When Jesus was born, Jews in and around Jerusalem had divided
themselves into three major groups.
Sadducees
The Sadducees were the Jewish high-priestly families
controlling the Temple in Jerusalem. They accepted only the Law of Moses, the
first five books of our Old Testament, as normative. For them, to be a Jew, to
be a meaningful participant in Yahweh’s Chosen People, was to offer right sacrifices
to Yahweh in the temple dedicated to Yahweh in Jerusalem.
Daily running the Temple complex was no simple task. In
grew exceedingly complex during holy days, especially Passover, when tens of
thousands of Jews would travel to the Temple to offer their sacrifice to
Yahweh.
Roman authorities maintained the domestic tranquility
that allowed the Sadducees to keep the Temple operating smoothly. They even
supported the vast reconstruction of the Temple complex, initiated by Herod the
Great, during the 46 years it took to complete (John 2:20). The Sadducees, in
turn, accepted Roman rule.
Mary and Joseph respected the Sadducees and their
interpretation of the Law of Moses. After Mary gave birth to Jesus, she and
Joseph brought the baby to the Temple and there made the sacrifice required by
the Law of Moses (Luke 2:21-40). From Nazareth, about 100 miles (160 km) north
of Jerusalem, they faithfully made the annual trip to Jerusalem at Passover to
obey the Law.
Pharisees
Most Jews in and around Jerusalem were Pharisees. While
leading Pharisees theologically supported the Temple and sacrifices maintained
by the Sadducees, their understanding of being meaningfully Jewish was far
broader.
While Sadducees acknowledged the Law of Moses to be
normative, Pharisees added to this the Prophets and Writings; in other words,
the rest of what we understand to be the Old Testament.
This broader Written Law, however, was understood to be
subordinate to the Oral Law: the history of understanding and interpretation of
the Written Law believed to have begun with Moses himself at Mount Sinai and to
have been adapted to changing circumstances by divinely inspired scribes
(Pharisaic theologians) since then.
An analogy of this Pharisaic subordination of Written to
Oral Law may be found among Christians in congregations and denominations which
subordinate the right understanding and application of the Bible to a teaching
tradition considered authoritative.
Through the Oral Law, leading Pharisees sought to apply
the Written Law to every aspect of life large and small. Jesus acknowledged the
Pharisaic application of Oral Law to the minutiae of everyday life when he
observed that the Pharisees tithed even their mint and dill and cumin (Matthew 23:23, NASB here and following).
For Pharisees, faithful Jews were those who kept the
whole Law: Written as rightly interpreted by Oral. It was their rigorous
conformity to the high standard of behavior set by the Oral Law that made
Pharisaic leaders much more popular than the Sadducees. This forced the
Sadducees to include leading Pharisees as members of the ruling Jewish Council
(the Sanhedrin) despite their distaste for sharing power with them.
If, for Sadducees, the Temple in Jerusalem remained the
center of Jewish identity, for Pharisees that center gradually became the local
synagogue. It was there that Jews affirmed their shared identity together as
the Chosen People by praying to the only true god, by reading and studying the
Written Law, and by discussing its meaning and application to individuals and
the community as guided by the Oral Law when possible.
Jesus was well acquainted with this Pharisaic
institution. Following his temptations in the desert, he returned to Nazareth and, as was His custom, He entered the
synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read (Luke 4:16). He then applied
the passage from Isaiah, which he had just read, to the gathered Jewish
community by saying, “Today this
Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:21).
Zealots
Zealots were Jews committed to violent rebellion against
the Roman government as a means of reasserting Jewish religious and political
autonomy. They believed that Jews could only be faithful to Yahweh by ridding
themselves of control by the idolatrous Romans by any means necessary. They saw
Jews complying with Roman authority as faithless traitors deserving death.
Judas the Galilean was one Zealot who led others in a
rebellion against both Roman officials implementing a census and local Jews
submitting to being counted. Gamaliel, a leading Pharisee, mentions his
execution (Acts 5:37) which occurred near Nazareth. In suppressing his
rebellion, the Romans crucified two thousand of his followers. The ten-year-old
Jesus no doubt had a crystal-clear understanding of the meaning of crucifixion
from witnessing this.
Continuing Zealot agitation would lead to the Jewish
Rebellion of AD 66 and the resulting destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in
70.
