose central story concerned an Israel with themselves as its rulers, has been left without a trace. Source: The NT in It's World by N.T. Wright (p. 130-131)
-They were the main teachers of the law, the group to whom ordinary Jews turned for judgment and arbitration in the case of disputes or legal problems.
-The priests were the local representatives of mainline 'official' Judaism and from time to time had the privilege of serving Israel's God in his Temple.
Chief Priests
-At the top of the priestly tree and based in Jerusalem. They belonged to a small group of families, tight-knit, and inbred. They formed the heart of the Jewish aristocracy.
-It was the It was from them that the high priest ruled. It was with them that the Roman governors chose to deal with, holding them responsible for the general conduct of the populace. Source: The NT in It's World by N.T. Wright (p. 128-129)
The title comes from the Hebrew which means "a spoken message," "a written document/decree". The Greek translation usually refers to a written message. It can denote:
1. educator (Nehemiah 8)
2. governmental official (2 Kgs. 22:3-13)
3. recorder/secretary (1 Chr. 24:6; 2 Chr. 34:13; Jer. 36:22)
4. military muster officer (cf. Jdgs. 5:14)
5. religious leader (i.e., Ezra, Ezra 7:6; Neh. 12:12-13)
In the NT they are often associated with the Pharisees. In a sense they were people who were educated in the OT and the Oral Traditions (i.e., Talmud). They helped interpret and apply the Jewish traditions to everyday life (cf. Sirah 39:6). Apparently the scribes were also called "lawyers" (cf. Mark 12:28; Luke 7:30; 10:25; 11:45; 14:3). However, their righteousness (i.e., Jewish legalism and ritual) could not bring peace with God (cf. Matt. 5:20; Rom. 3:19-20; 9:1-5,30-32; 10:1-6; Col. 2:20-22).
They were often depicted in the Synoptic gospels as opposed to Jesus, and apparently coming as officials from Jerusalem (cf. Mark 3:22; 7:1) http://www.freebiblecommentary.org/special_topics/scribes.html
The Zealots. For them, the rule was clear: say your prayers, sharpen your swords, make yourselves holy to fight a holy war, and God will give you a military victory over the hordes of darkness. Source: The New Testament in It's World by N.T. Wright (p. 118)
-They were the political extremists, who favored revolution to throw off the Roman yoke. Their rallying cry was "No tribute to Caesar; no king but Jehovah; no tax but the Temple tax". They played a leading part in the final siege of Jerusalem, and were fearful opponents both of the Romans and the milder sects of the Jews.
-One of the apostles of Jesus was zealot. (Matt 10:4; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:15)
-The Zealots perhaps played a much larger part in the ministry of Jesus than we realize. They are practically never mentioned, but they, with their great influence among the fiery Galileans, strongly underlie the Gospel records. The continual necessity which Jesus had of warning men who were healed by miracles to keep silent about it, and not to stir up too much excitement by reporting it abroad, doubtless came from the constant pressure of the Zealots to start a revolution against Rome. -Source: Studies in the Life of Christ by R.C. Foster p. 46
The Essenes. The quietest and taken by the writers of the Dead Sea Scrolls at Qumran: separate yourself from the wicked world, say your prayers, and wait for God to do whatever God is going to do. Source: The New Testament in It's World by N.T. Wright (p. 118)
Place and time of birth unknown. He was of the Equestrian order (upper middle class of Roman society) and married, but no known children.
Pilate was appointed procurator in a.d. 26 under Tiberius. Tiberius suffered a loss of political power to L. Aelius Sejanus, his praetorian prefect who became the real power behind the throne and who hated Jews (Philo, Legatio land Gaium, 159-160).
