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| {{Jesus}} | {{Jesus}} | ||
| ] lived in the first century in ], and was, at least in part, shaped by the cultural and political forces active at that time. To understand Jesus properly it is generally agreed (by secular scholars and Christians alike) that it is necessary to understand the world in which he lived. This was a volatile period marked by cultural and political dilemmas. | |||
| The Gospels provide two accounts of Jesus' birth: according to one account, he is the son of Joseph, a descendant of David; according to the other account, he is the son of God, and divine (Christians do not view these two accounts as irreconcilable). Many historians and other scholars suggest that these accounts were developed after Jesus' death, in order to substantiate the Christian belief that Jesus was the messiah. Most of the material in the Gospels focus on the last year of Jesus' life, and most scholars focus on this period. | |||
| Some persons dispute whether Jesus actually existed. These arguments are discussed in the entry on ]. | |||
| Some persons dispute whether Jesus actually existed (see ]). Many historians, sceptical of Christian claims of the divinity of Jesus or even that he was of the line of David, seek to make sense of his life in terms of what is known of Roman Judea and Galillee from non-Christian sources. This was a volatile period marked by cultural and political dilemmas. | |||
| ==Culture== | ==Culture== | ||
| Line 9: | Line 10: | ||
| Moreover, as many Jews lived in the ], and Judea itself was populated by many Gentiles, Jews had to confront a paradox in their own tradition: their ] applied only to them, but revealed universal truths. This situation led to new interpretations of the Torah, influenced by Hellenic thought and in response to Gentile interest in Judaism. | Moreover, as many Jews lived in the ], and Judea itself was populated by many Gentiles, Jews had to confront a paradox in their own tradition: their ] applied only to them, but revealed universal truths. This situation led to new interpretations of the Torah, influenced by Hellenic thought and in response to Gentile interest in Judaism. | ||
| Several languages were used in |
Several languages were used in Judea and Galilee at this time, and the matter of the ''lingua franca'' is still subject of some debate. The Jews almost certainly spoke ] among themselves. ] was at least to some extent a trade language in the region, and indeed in the entire eastern portion of the Roman empire. ], as a Roman from Rome, would most likely have spoken ] privately with his wife, but would probably have used Greek to handle day to day business in the province, though it is also possible (though perhaps improbable given his character) that he used Aramaic for this. Scholars debate whether Jesus himself spoke any other languages than Aramaic. In favor of his knowing at least some Greek is the notation in the Gospels that he worked as a carpenter. In a wood-poor land such as ], he would have had to deal with caravans from the wider Middle-East in order to obtain the raw materials for his work. | ||
| ==Political life== | ==Political life== | ||
| At the |
At the start of the 1st century, ] was ruled by King ] in the name of the Romans. An ]n by birth, his rule was marked by alternating acts of cruelty and kindness toward his people. It was he who funded the rebuilding of the ]. At the same time, he built up the city of ] on the coast to be a model Roman city, complete with pagan temples. Several stories of Herod's cruelty have reached us via ], and the ] adds the incident of the massacre of the innocents in ]. As a result, Herod was very unpopular. | ||
| After Herod |
After Herod died, a temporary ], ] quelled rioting by putting thousands of Jews to death by ]. After Varus, Augustus designated one son, ], tetrarch of the Galilee, and another son, ], ethnarch of Judea (including Samaria and Idumea). A third son, ], received the northern Transjordan. After 6 CE Judea was governed indirectly by a Roman prefect or procurator, and directly by a Roman-appointed high priest. At the time of Jesus' public ministry and death, the procurator was ], who ruled from ] to ]. | ||
| Pilate's administration was marked by many antagonistic actions toward the Jews. Some have suggested that this was at the behest of ], who held was the strong man in Rome during much of Pilate's career. Sejanus certainly had an anti-Jewish cast to his politics. Sejanus died in ], and ] repealed most of the anti-Jewish policies instituted by Sejanus. Pilate was finally recalled to Rome for his excessive cruelty, at which point he vanished from proven historical sources. | Pilate's administration was marked by many antagonistic actions toward the Jews. Some have suggested that this was at the behest of ], who held was the strong man in Rome during much of Pilate's career. Sejanus certainly had an anti-Jewish cast to his politics. Sejanus died in ], and ] repealed most of the anti-Jewish policies instituted by Sejanus. Pilate was finally recalled to Rome for his excessive cruelty, at which point he vanished from proven historical sources. | ||
