THE SILENT YEARS: Synagogue

Now that we’ve covered all of the books in what we often call the “Old Testament,” you’re probably assuming that it’s about time we peel into the gospels and start looking at the New Testament, right?

Of course not. In between the testaments lies a few centuries of history that change our understanding of the life and ministry of Jesus in a big way. It is almost impossible (I said “almost”) to appreciate the New Testament without an understanding of what is often referred to as the “Silent Years” between the testaments. As we’ll find out, these years are far from silent and are critical to our understanding of the context and setting of the New Testament.

The book of Esther really did indirectly describe the post-remnant world and the tensions that existed inside of it. The “remnant” that we typically speak of is the one that came back and rebuilt the temple and the walls of Jerusalem. However, there was a completely different remnant that came back and set up the world that Jesus would be born into.

There was a group of people who returned under the arm of the Persian empire to rebuild. In a lot of ways, this remnant shared the worldview of those who stayed in Persia. While their personal callings were different (they were called to the difficult work of rebuilding), they shared an understanding about life under Persian rule. The writings we have from this period of history paint a picture and drive a conversation about what it will be like to live under a new rule. Walter Brueggemann calls this an “accommodation/resistance” worldview (to be held against a “rescue/return” worldview). Instead of a people who long for God to come and destroy the enemy, rescuing His people and giving them back their land, God appears to be changing the landscape and inviting His people to find a new way of living in the midst of empire. How will they accommodate this new empire and simultaneously subvert it?

Such a worldview will require making some changes that accommodate the work around you. Of course, it goes without saying that there was a completely different response to the situation (you may recall the tension of living within the shephelah). Another group, much more zealous and pious in their beliefs, responded in a different way. While the first group made their way back “home” to rebuild Jerusalem, another group would eventually make their way to the north and establish a Judaism that looked quite a bit different than the Judean counterparts. We will talk more about where this group came from later, but know that to understand the world Jesus enters, one must understand the world of the Galilee.

The people in the north settled in the area by building entirely new villages and towns that were dedicated from the start as being places where a new kind of remnant could establish a new kind of zealous, committed piety in their walk with God. Scholars estimate that somewhere around 150,000–250,000 Jews returned to the region of the Galilee to plant many villages. You will recognize some of the names: Cana, Nazareth, Zippori, Magdala, Genessaret, Capernaum, Korazin, Bethsaida, and Gamla to name a few.

And these people brought a newfound Judaism with them, as well. It was the Judaism of the rabbi, the disciple, insula, and synagogue. In the minds of the settlers in the north, this was not the Judaism of their counterparts in the south. This Judaism would have a commitment that kept them from the dangers of compromise and seduction of the imperial worldview — this would keep them pure in their walk with God.

In order to understand the Judaism Jesus is born into, I’d like to talk first about one image that will radically change our understanding of Jesus and his disciples: synagogue.

Ruins of the synagogue in Korazin