CHURCH HISTORY: AD 1650 thru AD 1800

NB: For readers who missed it, I suggest going back to review my setup to this section on church history to know about my disclaimers. For the graphics used in this post, the timelines are not to scale, and the dates represented are not intended to be exact. They are meant to be visual aids for understanding the larger conversation.

As the Age of Enlightenment continued, our secular growth curve continued, as well. If the theories and science proposed and proved by men like Copernicus and Galileo rocked the very foundations of our assumptions about the universe, it was only just setting the stage for what we call today modernity (or the “modern era”).

This growth curve would continue through the contributions of men like Isaac Newton and John Locke. Famous for his “laws of motion,” Newton is considered the modern father of mechanics and all of my engineering students have Newton to thank for so much of the field they enjoy. While this was not his only major contribution (for instance, Newton did incredible work in the field of color and the light spectrum, among other things), Newton changed the way we think about physics — therefore setting the stage for technological advancement like never before.

Locke is often referred to as the “Father of Liberalism.” While many in my circles in the rural northwest see the word liberal as something close to a swear word (I jest, I jest), it would be foolhardy to make assumptions about Locke. In its most basic and earliest forms, liberalism referred to a line of political philosophy that believes in liberty and equality. Locke’s influence, for instance, on the Declaration of Independence is unmistakable, and one of the reasons American democracy even works (on its good days) is because of the tension and balance held between liberalism and conservatism — one philosophy bent toward complete freedom and the other philosophy bent toward maintaining a constant ethic. Outside of our modern American context, Locke greatly impacted other major thinkers and players in the next century.

This secular growth curve should not convince us there was a lack in the theological department, by any means. The Protestant Reformation was finally cooling down. The Edict of Nantes (signed in 1598) had determined Protestants were granted civil liberty and equality, meaning they no longer had to run around as heretics under the oppression of the Holy Roman Empire. This freedom of thought had two results.

On the positive side, this newfound freedom allowed people to think for themselves, study, publish, and teach others their theological beliefs, theories, and systems. The negative side would be that Protestantism no longer had a central system holding it together. As Europe became more and more splintered and migration went on the rise, we would see mass division and splitting of Christian thought that seemed to increase exponentially for the next 200 years. Not that such diversity is a bad thing, but it has its struggles, as does anything else.

One of those new movements was led by John Wesley. While certainly not the first to do so, Wesley argued adamantly against the premises of Calvinism. Having broken away from the Anglican faith, Wesley became the father of what we know today as Methodism and the Methodist Church. Wesley preached vehemently about personal repentance, confession, and the power of our personal will to be transformed and to pursue the holiness of God. Christianity has been unbelievably impacted by his influence on Christian thought and practical applications of theology.

But we can’t forget all of this progress is happening in a world that is quickly changing. The writings of John Locke influenced another major secular voice in the eighteenth century: Voltaire, a French writer and philosopher who was widely praised for his satirical attacks on the Catholic Church (and some would say on established religion in general). Using his wit and cutting sense of humor, he argued for the freedom of religion and speech. His thoughts and writings shaped tremendously the ideas we know as the separation of church and state. Voltaire was quick to point out (accurately, I might add) the danger of religion when mixed with the power of the state.

Much of this had a major impact on public and educated opinion, and much of this opinion ended up changing culture in a way that radically affected history. The movement in France would ultimately lead to the French Revolution and ushered in what we now call the “post-Christian” era. The Church would continue to see a decline in its influence, both politically and culturally, as well as a loss of privilege over the centuries to come (something much of the Church is still in denial about to this day).

As far as my American context (as most of my readers are such), it would behoove us to realize that the great migration to America has been happening during this period. The cultural tenor has certainly set the stage for the Declaration of Independence and the American Revolution. With thinkers like Locke and Voltaire, the pump had been primed for the ideals that led to European revolution, and the independence on our shores, as well.

2 THESSALONIANS: Man of Lawlessness

The letter of 2 Thessalonians may be even more of a stretch for me to write about. These two letters are simply not my strong suit of study (yet!). I can say that the little work I’ve done has brought to my attention that I’m not a fan of 2 Thessalonians, and I find myself wondering about authorship.

I’m not one to question the canon (which I accept wholeheartedly) or the stance of the early orthodox community, but many biblical teachers and early Reformers had their questions about different books, and mine revolve around 2 Thessalonians. I say this because the Greek seems to be distinctly un-Pauline. I’m no Greek scholar (it ruined my GPA in college!), but what I have looked at seems to be some of the messiest Greek I’ve seen in the New Testament, and very uncharacteristic of Paul. It also seems to spend an unusual amount of time trying to convince the reader of its Pauline authorship and rejection of any “other letters” they might have received.

But alas, these are topics far, FAR above my pay grade, so I’ll continue as I always have, and foresee myself doing in the future, accepting the second letter to the church in Thessalonica as a part of authoritative, God-breathed scripture.

This short entry will revolve around what I see as one of the dominant pictures in the book: the man of lawlessness.

For many, this passage has been a picture of what is often called “the Antichrist” — which is usually depicted as an individual who arises at the “End Times” to lead all kinds of folks astray. Yet this isn’t at all how it would have read to its original audience.

The description here in the Greek talks not about a particular individual, but the terms used are descriptive terms about the “kind of man” who will be at work in these last days — what the Jews would have called acharit hayamim. This term referred to an era of time in which they were currently living, not a future dispensation of tribulation. The acharit hayamim was the era that preceded the restoration of all things — or what they called “the age to come.” Other descriptions of this would be olam haba, or “eternal life.” You may even remember us looking into this idea when we spoke about John the Baptist.

The author of 2 Thessalonians is warning them about the kind of individual they will run into in these “last days.” You might recognize his description as familiar to the opening chapter of Romans and our description of Hellenistic culture.

Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers and sisters, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us—whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter—asserting that the day of the Lord has already come. Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.

Now again, even though this Greek is quite messy, I don’t believe it reads to be speaking about any particular individual, although even if we did want to read it that way, there is no way a contextual reading of this description doesn’t immediately associate this description with Caesar himself. There would be no reason to assume the Text is speaking of a day many centuries in the future.

I feel like the conversation here is very similar to everything else we’ve read (and will read) throughout the New Testament: an early church staring into the face of the Roman empire and wondering who is going to win this epic struggle. Some of them have even feared that everything they have been waiting for has come and gone and now a whole new age is on the rise. But Paul reassures them this is not the case. They know how the story ends. They know how to feel about the kind of humanity that would oppose the work of God and claim to be gods themselves.

