Religious Sects of the Day

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Several competing religious and political factions existed among the Jewish peoples, with each movement, party or school of thought promoting its own agenda. The Bible mentions three major factions: the scribes and Pharisees, the Sadducees and (by implication) the Zealots.

• Scribes and Pharisees: The Pharisees were considered religious scholars and experts in meticulously observing and interpreting the Torah (the first five books of the Old Testament) and oral laws.

Working with them were the scribes. In the days of the Old Testament, scribes held various offices in conducting the kingdom’s public affairs. They served as secretaries of state, preparing and issuing decrees by the king’s authority. Scribes were also writers for important figures, such as a prophet. After the Babylonian exile, they wrote multiple copies of the Law that were used to teach the people in exile.

The scribes and the Pharisees added their traditions to God’s laws—their own interpretation of how to, in effect, be even more “righteous” toward God, attempting to avoid a repeat of suffering national captivity in foreign lands. Yet these manmade traditions needlessly burdened the people with exacting and extreme rules of “do’s” and “don’ts.”

In Mark, chapter 7, the scribes and Pharisees criticized Jesus’ disciples for not ceremoniously washing their hands before eating: “For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders” (Mk 7:3).

When they questioned Christ about why His students “failed” to live up to tradition, He answered, “Well has Isaiah prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honours Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. Howbeit in vain do they worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men” (Isa 7:6-8).

Jesus added that they made “the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which you have delivered: and many such like things do you” (Isa 7:13).

Throughout Matthew 23:1-39, Christ called the scribes and Pharisees “hypocrites, blind guides, fools and blind, serpents” and a “generation of vipers.” He said that, in meticulously focusing on the smaller matters of the Law, they “have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy and faith: these ought you to have done, and not to leave the other undone” (Mt 23:23).

Christ inspired the apostle James to write, “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world” (James. 1:27). God’s Law is based on love—in fact, “he that loves another has fulfilled the law…therefore love is the fulfilling of the law” (Rom. 13:8, 10).

But the Pharisees and scribes—rather than teaching the people to love God and neighbour by observing the Law—sought to “improve” the laws of God by adding precise, black-and-white restrictions for virtually every scenario. These offered no room for mercy and forgiveness, only burden.

• Sadducees: Though also religious, the Sadducees were more like a socio-political party, consisting of aristocracy and priests who dominated the Sanhedrin, Jerusalem’s “supreme court,” or council. They observed only the Torah, and thus did not believe in the resurrection of the dead, as taught in the other books of the Old Testament. As priests, they were responsible for operating the Temple.

• Zealots: These were a radical sect of terrorist-subversives who originated with Judas the Galilean: “After this man rose up Judas of Galilee in the days of the taxing, and drew away much people after him: he also perished; and all, even as many as obeyed him, were dispersed” (Acts 5:37). The Zealots were devoted to ending Roman rule, and refused to pay tribute to Rome, staunchly believing this violated the principle that God was the only king of Israel. In rebelling against the Romans, the Zealots were scattered and became bandits roaming the remote countryside.

Anticipating the Messiah

The Jews in the first centuries B.C. and A.D. were very familiar with Old Testament prophecies that describe a coming “Messianic Age” and looked forward to their fulfilment with eager expectation. They well understood that the Messiah would usher in a time unlike any other.

Under years of Roman occupation, the Jews expected the Christ to arrive and free them from Rome’s rule. Conditions for the common Jew were harsh. Peasants had to depend on crops for survival. Not only did they need enough to last until the next harvest, they also needed extra grain to seed the next round of crops, adequate food for their livestock, food to use in trading, and food for religious rituals and celebrations. Many found it difficult to meet these needs.

Making matters more difficult, the Roman government demanded more, taxing the peasants as much as 40% of what they produced. This was in addition to the 10% (tithe) they paid to the Temple. Many peasant families would borrow to survive, which often led to a loss of their land and becoming sharecroppers on the very land they had once owned.

However, not paying tribute was also an undesirable option, as the Roman government viewed this as rebellion and would not hesitate to use military force. On occasion, during times of war the Romans would also pull resources from those under their authority. They could demand additional food from the Jewish province to help other areas fight invaders.

All of this amounted to an impossible situation for the Jews. But the only options left were to (A) accept the oppression of the Romans, or (B) reject it and become enemies of the empire, which would lead to war.

Thus, the idea of one coming to end the tyranny became ever more present in the minds of most Jews. Conditions were ripe for the Christ’s arrival. This led to a number of self-proclaimed false christs rising up and convincing some they were in fact the long-awaited deliverer of Israel, leading insurrections against the Roman government. But they were nothing more than imposters, and all of them failed in their self-appointed missions.

It is in this Messiah-hopeful environment that Jesus was born, in 4 B.C. But it wasn’t until He reached the age of 30 that He began to preach to the masses, in 27 A.D. Over the course of His three-and-a-half-year ministry, only a tiny few believed His claim to being the long-awaited Christ.

Why?

Misinterpreting Old Testament Prophecies

Numerous times throughout His ministry, Jesus informed others that He was the Christ, though usually in a subtle fashion. Most rejected His claim, often citing Old Testament scriptures as proof He could not be the coming Messiah. This rejection generally stemmed from Jewish tradition or from misinterpreting the scriptures.

The first account of this is found in the book of Luke. Just after His baptism and being tempted by Satan in the wilderness for 40 days, Jesus entered a synagogue in Nazareth on the Sabbath and read from the book of Isaiah:

“And there was delivered unto Him the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord” (Luke 4:17-19).

When He finished reading these scriptures, Jesus sat down, with everyone in the synagogue looking curiously at Him. Then He said, “This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears” (Luke 4:21).

Those present were no doubt familiar with this prophecy in Isaiah, and that it was one the Christ would fulfil. The people in the synagogue marvelled at His words, asking, “Is not this Joseph’s son?” (Luke 4:22). In other words, “How could Jesus of Nazareth, the son of a carpenter, possibly be the Christ? We have known Him since He was a little boy. This can’t be the Christ.” Jesus simply did not fit their profile of the Messiah.

A common thought was that the Christ would sort of “magically appear.” Many believed that, after His birth, Christ would hide Himself from the masses for a considerable amount of time. Thus when He would begin to preach, no one would know His background.

Notice John 7:27: “Howbeit we know this Man whence [from where] He is: but when Christ comes, no man knows whence [from where] He is.” This thinking can be found in a common Jewish proverb of the time: “Three things come unexpectedly: (1) a thing found by chance; (2) the sting of a scorpion; and (3) the Messiah.” Since many knew Jesus’ parents and even knew Him as a boy, in their minds, He could not possibly be the Christ.

Consider in the book of John another example of why Jesus was rejected. There He explained that He would be “lifted up from the earth,” or crucified (Jn 12:32). This idea of the Christ being executed in this manner perplexed some, as they believed the Messiah would live forever: “We have heard out of the law that Christ abides for ever: and how say you, The Son of man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of man?” (Jn 12:34).

The Old Testament, which was the only Scripture available during the time of Jesus, nowhere states that the Christ would not die. In reality, it clearly states the opposite, which we will soon see.

However, there are prophecies that show the Christ’s reign—and His kingdom—will endure forever, as found in Daniel 7:1-28 “And there was given Him [the Christ] dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve Him: His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed” (Dan 7:14).

Many read these and other scriptures and correctly noticed that the Messiah’s kingdom was to last forever. They then concluded that, once He appeared, He could not possibly die. To them, His death would appear to directly contradict God’s Word.

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