| Line 21: | Line 22: | ||
| ==Religious factions== | ==Religious factions== | ||
| During this time the religion of the Jews centered on the Temple in Jerusalem, but no particular form of Judaism was established as the predominant and correct one. Several movements arose among the leading Jews, with various opinions on the issues of the day. The ] and the ] were the most important, followed by the ] and the ]. Most Jews |
During this time the religion of the Jews centered on the Temple in Jerusalem, but no particular form of Judaism was established as the predominant and correct one. Several movements arose among the leading Jews, with various opinions on the issues of the day. The ] and the ] were the most important, followed by the ] and the ]. Most Jews did not belong to any faction, and there is no evidence that they were concerned with sectarian issues. | ||
| ===Sadducees=== | ===Sadducees=== | ||
| The Sadducees were primarily composed of aristocrats and priests and occupied most of the important posts in what self-government the Jews were permitted under the Romans. The ] was largely, though not exclusively, populated by Sadducees. They tended to be disliked by the common people, partially because of their "collaboration" in the Roman occupation. | The Sadducees were primarily composed of aristocrats and priests and occupied most of the important posts in what self-government the Jews were permitted under the Romans. The ] was largely, though not exclusively, populated by Sadducees. They tended to be disliked by the common people, partially because of their "collaboration" in the Roman occupation. | ||
| Religious beliefs of the Sadducees stressed the ] as the sole source of moral obligations. They rejected later doctrines such as the afterlife, angels, demons, and direct intervention of ] in human history. When these traits were taken to the extreme, there was the danger of falling into skepticism. | Religious beliefs of the Sadducees stressed the ] and ] as the sole source of moral obligations. They rejected later doctrines such as the afterlife, angels, demons, and direct intervention of ] in human history. When these traits were taken to the extreme, there was the danger of falling into skepticism. | ||
| The office of high priest was theoretically a life-long post. However, the Romans regularly deposed the high priests to make way for new leadership. Due to the manipulations of ], however, the temple remained in control of one family for most of Jesus' life. Annas was high priest from ]-]. His son-in-law ] was high priest from ]-] and ]-]. His sons Eleazar (]-]), Jonathas (]), Theophilos (]-]), Matthias (]-]) and Ananias (]) all became high priests. The ] reports a separate trial of Jesus before Annas, perhaps because many considered him to be the legitimate high priest. | The office of high priest was theoretically a life-long post. However, the Romans regularly deposed the high priests to make way for new leadership. Due to the manipulations of ], however, the temple remained in control of one family for most of Jesus' life. Annas was high priest from ]-]. His son-in-law ] was high priest from ]-] and ]-]. His sons Eleazar (]-]), Jonathas (]), Theophilos (]-]), Matthias (]-]) and Ananias (]) all became high priests. The ] reports a separate trial of Jesus before Annas, perhaps because many considered him to be the legitimate high priest. | ||
| Jews everywhere were required to make a pilgramage to and offer sacrifices at the Temple three times a year: ], ], and ]. Due to the large distances involved, many Jews did not complete all of these pilgrimages, though most attempted to do so. The ]s report that Jesus's family made the pilgrimage to Jerusalem every year. Jesus, as a believing Jew, probably had great devotion to the Temple. Nevertheless, the legitimacy of the Temple was unclear, as it had been built under Persian auspices, rather than by a Jewish king. | |||
| ===Pharisees=== | ===Pharisees=== | ||
| The groups of "scribes" and "lawyers" mentioned in the Bible come largely from the ranks of the Pharisees. |
The groups of "scribes" and "lawyers" mentioned in the Bible come largely from the ranks of the ]. During Roman occupation, they were not overtly political. Pharisees basically attempted to extend the practices of purification associated with the Temple to everyday life. In addition to the written ] they believed themselves to be in posession of an Oral Law that had been revealed to Moses at Sinai. Furthermore, they accepted many new doctrines, such as the resurrection of the dead, the last judgment, angels and demons. | ||
| ⚫ | Many of Jesus' teachings coincided with the Pharisees, but the ] reports many disagreements with them. Most scholars believe that these passages were composed by the evangelists and reflect more the situation between Christians and Jews after the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE, when Pharisaism emerged as the hegemonic form of Judaism. Jesus' primary complaint against the Pharisees in the Gospels is their hypocrisy, which Jews today consider an unfounded slander. | ||