So Paul encourages them to continue in the work they must do. He tells them to continue to stand firm and resist the temptation to fall into idleness. He calls them to pray and be spiritually awake.

As for other matters, brothers and sisters, pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored, just as it was with you. And pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil people, for not everyone has faith. But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one. We have confidence in the Lord that you are doing and will continue to do the things we command. May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance.

Amen.

HOLY WEEK: The Plot to Kill Jesus

The conversation about “who killed Jesus” is a very electric topic that you don’t dive into hastily. With so much antisemitism that swirls under the surface, handling this question can be a ticking time bomb. Nevertheless, it is interesting to make some very basic observations about what gets Jesus in so much trouble.

Without a doubt, I will not let Rome off the hook in this story, but I want to deal with Rome and Pilate in a later post, so I won’t talk about them here. There is no question that Rome plays a part in the crucifixion of Jesus. They have to: The Jewish leadership does not have the judicial authority to execute prisoners by crucifixion. So, at the very least, Rome authorizes the death of Jesus.

But what gets Jesus in trouble is something far deeper than the Roman authorities. This would be the perfect place to go back and review our lesson that explained the context of the Sadducees and the chief priests.

There are a few things that should be stated right up front:

“The Jews” didn’t kill Jesus. This has been one of the most destructive misinterpretations of history the world has ever seen. Millions of Jews have been slaughtered in the name of this false idea. All throughout the gospels, it is clear the Jewish people loved, adored, and even revered Jesus. The plot to kill Jesus hinges completely upon executing Jesus outside the eye of the Jewish public so they won’t rebel against the Jewish leaders. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard the phrase, “Jesus entered Jerusalem to cheers from the crowd only to be crucified by them a week later.” To be very clear, it was not the same crowd. Jesus is arrested, tried, and beaten by a corrupt body of ruling priests and their “mafia-style justice.”

Even though the Pharisees helped arrange this plot (at least a few of them did), the Pharisees were not the ones who led the charge in this execution. This is completely unappreciated in our teachings. The Pharisees and the Sadducees despised each other! That they would work together to conspire against Jesus is incredible culturally. It makes me think the Pharisees involved were as corrupt as the chief priests. One must keep in mind that the Pharisees tried to save Jesus’s life more than once earlier on in his ministry.

It is the chief priests who conspire against Jesus and arrange his execution. It’s worth noticing that Jesus spends three years confronting the Pharisees within every corner of their theology and survives to tell the tale, and even continues to engage them in their methods up until his death. Compare that to the fact Jesus spends less than one week confronting the corrupt rule of the chief priests and he gets himself killed. This is why Jesus knows he is going to die in Jerusalem. It’s not because he has his “God goggles” on, looking into the future; it’s because he knows he is headed into Jerusalem to confront the injustice of the religious mafia — and nobody survives to tell that tale.

Once we have an understanding of the corruption that lied behind the execution of Jesus, it helps us appreciate the story on so many levels.

Why Jesus is tried by the “Sanhedrin”? Josephus told us there were two groups of Sanhedrin: there was the formal ruling body made up of Sadducees and Pharisees, and there was the the informal back-door Sanhedrin who met in the home of the chief priest. They made decisions that were later “ratified” in the formal body. That’s how this corruption operated. Where was Jesus tried? In the home of the chief priest. This is not the formal Sanhedrin, but the informal one.

This helps us see why the trial of Jesus is so corrupt, breaking over fifteen commandments held by Jewish teaching about how to conduct an investigation and hold a trial appropriately. They break all of these rules because they don’t care. They are the chief priests.

This will help us understand the political sway that this group will hold over Pilate later. 

This will help us understand many things. My recommendation would be to go back and read the story again, realizing that the “chief priests” are corrupt families running a completely corrupt Temple system.

But now we need to discuss the betrayer who assists in bringing this plan to action.

Image and Inscription

** I am indebted to Ray VanderLaan for much of the teaching in this post.

Apparently, in the midst of this story telling from Jesus during this week, these spiritual leaders decide it’s time to go on the offensive. The Pharisees and Sadducees work together (which is almost unfathomable; the two parties cannot stand each other) to try and trap Jesus in order to remove him from his place of influence.

One of the great Jewish debates of Jesus’s day was the debate that swirled around paying “taxes.” These “great debates” were fueled in large part by two rabbinic voices we haven’t talked about much. However, to understand the context of these two rabbinical schools is to have a much clearer perspective on the Jewish world of Jesus.

In the rabbinical generation that preceded Jesus, there were two rabbis who argued vehemently about the great Jewish debates. As we’ve seen, there was a conservative rabbi who held an interpretation of the law driven by the priorities of obedience (more on this in a later post). His name was Shammai. In the other corner was a rabbi who held to a much more progressive interpretation revolving around love for one’s neighbor. His name was Hillel. These two worldviews competed passionately over the interpretation of the law in matters of great debate.

Nevertheless, in order to understand the context of the debate about taxes, we need to first point out that the real issue isn’t about taxes at all. The gospel of Luke seems to give us clues by choosing the Greek word kensos to speak of taxes. The King James Version translates this more accurately as “tribute.” The debate isn’t asking about paying taxes as you and I would be familiar with paying taxes. In fact, the tribute they speak of was a particular coin that every resident in the Roman world was expected to purchase. This tribute coin could be used as a “receipt” that proved you had paid tribute to Caesar and to Rome. Upon validation of this receipt, you could be given incense at any number of different outposts where tribute was paid. You would offer the incense — and your worship — to Caesar.

Ruins of the temple at Omrit, just south of Caesarea Philippi

It should be worth noting that we have uncovered one of three tribute temples constructed by Herod the Great less than two miles from Caesarea Philippi, where the disciples have recently been, before Jesus set his course toward Jerusalem.

Now, understanding this context helps us understand the question being debated. It’s not just about paying money; the question is about idol worship. Realize that amongst the differing Jewish responses we’ve looked at before, there would have been differing opinions.

HERODIAN: “Sure, pay the tribute; God knows what’s in your heart.”

SADDUCEE: “Of course. Do you know what Rome gives us? Don’t make them angry!”

ESSENE: “You don’t have to pay tribute when you live out here in the desert…”

ZEALOT: “Anyone who offers tribute deserves to die!”

