Essay about Part 4 Study Notes

Jesus’ People
Part Four - Religious, Political and Social Groups
Focus:
Jewish society at the time of Jesus being spilt into many different groups
Jesus mixed with one of the outcasts of society
Words to Understand
The Law – Customs and ways
Religious Groups in Jesus’ time
There were a number of different groups in Palestine at the time of Jesus. All of these groups were Jews who were deeply aware of the presence of God in their everyday lives and knew the scriptures very well. They believed hey were the chosen people by God. Each group reacted to Roman control of Palestine in a different way. Only men were allowed into these groups. According to the Law, a woman was owned by her husband and was expected to look up to her husband as her master. Though women did much of the hard work, they had a low position, both in society and in the family. But the Law did protect a divorced woman, and her children were taught to respect her. There is six important groups.
Pharisees
The Pharisees were an important social group at the time of Jesus. Pharisees means ‘separated ones’. They were ordinary Jewish men who were devoted to the law and who tried to live everyday detailed to it. They also added to the Law some rules about behaviour on the Sabbath and about washing which they considered to be very important. Pharisees opposed Roman rule but did not believe in taking strong action against them. The Pharisees did not believe Jesus could be the Messiah. Jesus Challenged them because he considered that many of the rules they enforced were too tough on ordinary people and didn’t distinguish between really important things and those that didn’t matter so much. There were some Pharisees who were holy men.
Scribes
These were Jewish men who were especially learned in the Law, which they copied and interpreted in detail. Sometimes the Scribes were referred to as ‘lawyers’. The Scribes along with the Pharisees were the people who opposed Jesus most when he started teaching publicly. Each group of Pharisees included some scribes. Scribes were given the most important places at feats and in the synagogues out of respect for their knowledge of the Law.
Sadducees
The Sadducees were the rich and powerful Jewish religious groups who controlled the Temple and the Sanhedrin, the ruling Jewish Council. From their ranks, the Temple preists were chosen. The Sadducees were mistrusted by most other Jews and were unpopular with the ordinary people because of the profit they made from the Temple market. The Sadducees accepted Roman rule and tried to remain on friendly terms with the invaders. They didn’t accept that the ancient Jewish Law should be added to and were upset by the Pharisees who allowed new interpretations of scripture. They did not believe in life after death. The Sadducees often argued with Jesus.
Essenes
The Essenes viewed Temple worship in Jerusalem as corrupt and chose to run away from the difficulties with the Romans by leading pure and disciplined lives in desert communities such as Qumran by the Dead Sea. There they tried to keep the Jewish religion free from outside influences. They kept watch day and night and prayer for the final liberation of Isral. We know about the Essenes today because they kept a library of scrolls which describe their way of life. In recent times, the remains of these scrolls were rediscovered in caves by the Dead Sea.
Zealots
Today the term Zealot means someone who believe in something so strongly they would be prepared to die for that belief. The Zealots at the time of Jesus were Jews who hated the Romans. They believed that the only was to achieve Jewish freedom was through armed rebellion against the Roman invaders. What they began, God would finish. Some believed that the new Messiah would be a military leader who would overpower the Romans. The militants Zealot movement was in conflict with both the Pharisees and Sadducees. One of Jesus’ own disciples, Simon,

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