| Pharisees accepted the various instructions and interpretations of the Hebrew Bible as binding, as well as many traditions that remained unwritten. Furthermore, they accepted many new doctrines, such as the resurrection of the dead, the last judgment, angels and demons. The Pharisees taught further that a ] was coming, who would unite the people under one rule. Most held that this Messiah would be raised up by a direct act of God, so they did not preach revolt against the Romans. If their various beliefs were taken to extremes, there was the danger of entering into extreme fanaticism and legalism, even entering into hypocrisy. | |||
| ⚫ | Many of Jesus' teachings coincided with the Pharisees, but the ] reports many disagreements with them. Most scholars believe that these were |
||
| ===Essenes=== | ===Essenes=== | ||
| The third group, the Essenes, is never mentioned in the |
The third group, the Essenes, is never mentioned in the New Testament, although many scholars believe that they influenced Jesus. They were an ascetic group, including many members from the priestly classes, who believed that their own religious community had replaced the Temple. They lived in small communities in isolation from the social life of the Jewish people. They too awaited a Messiah and sought to purify themselves for his coming. | ||
| One group of aescetics lived near present-day Qumran; some scholars have argued that these people were Essenes. When the Romans under ] came to destroy Jerusalem, they carefully sealed their writings into clay jars hidden in caves. These writings, which were discovered at ] between ] and ], are called the ]. | |||
| The Essenes practised a sort of ritual bath, which has led many commentators to suggest that ] was a member of the Essenes, or at least had significant contact with them. A few have suggested that Jesus himself was an Essene. | |||
| ===Zealots=== | ===Zealots=== | ||
| Line 49: | Line 48: | ||
| ===Prophets and Messiahs=== | ===Prophets and Messiahs=== | ||
| Many individuals claimed to speak for God, in the prophetic tradition of ] and ], or to be able to heal people, in the prophetic tradition of ]. | |||
| ===Civic Unrest=== | |||
| This was moreover a volatile period in Jewish history. Most Jews were desperately poor and resented having to pay tribute to Rome. Although Jews were relatively autonomous, ruled by a Jewish high priest and tetrarch, these officials were appointed by Rome and thus had questionable legitimacy. Moreover, the Second Temple itself, rebuilt under Persian auspices, had uncertain legitimacy. | |||
| ⚫ | During this time many Jews hoped that the Romans would be replaced by a Jewish king (also referred to as "the anointed", or messiah, as kings were anointed) of the line of David – the last legitimate Jewish regime. However, Jews were divided over how this might occur. Most Jews believed that their history was governed by God. For example, many believed that the ], the conquest of Babylon by the Persians (who allowed Jews to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem), the defeat of the ] by the Jews, and the conquest of Judea by the Romans, were all divine acts. They thus believed that the Romans were instruments of God, and would be replaced by a Jewish king only through divine intervention; thus, the majority of Jews accepted Roman rule. Others (primarily the Zealots) believed that the kingdom should be restored immediately, through violent human action. | ||
| ==Locating Jesus in this Historical Horizon== | |||
| ⚫ | According to most critical scholars, Jesus seems not to have belonged to any particular party; Jesus was special (perhaps even unique) in combining elements of many of these different – and for most Jews, opposing – positions. Most critical scholars see Jesus as working in the prophetic tradition, both as a mouthpiece for God and as an itinerant healer. However, many of his teachings echoed the beliefs of the Qumran community (which was likely a branch of the Essenes); he may have engaged the Pharisees on matters of Jewish law (most scholars believe that many of the debates between Jesus and the Pharisees found in the Gospels were added after Jesus' death, at a time when the Pharisees emerged as the dominant form of Judaism and the primary competitors with Christians as interpreters of the Bible); and his declarations that the kingdom was at hand echoed the Zealots. Many historians and other scholars argue that it is more likely that, like most Jews, Jesus believed that the restoration of the monarchy would be accomplished by God, not by any movement of Jews. However, he did believe that this restoration was immanent. Jesus was enigmatic at best about his claim to actually be the presumptive monarch, but it is likely that he believed that as soon as God restored the monarchy, he would be anointed as king. That he speaks of twelve disciples is probably symbolic of the twelve tribes of Israel, and thus a metaphor for "all of Israel (the Gospels name fourteen disciples; Paul mentions a "twelve" that does not include Peter or other disciples). | ||