The PHARISEES, however, were split on the issue, depending on whether they held to Shammai or Hillel’s interpretation. Shammai Pharisees would have claimed this is an issue of idolatry and obedience demands we not purchase the coin. However, Hillel had a much different interpretation. Pointing to the book of Jeremiah and showing that God says He was using Nebuchadnezzar (one of the most brutal tyrants in human history) to do His will and the kingdom was being given to him, Hillel said that the ruling authorities are put in place by God. Therefore, when one buys the tribute coin, they are not taking part in idolatry, but simply giving back to the ruler what God has decided in His sovereign will to give him in the first place.

Notice the trap they set for Jesus:

Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are. Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not?”

In this sole mention of the Herodians, it is pointed out that they are conspiring along with the Hasidim, the very people who have an opposing worldview. They are setting Jesus up for failure. No matter how he answers, he’s going to make one of the groups angry; he’s either going to look like a compromising idolator or he’ll lose favor with the people.

But Jesus is a brilliant teacher.

He asks somebody to give him a coin — which is a really funny move. They are standing on the Temple Mount, where it is unlawful in Judaism to have Roman currency. In the words of my teacher, this is like a person questioning your position on pornography, and in response you ask for a Playboy and somebody hands you one. You’ve now shown the teacher where you fall in the argument, but he still hasn’t told you anything about his own opinion. We would assume one of the Herodians produced the coin, but still, that’s funny.

Jesus wants to know two things: whose image and whose inscription?

Now the image will be of Caesar and the inscription is going to speak of the divinity and worship of Caesar as a divine god. The tribute coin I have seen in person contains the inscription, “The worshipped son of a worshipped god.”

The people answer, “It’s Caesar’s inscription.”

The implication here is an unspoken question: Whose image and whose inscription is on you?

And in a stunning moment fit for a poetry slam, Jesus declares, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, but give to God what is God’s.” Actually, the King James Version will nail the translation again with the word “render.” The word render means “to give back.” Jesus uses Hillel’s position, but not without making it crystal clear that your worship belongs to God and God alone.

In other words, Jesus says, “Give Caesar his stupid coin, but don’t you EVER give him your worship!”

**mic drop**

And in that moment, every group is challenged by his words. The Herodians. The Shammai Pharisees. The Hillel Pharisees. The Sadducees. The Zealots.

It’s brilliant.

It challenges us, as well. It challenges us to consider the things we pledge allegiance to. It challenges us to consider the things that become the object of our hope — and our worship. It challenges us to wonder whether there can be another Empire other than God’s.

But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? Show me the coin used for paying the tax.” They brought him a denarius, and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?”

“Caesar’s,” they replied.

Then he said to them, “So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”

When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away.

Innocent as Doves

A few stories later, Jesus prepares to send His disciples out on a little missional field trip. While we already addressed this in a previous post, it’s worth noting again the list of the disciples and the different worldviews that are represented in the list. Wouldn’t you like to have known how Jesus grouped these guys up? Did He send them out with like-minded individuals, good friends who would provide great fellowship and perspective, knowing that upon their return the debrief session would be full of fireworks? Or did He pair them up with people they completely disagreed with? I wish we knew.

These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay. Acquire no gold or silver or copper for your belts, no bag for your journey, or two tunics or sandals or a staff, for the laborer deserves his food. And whatever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy in it and stay there until you depart.”

Jesus puts this little ministry trip at the mercy of the people’s hospitality. It should be noted that Jesus did not send them to the pagans, the Gentiles who serve the gods of Hellenism. He sent them to the religious folk — the people who claim to have it all together and represent God well. The disciples will have to depend on others “getting it” and being there for them during this time.

“As you enter the house, greet it. And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town. Truly, I say to you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.”

Notice again the harkening back to Sodom and Gomorrah, a story about failed hospitality and Jesus’s affirmation of what the gospel is all about: bringing shalom to the chaos. He tells them to find a house that is worthy — in Luke, this is more literally “a person of peace” — and hunker down for a bit with them and their hospitality. He tells them to helps those cities and towns and explain the good news of the Kingdom of Heaven. They are to bolster the work of God in places where it’s already taking place.

This isn’t a message of new teaching or fiery prophesy. This is a mission of finding where God is already at work and joining Him. Their mission is to come alongside and call out the Kingdom wherever they find it. This is a time where Jesus is teaching them how to have eyes to see the Kingdom of God at work in people. And they are to take good notes; it will be an incredible learning experience.

Jesus tells them that it will not be easy, as there are plenty of religious people who want no part in God’s redemptive project:

“Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. … A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more will they malign those of his household.”

And then Jesus shifts gears in a way that leaves many readers completely confused. He tells the disciples that He has come to bring division and not peace. He quotes a passage from Micah and then tells them they will need to “take up their cross.” The passage is quite confusing, as it seems to run counter to the other teachings of Jesus; it is “Zealot-minded.”

“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

Hopefully by now in our series, you have begun to ask the repetitive and redundant question: Where is it in the Text? Especially when the Text is easily placed for our western eyes to see (in this case, a direct quote), we should travel back to the original source of the quotation and find out what the rabbi is trying to teach by quoting that particular passage.

(When I asked my students what we should read, they all gave a resounding response of, “The context!”; my favorite response was, “The whole prophesy of Micah!” Yes!)

When we travel back to Micah, we find the prophet is calling the people of Judah to realize that God is asking for them to repent. They happen to know what it is God requires of them: pursuing justice, loving mercy, and having a posture of humility. The prophesy goes on to describe what it is like in Micah’s day. It’s a day where nobody can trust their neighbor and everybody is pursuing their own good. It’s a day when even a person’s family members will betray each other and division will run rampant.

The section ends with this:

But as for me, I will look to the Lord;
    I will wait for the God of my salvation;
    my God will hear me.

It happens to be the perfect quotation for what the disciples are embarking upon. They are going to find a world where some people are ready to show hospitality, but others will not. There will be people who fit the description found in Micah incredibly well. The Kingdom of God is not going to sit well with everyone and they are going to be persecuted. But the rabbinical remez for this teaching would be an invitation for them to trust the story. They are invited to wait on God and trust in His provision.

As we go, will we do the same thing? Will we be on the lookout for “people of peace” who are interested in taking God’s kingdom of peace into the chaos? Will we partner with them to celebrate the Kingdom at work?

Will we be ready for persecution? Will we be prepared for all of the religious folk who are not ready for such a priority shift? Will we leave it up to God and wait on His provision?

Will we trust the story?

