Jesus and the Gospels II: Lecture 5

Resetting the Scene
Geography, Politics, Religion

 
1. Revision: Materials & Methods

• Questions of Canonincal Boundaries: renewed interest to look at all available materials, canonical & non-canonical. Gospel of Thomas has risen in prominence (NB especially Crossan & Jesus Seminar)

• Use of Jewish Sources: the attempt to place proper stress on Jewish material as 'witnesses' and not 'background' (NB especially Vermes)

• Use of Proper Criteria: against the grain; view common to friend and foe; multiple attestation etc. (NB especially Sanders).

 

2. Study of Second Temple Judaism: the Issues

• The problem of nomenclature: 'intertestamental period'; 'late Judaism' (!); 'early Judaism'; 'pre-Christian Judaism'. What do you make of these terms? What biases might they reveal?

• Varieties of Judaism or Many 'Judaisms'?: Sanders ("common-denominator Judaism" – see especially Judaism: Practice and Belief, 63 BCE – 66 CE) vs. Neusner (pioneered the term Judaisms)

• Jewish Scholars and Christian Scholars: it remains an enormous problem in Historical Jesus Research that few scholars are experts in both the NT and Judaism, though the situation is changing. One of the reasons that Sanders has made the impact on NT scholarship that he has made is that he is an equally respected authority on both the NT and early Judaism.

 

3. 'World' History

Luke 2.1: And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed . . .

• Jesus (so Luke) is born in the reign of Caesar Augustus i.e. 27 BC - AD 14

• All the world: = the Roman Empire, of which Palestine a tiny part
• Roman Empire

• Map of Palestine in Jesus' time

• Another Map of Israel in 1^st C.

• Territory of Pontius Pilate & Herod Antipas

• Augustus its Emperor – president of the world!

• But when did Judea become a part of the Roman Empire?

• 539: Return from Exile. The Persians have conquered Babylon who had taken Judah captive. Cyrus hailed as Messiah (Isa. 45.1).

• Persian Period ends in the 4th Century. Alexander the Great (356-323): Greek influence begins.

• Programmes of hellenisation against which Maccabees (2nd Cent. B.C.) revolted

• Introduces Greek language and culture (NB for Paul and early Church)

• Struggle against oppressors: reinforces Jewish identity telling stories of Exodus, return from exile etc.

• A short period of relative independence – Ptolemies and Seleucids.

• 63 B.C.: Pompey marched on Jerusalem -- Palestine lost its (brief) independence.

• 44 B.C.: Julius Caesar murdered. Internal strife brought to an end by Octavian.
  [See A Visual Compendium of Roman Emperors for more.]

• 27 B.C.: Octavian takes title Caesar Augustus, the first of the emperors.

• One of the great emperors: Peace in Rome

• Many statues and temples in his honour.

 

4. Palestine in the First Century

Matt. 2.1: In the time of King Herod . . . wise men from the east (cf. Luke 1.5)

• After Pompey had conquered Jerusalem in 63 BC, more power fell within Israel to the High Priest.

• Hyrcanus II, High Priest in 63 BC, had a minister named Antipater, an Idumean.

• He and his son Herod kept in favour with Romans.

• 37 BC: Herod "the Great" assumed possession of kingdom as a client ruler of Romans.

  • In some ways unpopular: sold out to hellinisation -- a temple to Augustus, gymnasia etc.

  • Herod began rebuilding the Temple in 20 BC (cf. John 2.20, "46 years"). Temple of Jesus' time therefore gets called Herod's Temple

  • This is the Herod of Matthew's Infancy narrative, responsible for 'the slaughter of the innocents', for which there is no other evidence (though it is in character).

  • Died 4 BC (sic): succeeded by three of his sons: Archelaus, Philip, Herod Antipas

Matt. 2.22: But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there.

• Archelaus, an 'ethnarch', ruled over Judea from 4 BC to AD 6. [Image shows one of his coins -- note EQN clearly visible; see also this image]. Popular with neither Jews nor Romans. Replaced by Roman procurators / prefects: Coponius (AD 6-9), Marcus Ambibulus (AD 9-12), Annius Rufus (AD 12-15), Valerius Gratus (AD 15-26) & Pontius Pilate (AD 26-36).

Luke 3.1: In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor (Caesar) Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Iturea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John . . .

• Philip: tetrarch of Iturea and Trachonitis: successful; died AD 34. Married Salome. This cannot be the 'Philip' of Mark 6.17: either Mark has made a mistake, or Herodias's first husband was called "Herod Philip" and not just "Herod" (the latter is what Josephus has).

  Mark 6.17: For Herod himself had sent men who arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, because Herod had married her. (cf. Luke 3.19f).

• Herod Antipas: tetrarch of Galilee & Peraea 4 BC - AD 39 (i.e. throughout Jesus' life)

  • Death of John the Baptist (Mark 6.14-29)

  • Mentioned also in Josephus, Ant. 18.109-19

• Trial of Jesus (Luke 23.6-12)

Luke 13.1: Some . . . told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.

• Pontius Pilate (26-36): the picture in Luke 13.1 accords with what we know of Pilate from Josephus & Philo [ the link here is to the Pilate inscription discovered in 1961 ]
  See also a coin of Pontius Pilate (and more context here).

Luke 3.1: In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor (Caesar) Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea . . .

• Tiberius (14 - 37). 'Fifteenth year' would put Jesus' ministry in 29 [ link is to one of his coins. Visit this link for a statue of Tiberius ]

• Cf. Luke 3.23: Jesus 30 years old when ministry began.