| ⚫ | Talk of a restoration of the monarchy was seditious under Roman occupation, and Jesus entered Jerusalem at an especially risky time. Jews were required to offer sacrifices at the Temple three times a year: ], ], and ]. Although most Jews did not have the means to travel to Jerusalem for every holiday, virtually all tried to comply with these laws as best they could. Thus, during these festivals the population of Jerusalem swelled – and outbreaks of violence and riots were common. Critical scholars argue that the high priest feared that Jesus' talk of an immanent restoration of an independent Jewish state would likely spark a riot. As maintaining the peace was one of the primary jobs of the high priest, whom the Romans held personally responsible for any major outbreak of violence, he had Jesus arrested and turned him over to the Romans for execution. | ||
| ⚫ | |||
| == |
==After the Jewish Rebellion== | ||
| The destruction of the Temple in ] affected different factions in different ways. The Zealots had committed suicide, the Essenes didn't care, the Sadducees had no ability to carry out their religion, leaving only the Pharisees and a few messianic groups (such as the followers of John the Baptist, and the religion telling of Jesus). | |||
| ⚫ | Jesus seems not to have belonged to any particular party; Jesus was special (perhaps even unique) in combining elements of many of these different – and for most Jews, opposing – positions. Most critical scholars see Jesus as working in the prophetic tradition, both as a mouthpiece for God and as an itinerant healer. However, many of his teachings echoed the beliefs of the Qumran community (which was |
||
| Pharisaism developed into Rabbinic Judiams, the dominant form ofJudaism today. Followers of Jesus developed Christianity, followers of John the Baptist into Mandaeanism (which, though it was a major religion in the first half of the first millenium, at the present day only survives in a few small groups at the east of the Mediterranean). The other groups dissappeared. | |||
| ⚫ | Talk of a restoration of the monarchy was seditious under Roman occupation, and Jesus entered Jerusalem at an especially risky time. Although most Jews did not have the means to travel to Jerusalem for every holiday, virtually all tried to comply with these laws as best they could. Thus, during these festivals |
||
| Following the dispersion of the Jews from Palestine, the religious groups came into contact with many Gentiles, reacting to them in different ways. Although both the Pharisees and Jewish Christians were willing to seek to convert people to Judaism, Paul and his fllowers argued that and Gentiles did not have to convert to Judaism but could become Christians directly, by accepting Christ as their savior. Many of those scholars think that it is in this period that the meaning of the word ''messiah'' was altered to be universal and divine, rather than particular and human. | |||
| ==After Jesus== | |||
| After the destruction of the Temple in ], the Zealots, Sadducees, and Essenes disappeared. Moreover, the followers of Jesus offered Gentiles a form of Judaism that emphasized the universal over the particular. When it became apparent that most of the Jews preferred Rabbinic Judaism (represented by the Pharisees), followers of Jesus turned primarily to Gentiles and emphasized universality even more. The result was the Christian religion. It was during this period, many scholars argue, that Christians transformed the meaning of the word ''messiah'' to be universal and divine, rather than particular and human. | |||
| Another widespread view of 20th century Biblical scholars (argued most recently in ''Jesus: apocalyptic prophet of the new millennium'' as well as the other books of Bart Ehrman of the University of North Carolina), was that Jesus originally preached ] ]. This view was fuelled by ] scholarship which largely upheld the ] as the earliest of the canonical Gospels; Mark's frequent use of the term ], also found in apocalyptic works such as the second half of the ]; as well as Jesus' predictions of the apocalyptic end of the world contained in Mark chapter 13. | |||
| ] | ] | ||
| ] | ] | ||
Revision as of 02:15, 3 November 2004
| Part of a series on |
 |
| Jesus in Christianity |
| Jesus in Islam |
| Background |
| Jesus in history |
| Perspectives on Jesus |
| Jesus in culture |
The Gospels provide two accounts of Jesus' birth: according to one account, he is the son of Joseph, a descendant of David; according to the other account, he is the son of God, and divine (Christians do not view these two accounts as irreconcilable). Many historians and other scholars suggest that these accounts were developed after Jesus' death, in order to substantiate the Christian belief that Jesus was the messiah. Most of the material in the Gospels focus on the last year of Jesus' life, and most scholars focus on this period.