Done in Secret

The next movement of this “Sermon on the Mount” is a discussion about hypocrites. Jesus has some teaching points about giving to the poor, prayer, and fasting. They are as follows:

“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”

If I were to hit the pause button, I would point out that Jesus directly connects “righteousness” with giving to the poor. This is a connection that is made in Jewish thought starting with the Hebrew language. The idea of tzedekah (“righteousness”) is connected to hearing the tze’ekah (“cries of the oppressed”). Even in Jewish communities today, you will find a tzedekah box; this is a box to collect funds for the poor and other acts of benevolence. In Jewish thought, your “acts of righteousness” are not “doing the right things,” but the right thing you should be doing is hearing the cry of the oppressed. It seems like there is a blog post hiding in that idea alone…

This is followed by thoughts on prayer:

“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”

And this is followed by the theme of fasting:

“When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”

First, a note on “hypocrites”: Much to the disappointment of all the haters out there, this is not a teaching on hypocrisy. The word for hypocrite is actually the word for actor. The Hellenistic actors in the theater would fit the descriptions seen above. When famous actors were in town, their arrival on stage would be signaled with the blast of a trumpet (you often could not see the famous face when it was in costume and so far away). They would paint their faces to communicate a mood to the audience. Jesus’s larger point here is not the horrible character of hypocrites, but the life of an actor. An actor is one who makes a living at putting on a show. That show may or may not be accurate to reality, but the point is the actor is doing it for the show. Jesus has the audacity to claim there are “actors” in the synagogues — there are people who are actually walking the path of obedience for the sole purpose of being seen. This is what is being condemned in the teaching.

Second, a note on the “reward”: The reward is juxtaposed against the reward of the actor. Jesus warns his hearers that if they do these things to be seen by others, that is all the reward they will get — fleeting recognition from other people. They will get no reward from God. It is important to note the tense of that reward; the reward is a PRESENT reward, not a FUTURE one. Therefore, when Jesus claims that if you do these things with a pure heart, not to be seen by men, you get a much deeper reward; you get a reward from God. This reward is not speaking about the future; it makes no sense to look at the hypocrites reward as present and the worshipper’s reward as future. The reward you get is NOW. God goes about doing a work in your heart now, not installing an extra jewel in your crown for heaven.

Finally, a note on the “secrecy”: One of the most perplexing parts of this teaching is the exhortation by Jesus to do these things “in secret.” I cannot count the number of times that I have been told I am not allowed to discuss fasting because Jesus told me to do it in secret. This is completely bogus. Jesus told me that if I fast in order to be seen by men, that will be all the reward I get; but if I fast for reasons only God can see, I will experience a better reward. One must remember that merely a page earlier, Jesus told his listeners to “let their light shine before men, so that they might see their good deeds and glorify their Father who is in Heaven.” Jesus wants the deeds to be seen! His teaching about “secrecy” is directed at motivations of the heart. This is important, because our walks should be modeled before others. Our faith is not a private one. It is one that should echo the words of Paul, “Follow me as I follow Christ.”

At any rate, Jesus’s words in this section invite us to examine our motivations truly. Do we find ourselves going through the motions in order to be seen by others? The answers may surprise us. We are warned there is not much reward in this. But if we truly desire to follow God with a pure heart, there is incredible work to be done.

Written in the Stars

Ruins of Hellenistic theater

In the deep backcountry of Turkey sits the region of Galatia. In 2010, I had the opportunity to hike in this terrain and ascend one of the mountains in this region. As we began to get closer to the top, we ran across the ruins of an old, small, Hellenistic theater (dating to around 400–200 BC). This was odd, considering there was no ancient city or village located on this mountain; this served as a clear indicator that whatever happened on this mountain was significant to the people who lived in this region. The situation became more perplexing as, only a few hundred yards up the road, we ran into some other ancient ruins that dated a couple thousand years older than the theater. We continued to ascend the mountain, until we arrived at an ancient temple at its peak.

It turned out to be the temple to MenEskenu, of ancient Phrygian origin, around 4000–3000 BC. The temple was a place of astrological worship to the god connected to the constellation (what we would call) Taurus. All around the ruins were carvings and markings declaring “the Bull” (Taurus) was in “the house” (temple?).

Central to ancient pagan religions has always been the worship of the stars. In ancient cosmology, the belief was that the earth existed in a “vault,” a bubble of existence which was surrounded by chaotic waters. You can find this belief spelled out clearly in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, as well as Hittite belief, Babylonian/Chaldean/Sumerian belief, and even Hellenistic Greek belief. They believed the stars were great people who had gone before them (you may remember the Apostle Paul encouraging his readers to live like “stars” in the universe).

However, there were seven “stars” that didn’t hold to the same movement as the cosmic ocean — the sun, the moon, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus. Often, pagan worship connected these seven stars to the gods of their system. Those gods were so powerful that they existed outside the movement, constraint, and influence of the cosmic ocean. Obviously, the zodiac played into these beliefs in many different ways. But in the days of Jesus, on the spring solstice, the sun (the big “star”) would rise into the “house” (i.e., the sign) of Aries. If you go out and look up into the morning sky this March 21, you will see the sun rising into the sign of Aries.

However, in 167 BC, a Greek philosopher/astrologer made a startling discovery. As he studied ancient astrological thought in Egypt, he noticed all records indicated the sun rose every spring into the house of Taurus (hence, “the Bull is in the House” in the ancient Phrygian temple). Assuming the ancient Egyptians had made an error, he travelled to Babylonia, only to find their records said the same thing. Out of this discovery, a stunning conclusion was reached. There must be some god who is so big that he entered the system (from outside of the system), altered the cosmic ocean, and left the system.

That is one powerful god.

Needless to say, the rise of Mithra worship was underway — the worship of a god so big that he was outside the system. In the first century, the worship of Mithra was the fastest-growing religion of the Roman world (Christianity being the second). This belief was rocking the world as they knew it. What we understand today is that the earth has a  very slight wobble in its rotation that causes it to move in reference to the zodiac (or maybe vice versa?) every 2200 years or so. In just over one century, we will actually move into the house of Aquarius. They did not understand these scientific truths and instead assumed that “somebody” had changed the heavens.

