Political Intrigue


When the sons of the Maccabees (Has- moneans) not only assumed Temple priestly functions, but retained political leadership as well, corruption was not long in coming. Assassination and civil unrest led to Jewish appeal to Rome to render a police action to stem the violence, impose authority upon the Jewish masses, and bring peace to Israel. Well known is the fact that Rome then refused to leave or surrender its dominant role once the unrest had been squelched. The Jewish religious and civil authorities then cooperated with the Roman strongmen to solidify their own status and circumstance while tolerating Roman infusion and cul- tural influence upon the Jewish People. This social pot would boil over in frequent rebel- lions and religious evolution.


Religious Competition Many scholars link the Sadducees to the Sons of Zadok and the Hasmonean dynasty. This aristocratic and priestly sect held immense political power with the backing of Roman authorities and did little to com- bat the cultural onslaught upon Jewish daily life and sense of identity. Their chief concern seems to have been the maintaining of their own aristocratic status in society at all costs. At the same time, the Sadducees used the


Torah (the writings of Moses, the Law) to for- tify their claims to position in Jewish society. Therefore, they fairly limited their biblical faith to Torah and did not place the wisdom literature or Prophets on any corresponding level of authority. The strict Torah compli- ance with Temple and priestly procedure was their best bet to retain the status quo. Largely in reaction to the often-corrupt priestly stranglehold upon the Jewish mass- es, another religious faction surfaced: The Perushim (“Separated Ones”). These Perushim were later identified as Pharisees. Their con- tempt for the corrupt systems in place as sus- tained by the priestly aristocracy (the Saddu- cees) motivated many to seek to foster religious renewal. In light of the powerful arguments of the Hebrew prophets, Jewish religion should have been of a more spiritu- al and holiness character than afforded under the contemporary traditional Temple system. The Pharisees then sought to foster a new understanding of Jewish faith and prac- tice corresponding to a “priesthood of the believer.”


The Pharisees were not priests, cohens,


or levites, but lay scholars committed to revitalizing Jewish faith in their attempt to intensify godly devotion. They subscribed


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not only to the Torah, but to the entire Hebrew Bible as well. They believed that the Torah needed to be interpreted in terms of the fullness of God’s revelation given in Hebrew Holy Writ and that it should have practical application to all Jews, not just a religious elite, e.g., Sadducees. Jewish reli- gion should not be a spectator sport but daily applied in common-man Jewish piety. Surprisingly, the Pharisees, often-intellec-


tual giants, were curious about influences coming in from the East as well as the West. Some ideas that now surfaced were reviewed in light of Hebrew Scripture. To the consterna- tion of many, a plethora of important reli- gious ideas that had received little or no recog- nition or attention in classical Jewish religion were now witnessed as supported in the Hebrew Bible. Among these revealed teach- ings were the existence of angels; the ongoing struggle between the forces of good and evil, light and darkness, God and Satan; judgment for one’s earthly deeds in an afterlife and potential existence in the Bosom of Abraham (a heaven) or sheol (hell), as well as the even- tual resurrection of all the dead to face God’s judgment and appropriate eternal reward. The Pharisees now sought to reinterpret priestly codes of Torah to not only have direct application to the Aaronic priesthood and related Levites, but to have real meaning for the lives of common Jews. In their attempt, then, to contemporize and make relevant the Torah, the Pharisees allowed themselves to exegete biblical passages in light of both traditional understandings and contemporary cultural practices so as to pro- vide new and sustainable religious authority for obligatory Jewish piety and religious practice.


While the Temple provided the Saddu- cees their constant platform, the local syna- gogue was the important sphere of Pharisaic influence as Pharisees often functioned as rabbis (masters or teachers) within the Beth HaMidrash, the “House of Study.” Later, when the Temple was destroyed in 70 C.E., the influence of the


Sadducees dramatically


waned or disappeared. But the Pharisees’ influence intensified, since the synagogue as the universal Jewish institution remained intact and became of even greater significance for purposes of sustained Jewish identity.


Yeshua, the Pharisee? Yeshua had been raised in Nazareth and


was a student in the local Beth HaMidrash. The Pharisaic or rabbinic influence upon His understanding of Jewish life and prac- tice was profound, as demonstrated in His


constant participation in synagogue life and strong theological similarity with the Phari- sees on new Jewish teachings. It is small wonder that many in Israel referred to Yesh- ua as “rabbi” and would have regarded Him as more related to the Pharisees than any other religious party or faction. In fact, we see in Matthew 23, Yeshua’s endorsement of the Jewish Believers’ embrace of the Pharisaic contemporizing applications of Torah for everyday Jewish piety. He protested the proverbial hypocrisy of the Pharisees as their own practices often did not correspond with their otherwise sound exegesis and application of the Hebrew Bible to modern Jewish religious life. But like any teacher or preacher of any age, they were entitled and responsible to interpret the meaning of Scripture so that it had real relevance to genuine holy living for God. Yeshua endorsed their efforts. At the same time, when the Pharisees missed the mark in their interpretation, offering applications that actually were counter to God’s purposes for the original biblical text, Yeshua would boldly confront the Pharisees and call for conformity to God’s agenda as opposed to old or new mis- guided traditions.


Yeshua Viewed as Jewish Religious Competitor There were competing schools of thought and camps within the Pharisees’ world. A frequent method of obtaining new disciples for their respective schools or camps was to confront a leading Pharisaic competitor in a public forum. By winning a debated point, the expectation was to gain a portion of the other’s following and add to their own.


When the Pharisees witnessed the Jew- ish masses following a profoundly success- ful rabbi, Yeshua (“the common people heard him gladly”), they sought to demon- strate their intellectual superiority to capture new followers. There was often nothing par- ticularly mean-spirited about this standard ploy, and neither Yeshua nor the masses seem surprised or especially put off by this attempt. In fact, Yeshua then used these win- dows of opportunity to offer correction to His beloved Pharisees in an attempt to help the misguided out of their exegetical ditch. Curiously, later Talmudic rulings comply with Yeshua’s corrections. Yeshua’s “woes” upon the Pharisees lat- er in Matthew 23 are often misunderstood as Yeshua having profound contempt for the


CONTINUED ON PAGE 23 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2011 Jewish Voice Today | 13


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