Some persons dispute whether Jesus actually existed (see Historicity of Jesus). Many historians, sceptical of Christian claims of the divinity of Jesus or even that he was of the line of David, seek to make sense of his life in terms of what is known of Roman Judea and Galillee from non-Christian sources. This was a volatile period marked by cultural and political dilemmas.
Culture
Culturally, Jews had to grapple with the values of Hellenism and Hellenistic philosophy, which threatened to replace the traditions handed down from the past. Bath houses were built in Jerusalem, for instance. Most Jews tended to accept the good that came from their various conquerors (they were in succession dominated by the Babylonians, the Persians, the Greeks and the Romans), but many yearned for freedom from foreign domination.
Moreover, as many Jews lived in the Diaspora, and Judea itself was populated by many Gentiles, Jews had to confront a paradox in their own tradition: their Torah applied only to them, but revealed universal truths. This situation led to new interpretations of the Torah, influenced by Hellenic thought and in response to Gentile interest in Judaism.
Several languages were used in Judea and Galilee at this time, and the matter of the lingua franca is still subject of some debate. The Jews almost certainly spoke Aramaic among themselves. Greek was at least to some extent a trade language in the region, and indeed in the entire eastern portion of the Roman empire. Pontius Pilate, as a Roman from Rome, would most likely have spoken Latin privately with his wife, but would probably have used Greek to handle day to day business in the province, though it is also possible (though perhaps improbable given his character) that he used Aramaic for this. Scholars debate whether Jesus himself spoke any other languages than Aramaic. In favor of his knowing at least some Greek is the notation in the Gospels that he worked as a carpenter. In a wood-poor land such as Galilee, he would have had to deal with caravans from the wider Middle-East in order to obtain the raw materials for his work.
Political life
At the start of the 1st century, Judea was ruled by King Herod the Great in the name of the Romans. An Idumean by birth, his rule was marked by alternating acts of cruelty and kindness toward his people. It was he who funded the rebuilding of the Second Temple. At the same time, he built up the city of Caesarea on the coast to be a model Roman city, complete with pagan temples. Several stories of Herod's cruelty have reached us via Josephus, and the Gospel of Matthew adds the incident of the massacre of the innocents in Bethlehem. As a result, Herod was very unpopular.
After Herod died, a temporary procurator, Varus quelled rioting by putting thousands of Jews to death by crucifixion. After Varus, Augustus designated one son, Herod Antipas, tetrarch of the Galilee, and another son, Archalaus, ethnarch of Judea (including Samaria and Idumea). A third son, Philip, received the northern Transjordan. After 6 CE Judea was governed indirectly by a Roman prefect or procurator, and directly by a Roman-appointed high priest. At the time of Jesus' public ministry and death, the procurator was Pontius Pilate, who ruled from 26 to 36.
Pilate's administration was marked by many antagonistic actions toward the Jews. Some have suggested that this was at the behest of Sejanus, who held was the strong man in Rome during much of Pilate's career. Sejanus certainly had an anti-Jewish cast to his politics. Sejanus died in 32, and Tiberius repealed most of the anti-Jewish policies instituted by Sejanus. Pilate was finally recalled to Rome for his excessive cruelty, at which point he vanished from proven historical sources.
Most Jews were desperately poor and resented having to pay tribute to Rome. Although Jews were relatively autonomous, ruled by a Jewish high priest and tetrarch, these officials were appointed by Rome and thus had questionable legitimacy.