This entire conversation is to say two things:

First, who are the magi who come to visit Jesus? My belief is that the magi are, in fact, Mithra priests from the region of Babylon. If this is the case, it would help explain why they knew WHEN and WHERE to come looking for Jesus. One of their very own prophets would have spoken about this many centuries before. Balaam, a Chaldean star-gazer, was once called in to prophesy against the children of Israel. Here is what he said:

“I see him, but not now;
    I behold him, but not near.
A star will come out of Jacob;
    a scepter will rise out of Israel.
He will crush the foreheads of Moab,
    the skulls of all the people of Sheth.
Edom will be conquered;
    Seir, his enemy, will be conquered,
    but Israel will grow strong.
A ruler will come out of Jacob
    and destroy the survivors of the city.”

You don’t suppose a few pagan priests would be willing to trust the Text, do you? Well, if they did, that Text led them to the birth of the Prince of Peace. This would sure fit the agenda of Matthew, an author who portrays the gospel of the outsiders and those who don’t belong. Attending the birth of the King of Kings will be a bunch of people who don’t belong.

Second, it is incredibly interesting to notice how Mark deals with his gospel in light of the fastest-growing religion of his day. Mark is the only gospel writer who states that at Jesus’s baptism, the heavens are torn open (versus simply being “opened”). His gospel will end with the tearing of the curtain. Now, the temple of Herod had two curtains; there was the famous curtain before the Holy of Holies and the curtain at the entrance to the Temple itself. This would be the only curtain a Roman audience would be familiar with. We know from Josephus that the front curtain had the zodiac on it.

That means Mark deliberately bookends the life and ministry of Jesus with the heavens being torn open. His message? You are now reading about a God that is so big he tore open the heavens and entered our world. He messed with the system and then left to return to His place outside the system.

Simply put, that’s awesome.

I continue to be amazed at what these gospel writers are able to do within their writings.

JOHN: Grafted

Most have presumed that the gospel of John is written as the latest of the gospel accounts, in an effort to help fill in all the gaps that the “synoptic” gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) missed. While I agree that the gospel of John is certainly written late, I do not believe that his intent was to help tell some of the lost stories of Jesus’s ministry. As the case has been for Matthew, Mark, and Luke, I believe the story is much deeper once we look at the audience of John.

As a matter of context, it’s helpful to know that John is often referred to in historical circles as “the pastor to Asia.” By “Asia,” they would be referring to the modern-day region of Turkey, what was known in the Greco-Roman world as Asia and Asia Minor. John was the pastor of Asia, and church tradition has John frequently traveling amongst the seven churches of Revelation (and there’s a good chance that he did). Church history, on the other hand, has him living at Ephesus and Sardis. John is a disciple who has taken his leadership into the Greco-Roman world and into the Judaism of the Diaspora (“Diaspora” refers to the dispersion of the Jews who went to live throughout the regions of Rome, Macedonia, Greece, Asia, and Asia Minor).

It would be too much to write about who John is and how his gospel works, but you could listen to my teaching of Luke and John here.

It will be enough to say that John’s gospel is a gospel of a grafted people. By grafted, I am referring to a Jesus community that consists of both Jews and Gentiles. This Jesus movement that spread through Asia and Asia Minor was a movement that invited all kinds of people to the table. This community consisted of committed Jews and passionate Gentiles. This means that John’s gospel would need to be written in such a way that it communicates the message of Good News to both groups simultaneously. John is known for many unique attributes. One example would be the “I am” statements.

I am the bread of life.
I am the Good Shepherd.
I am the light of the world.
I am the resurrection.
I am the way, the truth, and the life.

These statements can be found in Jewish teaching, predating the gospel of John, in reference to Torah. One of John’s main teaching points is that Jesus is Torah, wrapped in flesh. Any Jew who heard Jesus’s “I am” statements would hear in them a claim to be Torah. But what if a Greek heard these same teachings? They would be ignorant of the teachings of Torah and the traditions surrounding them. However, they too would have experiences that shine light on Jesus’s teachings. When Jesus claims to be the bread of life, they would hear the claim of Demeter, the goddess of provision — who also claimed to be the bread of life. They would hear Dionysius in Jesus’s claim to be the resurrection. Each of these teachings would carry incredible weight for a Gentile in the Roman world.

Ruins of the Temple of Demeter in Pergamum

Both groups would hear the same message: Jesus is what you’ve been chasing your whole life.

John writes his gospel in such a way that both groups hear the same message in two separate ways in the same Text — simultaneously.

It’s almost impossible to wrap your head around how an author is able to do that throughout an entire gospel. And this is a characteristic of John’s writing in his other books as well. John is a masterful cultural storyteller. John isn’t simply trying to “fill in the gaps” that the other gospels missed. John is trying to tell the stories of Jesus that relate to the culture he’s ministering to.

John is living in shephelah; and his gospel is a shephelah gospel.

John wants the world to know — the whole world, the world he’s living in — who this Jesus is and who He can be in their lives. He’s willing to take the life of Jesus and pick out the stories that help accomplish this purpose, and the stories which confront the Roman agenda in the clearest way, in order to reach his goal. As John will say in one of his letters:

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete.

MARK: A Roman Gospel

Mark’s gospel ends up being significantly different than Matthew’s. The main difference between the two will be Mark’s audience. Whereas Matthew was a Jew writing to Jews, Mark will be a Jew who pens a gospel to the Roman culture. This will shape the message and agenda more than anything else.

The first thing that a reader notices about Mark is the pace. Mark is much shorter and carries a much faster pace through the gospel. Romans are westerners who like to be entertained. They are not easterners who value a treasure hunt buried in the Text or an expectation that you would want to work through tough questions in order to unearth amazing truths. Romans want you to get to the point and tickle their fancy. And so Mark writes a gospel that is a fast-paced tale of all the things Jesus did. He bounces from story to story, keeping the characters moving and Jesus busy.

Mark also plays on the value system of the Roman culture. The Greco-Roman culture was built on four pillars of Hellenistic life: education, health care, entertainment, and competition. If you pay attention to the stories Mark chooses to tell and the way he chooses to tell them, you begin to notice that Jesus is being portrayed as quite the impressive character. He's a master teacher (education), an incredible healer of all kinds of conditions (health care), an entertainer of crowds who are constantly “amazed” (entertainment), and better than any other man being offered for consideration (competition).

I think there is a reason that many of us prefer the gospel of Mark. In short, we are Romans! We are westerners who are cut from the same cloth. It’s for the very same reasons we enjoy the shorter, faster, more entertaining gospel of Mark. But Mark has an agenda much deeper than simply entertaining his readers. And he starts to head down his main path as the gospel nears the end.

