The Ministry of Christ
7th Bible: New Testament
Chapter 4: The People of Christ’s Land
Devotions: Matthew 23:1-15; Deuteronomy 6:1-15
I. Introduction
· Jesus is born as a Jew and lives among the Jews.
· The Jews – the descendents of Abraham (there were more Jews scattered/dispersed through the Roman Empire than those who lived in Palestine)
II. The Government of Palestine
A. The Romans
· Province ruled by Herod the Great (king) in the time when Christ was born.
· After the death of Herod the Great, the land was divided: Archelaus ruled over Judea, Herod Antipas ruled in Galilee, and Philip ruled over the area north and east of the Sea of Galilee
· Archelaus only ruled a short time – after his death, Judea came under direct control of the emperor and was ruled by governors. (Ex. Pontius Pilate)
B. The Sanhedrin – council of 70 Jewish elders (composed of scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees)
· Only had authority in religious matters
III. The Religious Leaders
A. Scribes
· In times of captivity/exile, they studied the law (the Scriptures) and taught it to the people
· Often called “rabbi”, meaning master or teacher
· As the centuries passed, they began to study the interpretations of the law made by previous scribes.
· By the time of Christ, the study of these interpretations (or traditions), was considered more important than the study of God’s Word
B. Pharisees
· Largest religious party
· Accepted the entire O.T. as God’s Word but they interpreted it according to the traditions of the scribes.
· From their own interpretations and the traditions of the elders, they made a code of laws that touched every area of life
C. Sadducees (did not get along with the Pharisees)
· Small, yet very powerful (high priest and family were Sadducees; had the most influence with Roman authorities)
· Accepted only the five books of Moses as the Word of God: Gen, Ex, Lev, Num, Deut
· Sadducees did not find it important to keep the rigid laws of the Pharisees
· Denied the doctrine of the resurrection and the existence of angels (Acts 23:8)
IV. The Literature of the Jews
A. The Old Testament (the law, the prophets, and the writings – see Luke 24)
B. The Septuagint – O.T. in Greek; dispersion resulted in many Jews being scattered in Greek speaking societies (translated by 72 Jews) LXX
C. The Apocrypha:
· Written by Jews during the intertestamental period
· These books reflected the thinking of the Jews during the time between the Old and New Testament
· Jews never accepted them as the inspired Word of God
D. The Mishna – this was the “tradition of the elders” – interpretations of the O.T. made by the scribes
V. Jewish Religion (a perversion of the Old Testament) see page 25-26 for their 4 prominent doctrines
1. They added many traditions and made religion a matter of ritual
2. They sought righteousness in keeping the law and various ceremonies
3. They believed that the covenant guaranteed salvation for all Jews – children of Abraham/no need for regeneration and conversion
4. They thought that the promised Messiah would destroy the Romans and establish a Jewish kingdom
· Hated Jesus because He was not the Messiah that they wanted and He rejected all their traditions
VI. Worship of Jehovah
· In exile there was no tabernacle, no temple, no sacrifices
· New type of worship began which emphasized the study of the O.T., especially the law
· Establishment of synagogues, or meeting places
· Worship consisted of: recitation of the Jewish creed (Deut. 6:4-5), prayer, reading of Scriptures, and a sermon
VII. Jewish Feasts (read pages 27-29 in textbook on your own)
VIII. Education
A. Children learned the Jewish creed (Deuteronomy 6:4-5) and memorize other passages from Scripture
B. In a room of the synagogue; boys learned to read, write, and do simple problems of arithmetic
C. Every Jewish boy also was supposed to learn a trade
D. Jewish girls did not go to school. They learned at home the skills needed for marriage.