Religious factions
During this time the religion of the Jews centered on the Temple in Jerusalem, but no particular form of Judaism was established as the predominant and correct one. Several movements arose among the leading Jews, with various opinions on the issues of the day. The Sadducees and the Pharisees were the most important, followed by the Essenes and the Zealots. Most Jews did not belong to any faction, and there is no evidence that they were concerned with sectarian issues.
Sadducees
The Sadducees were primarily composed of aristocrats and priests and occupied most of the important posts in what self-government the Jews were permitted under the Romans. The Sanhedrin was largely, though not exclusively, populated by Sadducees. They tended to be disliked by the common people, partially because of their "collaboration" in the Roman occupation.
Religious beliefs of the Sadducees stressed the Torah and Neviim as the sole source of moral obligations. They rejected later doctrines such as the afterlife, angels, demons, and direct intervention of God in human history. When these traits were taken to the extreme, there was the danger of falling into skepticism.
The office of high priest was theoretically a life-long post. However, the Romans regularly deposed the high priests to make way for new leadership. Due to the manipulations of Annas, however, the temple remained in control of one family for most of Jesus' life. Annas was high priest from 7-11. His son-in-law Caiaphas was high priest from 18-22 and 24-36. His sons Eleazar (23-24), Jonathas (37), Theophilos (38-42), Matthias (42-44) and Ananias (63) all became high priests. The Gospel of John reports a separate trial of Jesus before Annas, perhaps because many considered him to be the legitimate high priest.
Jews everywhere were required to make a pilgramage to and offer sacrifices at the Temple three times a year: Passover, Sukkot, and Shavuot. Due to the large distances involved, many Jews did not complete all of these pilgrimages, though most attempted to do so. The Gospels report that Jesus's family made the pilgrimage to Jerusalem every year. Jesus, as a believing Jew, probably had great devotion to the Temple. Nevertheless, the legitimacy of the Temple was unclear, as it had been built under Persian auspices, rather than by a Jewish king.
Pharisees
The groups of "scribes" and "lawyers" mentioned in the Bible come largely from the ranks of the Pharisees. During Roman occupation, they were not overtly political. Pharisees basically attempted to extend the practices of purification associated with the Temple to everyday life. In addition to the written Torah they believed themselves to be in posession of an Oral Law that had been revealed to Moses at Sinai. Furthermore, they accepted many new doctrines, such as the resurrection of the dead, the last judgment, angels and demons.
Many of Jesus' teachings coincided with the Pharisees, but the New Testament reports many disagreements with them. Most scholars believe that these passages were composed by the evangelists and reflect more the situation between Christians and Jews after the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE, when Pharisaism emerged as the hegemonic form of Judaism. Jesus' primary complaint against the Pharisees in the Gospels is their hypocrisy, which Jews today consider an unfounded slander.
Essenes
The third group, the Essenes, is never mentioned in the New Testament, although many scholars believe that they influenced Jesus. They were an ascetic group, including many members from the priestly classes, who believed that their own religious community had replaced the Temple. They lived in small communities in isolation from the social life of the Jewish people. They too awaited a Messiah and sought to purify themselves for his coming.
One group of aescetics lived near present-day Qumran; some scholars have argued that these people were Essenes. When the Romans under Titus came to destroy Jerusalem, they carefully sealed their writings into clay jars hidden in caves. These writings, which were discovered at Qumran between 1947 and 1956, are called the Dead Sea scrolls.
Zealots
The Zealots sought political freedom from the Romans through exercise of military force. The uprisings of 67 AD that led up to the destruction of the temple in 70 were under the leadership of the Zealots. It is still debated whether the Zealots were an active political force at the time of Jesus. No record exists narrating organized uprisings among the Jews of this time, though some of Pilate's acts against the Jews could well be in answer to seditious behavior. One of Jesus' Apostles, Simon, is given the attribute "the Zealot" in the Gospel of Luke. This may indicate membership (or former or later membership) in that party, or simply be a statement that he was full of zeal in the literal sense.
Prophets and Messiahs
Many individuals claimed to speak for God, in the prophetic tradition of Isaiah and Jeremiah, or to be able to heal people, in the prophetic tradition of Elisha.