One of the many differences that you can find in the gospel of Mark appears to come during the telling of the crucifixion story. An astute Bible student may notice that in the gospel of Mark, Jesus is offered wine mixed with myrrh before He is on the cross; in every other gospel, He is offered vinegar mixed with gall, both before and on the cross. This seems like a minor detail (or a major one for biblical critics), but in fact, Mark is doing something much deeper under the surface. In order to explain this, I would like to describe the coronation of a Roman Caesar. (While I heard this teaching from Ray Vander Laan, the man who did the definitive work on this was the Oxford scholar Thomas E. Schmidt.)

We don’t have a comprehensive account of every coronation of a Caesar, but we do have a few. One of the best records we have is of the coronation of Emperor Nero. From the records that we do have, one could conclude that the typical coronation had nine steps:

1. The Praetorian Guard gathers to hail Caesar as lord and god.
2. Royal robes, a wreath crown, and a scepter are placed on Caesar.
3. They lead Caesar through a procession, lined with incense altars.
4. Caesar is followed by the sacrifice (a bull, in Nero’s case), and he carries the instrument of death.
5. They arrive at Capitoline Hill; Caesar is offered wine mixed with myrrh, but he refuses it, pouring it out.
6. The bull is killed; Caesar pronounced death or life on a host of prisoners, demonstrating that he has the power of life and death.
7. The emperor ascends the steps of the temple with the High Priest on his right and his commander on his left.
8. Caesar is acclaimed “lord and god” as people sing his praises.
9. They wait for a sign from the heavens (in Nero’s coronation, according to history, there was an eclipse).

If one takes this list and reads through Mark’s account of the crucifixion, they are stunned to find what Mark is doing. Take the list above, open your Bible to Mark 15, and connect them to the following passages:

1. 15:16
2. 15:17–18
3. 15:20
4. 15:21
5. 15:22–23
6. 15:24
7. 15:27
8. 15:29–32
9. 15:33

Mark tells the crucifixion as if it was Jesus’s coronation. Mark’s trying to make the case that Jesus’s crucifixion was not a moment of defeat — it was His greatest moment of triumph.

This is a stunning agenda to attempt to communicate to a bunch of Romans. Mark is essentially trying to tell them that the world they live in is completely backwards and upside down. He’s saying that the way of empire doesn’t actually bring true peace. That in weakness — in the laying down of His life — Jesus showed empire to be the farce that it is.

And then, there is the ending. If you look in your Bible, you will notice a note that says that Mark 16:9–20 is not in the earliest manuscripts. To be quite frank, I do not believe that Mark 16:9–20 should be in our inspired Text. I believe that the early Christians attempted to “clean up” the ending to Mark’s gospel and fix something that was never broken.

If you read Mark 16:8, you can see why they would think such things. Would Mark really end his gospel with women running away, trembling and afraid?

Of course he would.

Because any Roman who reads Mark’s gospel — and accepts it — is going to feel just like those women. If they affirm the truth that Jesus is a better king, their Roman life as they know it is over. They have much to fear. And so, much like the story of the prodigal son, Mark leaves the ending open-ended and unwritten, inviting the Roman readers to consider what they believe to be the truest true about the world and what brings real peace. This is our great challenge as “Roman” readers. Do we really want to choose the “triumph” of Jesus? It runs counter to everything that our worldview says is power. Yet Mark confronts our worldview and invites us to consider — as we possibly sit trembling and afraid of the implications — whether or not we’d like to believe this “gospel” of a better kingdom.

THE SILENT YEARS: Perfect Timing

We’ve looked at the five different responses within the first-century Jewish world to the problem of Hellenism and the Greco-Roman empire and influence. While we’ve touched on a few of the aspects of these different groups, I wanted to dedicate a post to reviewing and summarizing the different responses and how they will play into the cultural landscape of the gospel narratives and the stories of Jesus.

As I teach this material to my students, I often find there are universal experiences that demand very important observations. First, you will find yourself resonating with one of these groups. We have the same groups and responses at work today within the religious community; for certain, you can find Pharisees, Herodians, and even Essenes. That is actually very helpful to wrestle with. To understand oneself, to be able to objectively critique and evaluate your own experience, and to identify weaknesses and dangers in your daily walk is incredibly beneficial. So don’t resist or miss the opportunity to relate with the story. This, however, leads to another significant observation. This is NOT about figuring out which group was the most “correct” or the “right” group to belong to. To be sure:

Each group had its struggles. None of these groups had the methodology perfect; they all had an approach skewed by biases and misinterpretations. In short, on some level, each of these groups was wrong.

Each of these groups also brought something quite valuable to the table. This will be hard for most of us to accept. Each of us will have a group that we will demonize and vilify and act as if there was no redeeming value to them; we will all talk as if the world would be better off without “that group.” (By the way, I have found this is often indicative of your own personal struggles; almost without fail, the group you hate the most is the one you struggle with becoming.) It is important to realize that each group offered something while struggling with something else.

With that being said, let’s take a moment to review the five groups and I’ll suggest what I believe to be the strengths and the weaknesses of each group. My language will certainly betray my own biases (as you can probably already tell from my writing, I identify most with the Essenes). But nevertheless, here goes nothing:

ZEALOTS — This group brought an incredible amount of passion and zeal to the table. This was their incredible strength, as it takes some chutzpah to actually get out and change the world — to go and DO something. The Zealots were nothing if not action-oriented. They put their money where their mouth was and aligned their behavior with their beliefs. Their obvious weakness would be their steadfast resolve to use redemptive violence, something that definitively goes against the teachings of Jesus. A Zealot would have been offended at the suggestion of Jesus to love his enemies; he had likely taken a vow to kill them. But Jesus saw their strengths and called a few Zealots to be his disciples; he saw the passion and zeal and knew that if he could just change the weapon in their hand and rewire their passionate hatred into zealous love and compassion, he’d be on to something.

