While the four major groups of first century Judaism share many
things in common, there are inconsistencies in beliefs significant
enough to create a rift among believers. Each of these sects held in
common the belief that there was one God, who created the universe,
and chose to have a special relationship with Israelites; however,
apart from these foundational beliefs, Jews varied widely in
doctrine. Thus, first century Judaism was split into groups, among
them the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Essenes, and the Zealots.
The
Pharisees are the group of Jewish leaders most frequently referred to
in the Gospels. Pharisees were characterized by their focus on the
law as it was recorded in the Torah and being careful not to violate
the Law. The Pharisees believed that Israel’s condition at the
time was a result of Israel’s failure to maintain their side of
the covenant, and thus, they were being punished. Pharisees believed
that if they did not break the law, God would bless them once again;
therefore, they tried to teach others about the law and make more
laws to be sure that the Jews obeyed the law. Pharisees believed that
the bodies of faithful Jews would be resurrected to enjoy God’s
blessing when their day of reward came. This group is the father of
modern Judaism of all types. Jews who were Pharisees opposed Jesus
because he claimed to be the law and was leading people away from the
law. The Pharisees believed that as long as Jesus was in the picture,
disobeying the law and leading others to do the same, God could never
reward the people for their obedience.
Another
major group of first century Judaism was the Sadducees. This group
was only active until A.D. 70. Since the Sadducees relied heavily on
temple worship, their leadership died out when the temple was
destroyed. Sadducees were usually wealthy priests and those who were
in the upper class of Israel at the time. These Sadducees believed
that their wealth was a blessing in reward for pleasing God. They
rejected the Pharisees plan to earn God’s favor because the
Sadducees believed they already had it. Sadducees rejected Jewish
oral tradition and limited their holy scripture to the five books of
Moses, thus cutting out much Jewish teaching. Sadducees were only
concerned with the present, and seemed to show little interest in
eternal things. Sadducees believed that blessings were to be received
in this life and that there would be no resurrection. The Sadducees
felt threatened by Jesus’ threats on the temple. The temple was
not just sacred to the Sadducees, it was responsible for their
lucrative incomes. A threat to their temple, which had taken years to
construct, was enough to turn this group away from Jesus.
The
Essenes, a smaller group, were very opposite of the Pharisees in
their behavior towards Jewish society. Rather than trying to help the
Jewish community to seek the Lord’s blessing, this group chose
to pull away from the community, becoming very separate from society.
The Essenes often chose even to leave society literally to go live
out in the desert or someplace remote. The Essenes were the only
group we discussed in class that would participate in baptisms for
membership and they were believers in the resurrection. The Essenes
put much emphasis on studying the Torah and rejected Jesus and His
teachings because He instructed them to “love their neighbor”,
something which was contrary to their beliefs.
The
last group of first century Jews we discussed in class were the
Zealots. The zealots struck me as a particularly interesting group.
The zealots were waiting for the Messiah and when he came they
believed he would take the country to war and liberate it. The
Zealots were ready to fight when this happened. Occasionally, someone
would come and claim to be the messiah; their test for credibility
was to go to battle with the “messiah” as their leader
and if he fell they assumed he was not the Messiah. Perhaps partially
due to the likelihood of an untimely death for a member of this
group, resurrection was accepted as truth. Though the zealots hated
Jesus, the Romans believed he was a zealot and that was why they gave
him the shameful death they believed zealots deserved. The zealots
disliked Jesus because he claimed to be the messiah, and yet would
not battle. They were unable to comprehend the idea of a suffering
Messiah and were angry with Jesus for not fighting for them.
These
are the four major groups of first century Judaism. Although they
held very similar foundational beliefs, it is clear, upon inspection,
why they became separate.