Civic Unrest
This was moreover a volatile period in Jewish history. Most Jews were desperately poor and resented having to pay tribute to Rome. Although Jews were relatively autonomous, ruled by a Jewish high priest and tetrarch, these officials were appointed by Rome and thus had questionable legitimacy. Moreover, the Second Temple itself, rebuilt under Persian auspices, had uncertain legitimacy.
During this time many Jews hoped that the Romans would be replaced by a Jewish king (also referred to as "the anointed", or messiah, as kings were anointed) of the line of David – the last legitimate Jewish regime. However, Jews were divided over how this might occur. Most Jews believed that their history was governed by God. For example, many believed that the Babylonian Exile, the conquest of Babylon by the Persians (who allowed Jews to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem), the defeat of the Seleucids by the Jews, and the conquest of Judea by the Romans, were all divine acts. They thus believed that the Romans were instruments of God, and would be replaced by a Jewish king only through divine intervention; thus, the majority of Jews accepted Roman rule. Others (primarily the Zealots) believed that the kingdom should be restored immediately, through violent human action.
Locating Jesus in this Historical Horizon
According to most critical scholars, Jesus seems not to have belonged to any particular party; Jesus was special (perhaps even unique) in combining elements of many of these different – and for most Jews, opposing – positions. Most critical scholars see Jesus as working in the prophetic tradition, both as a mouthpiece for God and as an itinerant healer. However, many of his teachings echoed the beliefs of the Qumran community (which was likely a branch of the Essenes); he may have engaged the Pharisees on matters of Jewish law (most scholars believe that many of the debates between Jesus and the Pharisees found in the Gospels were added after Jesus' death, at a time when the Pharisees emerged as the dominant form of Judaism and the primary competitors with Christians as interpreters of the Bible); and his declarations that the kingdom was at hand echoed the Zealots. Many historians and other scholars argue that it is more likely that, like most Jews, Jesus believed that the restoration of the monarchy would be accomplished by God, not by any movement of Jews. However, he did believe that this restoration was immanent. Jesus was enigmatic at best about his claim to actually be the presumptive monarch, but it is likely that he believed that as soon as God restored the monarchy, he would be anointed as king. That he speaks of twelve disciples is probably symbolic of the twelve tribes of Israel, and thus a metaphor for "all of Israel (the Gospels name fourteen disciples; Paul mentions a "twelve" that does not include Peter or other disciples).
Talk of a restoration of the monarchy was seditious under Roman occupation, and Jesus entered Jerusalem at an especially risky time. Jews were required to offer sacrifices at the Temple three times a year: Passover, Sukkot, and Shavuot. Although most Jews did not have the means to travel to Jerusalem for every holiday, virtually all tried to comply with these laws as best they could. Thus, during these festivals the population of Jerusalem swelled – and outbreaks of violence and riots were common. Critical scholars argue that the high priest feared that Jesus' talk of an immanent restoration of an independent Jewish state would likely spark a riot. As maintaining the peace was one of the primary jobs of the high priest, whom the Romans held personally responsible for any major outbreak of violence, he had Jesus arrested and turned him over to the Romans for execution.
After the Jewish Rebellion
The destruction of the Temple in 70 affected different factions in different ways. The Zealots had committed suicide, the Essenes didn't care, the Sadducees had no ability to carry out their religion, leaving only the Pharisees and a few messianic groups (such as the followers of John the Baptist, and the religion telling of Jesus).
Pharisaism developed into Rabbinic Judiams, the dominant form ofJudaism today. Followers of Jesus developed Christianity, followers of John the Baptist into Mandaeanism (which, though it was a major religion in the first half of the first millenium, at the present day only survives in a few small groups at the east of the Mediterranean). The other groups dissappeared.
Following the dispersion of the Jews from Palestine, the religious groups came into contact with many Gentiles, reacting to them in different ways. Although both the Pharisees and Jewish Christians were willing to seek to convert people to Judaism, Paul and his fllowers argued that and Gentiles did not have to convert to Judaism but could become Christians directly, by accepting Christ as their savior. Many of those scholars think that it is in this period that the meaning of the word messiah was altered to be universal and divine, rather than particular and human.
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