PHARISEES — This group definitely gets the worst treatment in the gospels. Their negative side is in the open for all to see. Their self-righteous devotion to what they perceive as the correct path is what will keep the Kingdom from coming. Jesus was ruthless against their weaknesses, frequently telling them that the sinners (the people the Pharisees blamed for the world’s ills) were entering the Kingdom ahead of them, while their own piety was blinding them to seeing things through God’s eyes. However, they were incredibly devoted to the path of God and living a life that was set apart. Jesus exhorted His followers to do what the Pharisees say, just not what they do. They had the truth correct, but they had forgotten about loving others and chasing after the marginalized. If the Pharisees would keep their rugged devotion to obedience and not let it get in the way of truly seeing and loving people, they would be a formidable force for the Kingdom. But self-righteousness is so hard to overcome; it makes the victim blind to God’s peace

SADDUCEES — To be sure, the Sadducees had been called to their role by God Himself. This is their strength. They have a role that is appointed, commissioned, and ordained by God to help the people in their relationship with God (you may recognize the roles of the priest here). However, having spiritual power is incredibly dangerous and difficult to carry well. Many of us in today’s church culture can relate with abused religious leadership. And far too many of us have given up on religious leadership and have judged anyone who carries a title guilty until proven innocent. This is a tragedy for both parties. We need people to be called to the God-ordained offices of church leadership and they need to carry that responsibility with integrity. But we also need to respect our leaders, allowing them to be human, encouraging them to fulfill their duties as God intended.

HERODIANS — This may not be something that we want to hear, but most of us are Herodians. We wouldn’t last a day in the life of the Hasidim in the Galilee. Take away our running water, air conditioning, and smartphones, and we’d be crying uncle by lunchtime. We have convinced ourselves that we can live in the Hellenistic world that is American consumerism and serve God at the same time. We do not see our consumption as idolatry. And we may be right, but that is the danger and the weakness of the Herodian. They had exchanged the “set apart” life of the Pharisees for the comforts of the world. However, the positive of the Herodians is that they are perfectly placed for God’s mission. If they will snap out of their idolatrous slumber, they find that they are sitting right at the crossroads of the earth, perfectly placed to impact a world that’s buying into the wrong message and the wrong kingdom.

ESSENES — The positive of the Essenes is their passionate commitment to know the path of God and walk it. They had all the zeal of the Zealot, the devotion of a Pharisee, the calling of a Sadducee, and they hadn’t forgotten generosity, hospitality, and love to the outsider. But it didn’t matter. They ran off into the desert and separated themselves so much from the culture that they weren’t ministering to the people God so desperately wanted to rescue. This may sound very familiar to our discussion about shephelah. Please notice that over 2,000 years later, the wrestling matches haven’t changed one bit.

It’s very important to point out that Jesus calls all of these guys into His havurah (group of disciples). He calls at least two Zealots (Simon and Judas), five boys from Pharisee-ville (Peter, Andrew, James, John, and Philip), two Herodians (Matthew and Thaddeus, whose Greek name gives him away, specifically), and He is influenced and trained by an Essene (more on this later). There also appears to be connections to priestly families spread throughout, as well (you may remember Jesus’s uncle is a righteous priest named Zechariah). Jesus calls these guys together and tells them to get along! Can you now appreciate why they are always arguing about who’s the greatest? They aren’t taking about personal greatness; they’re arguing about worldviews. Every conversation that comes up is going to be divided amongst themselves; Simon is never going to read the Scripture in the same way as Thaddeus — they can hardly stand being in the same room!

One final point: Galatians 4:4 tells us God sent Jesus at just the right time. When all the pieces were in place, Jesus showed up. That means that there could not have been a more perfect time for Jesus to come than when He did. So why did God wrap Himself in flesh and enter the story when He did? There must have been something about this newfound love for the Text and how it was interacting with culture. The different responses amongst God’s people must have set a stage that God wanted to crash and fill with His truth.

What will we find as God comes and walks among us?

THE SILENT YEARS: Essenes

But the Hasidim weren’t the only ones to react negatively to the corruption of the priesthood and the Temple system. There was also another group that responded with as much zeal and passion as the Hasidim, but with a different methodology. This group was called the Essenes.

*It should be noted that there continues to be much debate about this group called the Essenes and what we truly know about them. Every time the scholastic community seems to make some headway in deciding who this group was and what they did, a whole different discussion arises that questions even the most basic assumptions that scholars have made.

One of the places that has been uncovered and has led us to learn so much about the Essenes is the work at Qumran and the famous Dead Sea Scrolls. Most are familiar with the fact that we found an unbelievable amount of biblical text in the Dead Sea Scrolls, but we also found much along the lines of extra-biblical text as well. One of the documents that was uncovered is called The Community Rule and explains much about the lifestyle and expectations for those living in the Essene community.

From what we can tell, the Essenes were made up of disillusioned priests who recognized the corruption of the Temple system and rejected the priesthood that had become so tattered. Some of them continued to perform their priestly duties twice a year, while others abandoned their posts altogether. While we used to think that only male priests were allowed into the group, we have recently found the bodies of several females in the cemetery at Qumran, causing many to suggest that the priests’ families were allowed to live there, or maybe that others were allowed into the sect, as well.

At any rate, we know this group of priests came out to the desert in order to preserve God’s way. They were determined to know the path and walk it well. They were stationed out in the desert in order to be the fulfillment of Isaiah 40:

Comfort, comfort my people,
    says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
    and proclaim to her
that her hard service has been completed,
    that her sin has been paid for,
that she has received from the LORD’s hand
    double for all her sins.

A voice of one calling:
“In the wilderness prepare
    the way for the LORD;
make straight in the desert
    a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be raised up,
    every mountain and hill made low;
the rough ground shall become level,
    the rugged places a plain.
And the glory of the LORD will be revealed,
    and all people will see it together.
        For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

They would be the voice crying out in the desert. They would be the group that would know the ancient paths when the words of Jeremiah would come to life:

This is what the Lord says:

“Stand at the crossroads and look;
    ask for the ancient paths,
ask where the good way is, and walk in it,
    and you will find rest for your souls.

When the people began coming back to God’s way, the Essenes would be ready. When people found themselves standing at a crossroads and asking for the ancient paths, the Essenes would know those paths. They were committed to knowing the path of God and walking in it.

To know the path. And to walk it.

These Essenes went to work, not only memorizing the Text, but preserving it. One of the main accomplishments of this sect is the unbelievably accurate transmission of the biblical text through copying the words and preserving the scrolls. Without the Essenes, there would be no Dead Sea Scrolls. Without the Essenes, we would still be wondering about the accuracy of our scriptures. To know the path.
But they were also committed to walking it. According to The Community Rule, in order to join this sect, you had to sell all of your worldly possessions and everything you had became common property in the community. They lived in strict, disciplined community with others, including a rigid commitment to ritual and obedience, meal times, and communal responsibility. The extent of their commitment to following God’s commands is astounding. To document the work of the Essenes adequately would be far beyond the scope of this blog post (even ignoring how much it is debated within scholarship). To walk the path.

