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.