 

5. Jesus and Galilee in the First Century

• Note the importance of Galilee in recent Jesus research, especially in the work of Geza Vermes; Sean Freyne & Richard Horsley (see bibliography for details).

• Herod Antipas built the city Tiberias on edge of the Sea of Galilee.

  • Have a look at the map again

  • Note the name: allegiance to Rome.

  • Built on a graveyard.

  • Compare also the importance of Sepphoris during this period.

  • And have a look at the map again

• It is noteworthy that Jesus is never recorded as going to Tiberias or Sepphoris, or any of the big cities in Galilee.

• Nazareth: small, insignificant (against the grain)

  • Matt. 2 has a highly apologetic feel – attempting to explain how Jesus, in spite of the fact that he was known to be the Nazarene, nevertheless was really the Messiah prophesied in Micah to be born in Bethelehem (cf. John 1.45-46)

  • Nowhere in the Gospels do we have the impression that Jesus lived in Nazareth during his ministry. The story of 'the rejection' (Mark 6.1-6a and parr.) suggests the contrary.

• Capernaum: consistently the locus for Jesus' activity in the Gospels (accidental / incidental information)

  • Mark 2.15: his house (accidental / incidental information)

    • Cf. archaeological excavations finding Peter's house?

• Note also Jesus' family and trade (Mark 6.1-6) and social 'class' (fishermen and tax-gatherers, Mark 1-2)

• Did Jesus ever leave Palestine?
  • Possible hostility to / from Samaria (Matt. 10.5; Luke 9.51-56)

  • Luke limits the ministry entirely to Israel – but note his concern for a proper 'order' – the Gentile mission is saved for Acts.

  • Mark 7: Tyre and Sidon. Mark 8: Caesarea Philippi. All the Gospels: Gerasa.

  • Mark 7.24-30: Syro-Phoenician Woman: hostility to Gentiles?

     

6. Jesus's Judaism

• The New Perspective: Sanders' revisionist reading of first century Judaism, characterised as covenantal nomism, changes our reading of Jesus too. No longer can we caricature Jesus as coming to preach love to those oppressed by the burdens Pharisees put on sinners, and getting crucified for it.

• Problem 1: the traditional picture: reading back from the NT to First Century Judaism – all Jews were expecting a political Messiah to come and overthrow the Romans (e.g. Jesus of Nazareth).

  • The Romans probably had little presence in Galilee, which was ruled by Herod Antipas.

  • There were varieties of expectations concerning 'Messiah' figures, from multiple Messiahs (Qumran), to military Messiahs (Psalms of Solomon), to no Messiah.

  • There were varieties of Judaism: contrast Philo of Alexandria, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, evidence from Qumran, zealots.

• Problem 2: the revised picture: varieties of Judaism are now stressed to the extent that some have become wary about referring to one 'Judaism' in this period at all. Note, for example, E. Frerichs, W. S. Green and J. Neusner, Judaisms and their Messiahs. Even early Christianity can be 'a Judaism' with its own 'Messiah'.

  • E. P. Sanders has attempted to counter this trend by looking at the 'common denominator' among varieties of Judaism.

• Problem 3: Judaism in Galilee: some recent Jesus research (e.g. Burton Mack, and to an extent J. Dominic Crossan) has stressed the cosmopolitan, hellenized elements of Galilee, shown clearly by archaeological findings. One can then end up with a less Jewish Jesus – a counter trend to other elements in contemporary Jesus research, e.g. Vermes, Sanders, Wright. But:

  1. One needs to take the evidence from Geza Vermes seriously. Hanina ben Dosa and Honi the Circle-Drawer provide our best available parallels to Jesus.

  2. Jesus is not mentioned in Sepphoris or Tiberias in the Gospels – this is conspicuous.

  3. The evidence from James the brother of Jesus should not be overlooked. He became the leader of the Christians in Jerusalem and he is regarded as a loyal upholder of the Law who fits well into a Pharisaic Judaism in Josephus.

 

7. Conclusion

• In order to understand an historical figure, one has to attempt to understand his / her context. We would not think of writing a contemporary biography without asking where and when a person lived, asking who their influences were.

• We can answer many basic questions of this nature with confidence: we have an outline of his life; an idea of his home, trade and family and good witnesses to the form his religion took.

• The search for the historical Jesus really requires us now to become experts on Judaism. Only a few NT scholars have achieved this. Perhaps this is one of the reasons for an increased stress in NT studies on literary, reader-response approaches – is it partly a reaction against the immensity of the erudition now necessary to do good historical work?

• Another reaction is to say that the time has come to abandon the quest for the historical Jesus. One of the reasons given is that one simply cannot know anything with confidence (cf. the famous statement by Bultmann)

• Yet those who are engaged in contemporary Jesus research feel that Jesus is an historical figure, about whom we can ask historical questions, the answers to which the evidence, if only we look hard enough, is desperate to yield up, on which still more next time.

 

Suggestions for Further Reading

• Books & Articles: see "1. Judaism in Jesus' Time" on your Reading List.

• On-line: as always, see The New Testament Gateway for useful resources. Particularly recommended on today's topic are:
  • PBS Frontline: From Jesus to Christ, especially the section headed A Portrait of Jesus' World.

  • Into His Own: Perspective on the World of Jesus, by Mahlon Smith

  • The Jewish Roman World of Jesus, by James Tabor

  • New Testament Gateway: Archaeology: several links of interest -- follow up on the references to Capernaum, Nazareth & Sepphoris which we began above.

  • New Testament Gateway: Maps: lots of useful maps of the ancient world, some of which featured in today's lecture.

Mark Goodacre, 4 February 2002