When I travel to Israel with groups, one of the most significant stops we make is at Qumran, as we observe the dedication and passion with which these men (and apparently women) devoted themselves to learning, knowing, and walking the Text. I have stood on the mountain overlooking Qumran many times and shouted, “I want to be an Essene!”

To be the voice of one crying in the desert. To be the answer to the one standing at the crossroads and asking for the ancient paths and the good way. To know the path. To walk it.

I want to be an Essene.

THE SILENT YEARS: Hasidim

So the Greeks move into town and the people of God respond in different ways. Some of them certainly thought that this lifestyle was not inherently evil and preferred everything that Greece had to offer. And also, for sure, you would have seen all kinds of people responding with different commitment levels to walking the path of God, from true compromisers to those who just wanted to hold both worlds in tension.

And there’s an argument to be made there, but we will deal with this later.

Other Jews, however, responded with fierce resistance. They refused to engage the new Greek world as passive consumers of this new message and philosophy. They resisted in the choices they made, they resisted in the way they worshipped, and they resisted in where they chose to live. And all of that worked out alright until the Greek world went into turmoil. Alexander the Great died and the Greek empire was passed on to four different generals. We will talk about the first two later, but the far eastern part of the empire (think Babylon/Chaldea) was given to a Greek ruler named Seleucus, and the southern portion (think Egypt) was given to a general named Ptolemy.

Originally, the land of Israel lay in the southern kingdom of Ptolemy. Ptolemy’s style of rule was one of passive invitation and suggestion; similar to Alexander, Ptolemy believed that if you built it, they would come. However, Seleucus was bent on the domination of the Greek empire and wanted to be Greece’s new emperor of fame. As Seleucus pushed west, he went to war against Ptolemy and the southern kingdom fell to Seleucus. This changed the world of the Jews dramatically.

Seleucus’s style of leadership was starkly different from Ptolemy. Seleucus said, “Become Greek or die.” Massive persecutions were launched at those who would refuse to take on the Hellenistic world and its value systems (namely Jews). Seleucus was famous for the torture that was pursued in the city squares under his rule. People were boiled in oil, pulled apart limb from limb by horses, and skinned alive as they peeled one-inch strips of hide from their bodies.

This bloody mess only fueled the fire of resistance. One day, Seleucus stormed into the Temple of God, desecrated the holy place, and offered pigs on the altar. This was the last straw for many of the resistive Jews and they mounted a revolt, led by Judah “the Hammer.” We know him as Judah Maccabee and the Maccabean revolt. This revolt is also the story of Chanukah. The eight-day uprising led to the miraculous overthrow of what some might argue was the most powerful army in the world at the time. A little band of Jewish rebels took back the Temple and supposedly walked in to find the menorah out of oil, but still burning. This is the celebration of the festival of lights.

Let’s get back to the story. The Maccabeans took control of the Temple and the land of Israel and, for a brief time in history, the Jews had their land back. The Maccabeans turned control of the Temple over to the priesthood — the rightful rulers of God’s Temple system. The priestly family was known as the Hasmoneans and they were direct descendants of the family lines of Zadok, the high priest who was put in place at the opening of the Temple of Solomon (more on them later).

However, this priestly Hasmonean family, within a matter of years, became as Hellenistic as the Greeks. Josephus tells us that there were so many priests at the Greco-Roman mud-wrestling on the Sabbath that there were not enough left in the Temple to hold Sabbath services.

Let that sink in.

Yes, many of the Jewish people felt betrayed. After all of that work to push out the Seleucids and God’s miraculous provision to defeat their enemies, how could they simply compromise the way of God and become as Greek as their imperial counterparts?

And so, in disgust and dismay, those groups of fiery rebels headed north to the Galilee, which we have already discussed. They became people of fierce devotion and commitment to walking the path of God. They were people of the insula, the rabbi, and the synagogue. Set apart. Holy. Devoted unto the LORD.

They called themselves Hasidim, or “the Pious Ones,” and they were made up of two groups:


ZEALOTS

This group held on to the passion that led the Jews to revolt. They believed that the Kingdom of God would come through total devotion to God’s path, complete resistance and rejection of the Hellenistic world, and a commitment to redemptive violence. They believed that if they would rise up in faithful obedience — with the sword — that God would defeat their enemies. He did it at Chanukah. He did it with Joshua and the conquest. He would do it again.

One of the zealot sects that we know of was the Sicarii, known for their short daggers called sicae. They were known for hiding a dagger up their sleeve and taking a vow to kill any Roman they found who was alone. They saw any cooperation with Rome or acceptance of Hellenism as a rejection of God and complete idolatry. Their poster boys were guys like Phinehas, who speared the Israelite man and the Moabite woman who were having relations in front of God’s house.

Realize the teachings of Jesus that were committed to principles of forgiveness and loving your enemies would run counter to this worldview. Realize that every time Jesus interacts favorably with a Roman, it would be incredibly offensive to this group. Realize that Jesus called some of these guys to be His disciples. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves.


PHARISEES

This group believed that the Kingdom of God would come through complete devotion to God’s path and completely resisting and rejecting the Hellenistic world. They did not believe that God would want them to take up the sword against their enemies, but that if they would simply worry about obedience, God would bring rescue to their situation.

You see, the Pharisees get a really bad rap in our teachings. Admittedly, this is for good reason: Jesus is ruthless against many Pharisees. But what we often fail to see is that, of all the groups that will be at Jesus’s disposal, He is going to insist, by His own choice, on working with this religiously pious group of leaders. Certainly, their piety bred a self-righteousness that prevented them from seeing those on the outside, those on the margins, and the very people who were forgotten in the stories of the Old Testament.

But this was a group of people who were fiercely devoted to God’s commands and walking the path well. Their commitment to God would put our personal walks with the LORD to shame ten times over.


The Hasidim were the pious ones. They headed north to start a new home for a new kind of Judaism. And it worked. When God showed up to do His work amongst us, He decided to set up shop right under the noses of the Hasidim. He didn’t build an apartment on the wing of the Temple in Jerusalem; He went right up to the Galilee and lived in Nazareth. He planted His ministry in Capernaum for three years — the Pharisee capital of the Jewish world. He called zealots and fishermen who were the sons of Hasidim to be His first disciples.

There is something here to learn from the fierce and zealous devotion of the Hasidim.