Part 4—Power groups within Judaism in the time of Jesus
Some note must be made of the power groups that emerge in the few generations before Jesus (specifically: priests, Sanhedrin, scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees, zealots, Essenes). These each had their distinctive political and theological views. Their relationship with one another was not always cordial. At times it was viciously belligerent. If one had the power, persecution and execution of the opposition were not unattainable. There are here a volatility and hostility not unlike that we find in Europe during the early years of the Reformation period. We do well to keep in mind that the constituents of these groups deserve to be considered sincere and honest about their beliefs, their assessments of their socio-political situation, and their proposed plans of action. Then as today, the left may have thought the right to be compassionless and close-minded, the right may have considered the left to be starry-eyed idealists without any grasp of the hard and cold realities of the situation, and the middle may have considered both left and right to be extremists. Human nature functions rather consistently below the surface of changing historical situations and idioms.
Priests–The priesthood, specifically, the high priesthood, was to have been a matter of familial succession, Zadok, the high-priest installed in Jerusalem by David being the accepted progenitor of the sacerdotal line. One may question the impeccability of the line of succession in earlier times, but there is no disputing the fact that by the time the Greeks enter the picture, the purity of descent is muddled, and after the Maccabees assume the role, lost. To some, this was a most grave matter, something akin to the Roman Catholic Church’s consideration of the ministry in protestant churches as deficient for lack of proper apostolic pedigree.
Sanhedrin–The Sanhedrin was muchly the preserve of the priesthood. This Jerusalem assembly appears during the Greek period and carries on the tradition of a consultative body of elders, a senate. After the Greeks, it becomes for a time the de facto government under the presidency of the prince-high priest. Its members were selected from among the aristocracy and high-priestly families, although, by Jesus’ time, Pharisees and scribes were also included in its number. Rome severely restricted its political and judicial powers, rendering it, at best, an advisory council on matters not related to cult. The powerful are not inclined toward any loss of power, and so this was always a conservative body intent on holding the status quo.
Scribes–The scribes did not constitute a formal group, body or profession. Once the Torah, the core scriptures, the first five books of holy writ, became the Law, the basis of Jewish life and worship, there was a need for scholars to study it, comment on it and how it applied to the sundry conditions of contemporary life. There was no body to regulate the study of the Law, no body to accredit one a scribe. One who studied the Law had to rely upon his own abilities to understand, translate and communicate his understanding. It was office by merit of knowledge and charisma. These men, often termed Rabbi, were, however, de facto teachers, legislators, judges. Some, in the attempt to navigate the myriad rules, fell prey to casuistry. Others fell prey to traditions and legends, and so veered into dizzying speculations. Many, however, simply and sincerely devoted themselves to their task and laid the foundations for the traditions that still colour Judaism.
Pharisees–The Pharisees (literally: the separated) were the descendants of the Hasidim of the Greek era. They were devoted to a strict observance of the Law, an avowal not unable of bending into casuistry. They kept themselves separate from the gentiles. They resented the foreign occupation. They accepted it as punishment for national infidelity to the Law, but were not above acting to free the land from the contamination of gentiles. They were not comfortable with a high-priesthood divorced from the Zadokite line. Not unsurprisingly, many of the scribes were Pharisees. The above given characteristics would seem to make them natural enemies of the early followers of Jesus, yet, theologically they held many beliefs, many garnered from Greek and Persian thought, compatible with early Christianity—immortality of the soul, a final judgment, bodily resurrection, divine providence, and salvation as ultimately by the grace of God. They may receive a very negative image in many gospel stories, but their excoriation by Jesus is not a universal. Pharisees and scribes are among the early converts. Of all the groups herein considered, they are the sole survivors of 70AD, and as such, important architects of modern Judaism.
Sadducees–The Sadducees were the counter balance to the scribes and Pharisees. They held the Law as the sole authority. They discounted scribal interpretations and traditions. They claimed to be the true descendants of Zadok, and as such, were muchly concerned with the propriety of cultic ritual. Their theology was decidedly rooted in ancient orthodoxy. They rejected many of the ideas embraced by the Pharisees. Their conservatism was also political, and being realists in the face of Roman power, they were intent on doing whatsoever was necessary, within the bounds of religion, to maintain the status quo.
Zealots–The Zealots were sovereignists. Their zeal for the purity of the cult and Law demanded a land free of foreign occupation. While they do not appear as a formal group until after Jesus’s time (thus, I have not capitalized the name in the listing above), they had antecessor groups, organized to one degree or another, intent on keeping the masses on the edge of revolt. Scholars believe some of these “zealous” were attracted to Jesus either as the divine messenger of revolution or as a lightning rod for an insurrection. Certainly, both the Sadducees and the Sanhedrin envisioned Jesus as having such potential.
Essenes–The Essenes, whose community in Qumran near the Dead Sea gained contemporary celebrity with the discovery of a cache of scrolls, were monastics. They considered the high priesthood and the cult had been desecrated by the disruption of the Zadokite line. Under the leadership of one known as the Teacher of Righteousness they separated themselves from the rest of Israel, claimed to be the new chosen, of a new covenant, a new law. Despite asserting strictest orthodoxy, their theology appears to be a form of neo-platonic dualism, with the world divided between the sons of light and the sons of darkness, the universe in a struggle betwixt the forces of good and evil, and the end of time immanent. Some see aspects of their thought and influence in the teachings of John the Baptist and the dualistic tendencies of the Gospel according to John. The Roman subjugations of 70AD ended their presence in Palestine.
A thousand years after David, into this contentious mix of factions and ideas arrives John the Baptist crying “turn your life around, the reign of God is at hand”. On his heels comes Jesus claiming “the Kingdom of God is here”. The Kingdom of God in a backwater of the Empire of Rome—this bodes not well for the status quo.