Pilate was a protege of Sejanus and tried to impress him by:
a. bringing Roman standards into Jerusalem (a.d. 26), which other procurators had not done. These symbols of Roman gods inflamed the Jews (cf. Josephus' Antiq. 18.3.1; Jewish Wars 2.9.2-3).
b. minting coins (a.d. 29-31) which had images of Roman worship engraved on them. Josephus says he was purposefully trying to overturn Jewish laws and customs (cf. Josephus, Antiq. 18.4.1-2).
c. taking money from the temple treasury to build an aqueduct in Jerusalem (cf. Josephus, Antiq. 18.3.2; Jewish Wars 2.9.3).
d. having several Galileans killed while offering a sacrifice at Passover in Jerusalem.
e. bringing Roman shields into Jerusalem in a.d. 31. Herod the Great's son appealed to him to remove them, but he would not, so they wrote Tiberius, who demanded they be removed back to Caesarea by the sea (cf. Philo, Legatio and Gaium, 299-305).
f. having many Samaritans slaughtered on Mt. Gerizim (a.d. 36/37) as they searched for sacred objects of their religion, which had been lost. This caused Pilate's local superior (Vitellius, Prefect of Syria) to remove him from office and send him to Rome (cf. Josephus, Antiq. 18.4.1-2).
Sejanus was executed in a.d. 31 and Tiberius was restored to full political power; therefore, #a, b, c, and d were possibly done by Pilate to earn Sejanus' trust; #e and f could have been attempts to earn Tiberius' trust, but may have backfired.
It is obvious with a pro-Jewish emperor restored, plus an official letter to procurators from Tiberius to be kind to Jews (cf. Philo, Legatio and Gaium, 160-161), that the Jewish leadership in Jerusalem took advantage of Pilate's political vulnerability with Tiberius and manipulated him to have Jesus crucified.
His Fate He was recalled and arrived in Rome just after Tiberius' death (a.d. 37). He was not reappointed. His life is unknown after this.
Palestine is situated in about the same latitude as the southern part of the United States, but since it is a narrow, mountainous country with a great desert on one side and a great sea on the other, it offers considerable variation as to temperature according to the local situation. The land is fifty to seventy-five miles wide, and the deep crevice (The Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea) which extends through the length of the land (150 miles) and on out into the desert to the south, causes some variation in temperature between Jerusalem (2,600 feet above sea level) and the Dead Sea (1,312 feet below sea level). A rainy season prevails through the winter (November to April). During the seven summer months, when dry weather prevails, the heat is usually alleviated by the wind from the Mediterranean, which blows regularly from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. January is the coldest month and August the hottest. The rain in the winter is not incessant and sometimes in the rainy season there are several days together of beautiful southern Mediterranean spring weather. It gets cold enough to form ice in the mountains, but seldom in the plains. Snow is rare in Palestine, except on locations like the summit of Mount Hermon (over 9,000 feet above sea level). The desert to the south and east of Palestine might be expected to be much warmer in winter, but for the most part it is high, rough tableland.
Preaching in the Rainy Season: What did Jesus do and where did He go when the weather was cold and rainy — in the winter? To whom did He preach? Here is a problem concerning the life of Christ which has been generally overlooked. Three conclusions seem probable: (1) The seasons of great revival, the times of the great multitudes crowding about Jesus in the outdoors, were in the dry season when the people found it possible to come together in this fashion. (2) The evangelistic work of the rainy season was for the most part confined to work indoors — teaching in the synagogues, preaching in the homes of the people, healing and ministering wherever an opportunity offered. (3) A great amount of traveling and reaching untouched places was done even in the rainy season, with occasional gatherings of multitudes in the open when the weather permitted. Considerable evidence confirming these conclusions appears in the Gospel narratives. Counting the ministry of Jesus as about three and a half years, we have nearly nine-tenths of the days of His ministry concerning which nothing is recorded. There doubtless were many thrilling scenes and great campaigns and wonderful miracles enacted during these days, but there were also many “rainy days,” when the time was devoted to personal work in the homes of the people. -Source: Studies in the Life of Christ by R.C. Foster p. 54
God made the weather and the land, and chose the people. To them He gave the law which fitted perfectly the varying demands. It is interesting to notice that all three of the great feasts ordered in the law, when all the nation was obligated to come up to the central place of worship, were placed during the dry season. The Passover, in the early spring; Pentecost, fifty days later in the early summer; the Feast of Tabernacles, in the fall. The Feast of Dedication (late December) was added by the Jews to celebrate the rededication of the temple after its defilement by Antiochus Epiphanes during the Maccabean period.