First-century Judaism was not a single, unified religion. It was a set of overlapping traditions, each with its own texts, its own leaders, and its own understanding of what God required. Jesus was born into this landscape, taught within it, and was condemned by some of its leaders. Understanding the landscape is understanding the Gospels.
The Four Main Parties
The historian Josephus, himself a former Pharisee, describes three of the four main groups. The fourth — the Zealots and Sicarii — appears primarily in his account of the revolt against Rome.
The Parties of First-Century Judaism
The modern reader should not assume that the Pharisees were the villains of the Gospel. That picture is a caricature produced by later Christian polemic. Recent scholarship (Sanders, Neusner, Dunn) has shown that the Pharisees did not dominate Jewish Palestine in the way the popular picture suggests. They were a lay movement with real influence in some circles and little influence in others. Paul, who called himself a Pharisee of Pharisees (Acts 23:6), never renounced the label.
The Institutions
Three institutions shaped Jewish religious life in the first century.
The Temple was the center of everything. It was the only place where sacrifice could be offered, and the sacrificial system was the heart of Jewish worship. The Temple was also the treasury of the nation, the seat of the high priesthood, and the largest single employer in Jerusalem. Herod the Great had rebuilt it into one of the architectural wonders of the ancient world. It was destroyed by the Roman army in 70 AD.
The synagogue was the local institution. It emerged during the Babylonian exile when the Temple was not available, and it continued alongside the Temple after the exile ended. A synagogue service included the reading of Torah and Prophets, prayers, and the exposition of Scripture. There were no sacrifices; sacrifice was reserved for the Temple. Paul began his ministry in each new city by going to the synagogue.
The Sanhedrin was the supreme council in Jerusalem. It was presided over by the high priest and handled religious and civil matters under Roman oversight. Its authority extended to Judea and, to a lesser extent, to the diaspora. Jesus was brought before it on the night of his arrest.
Scripture and Expectation
The Jewish Scriptures of the first century were what Christians now call the Old Testament — the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings. They were read in the synagogue, memorized by schoolboys, and interpreted by teachers. They were the common language of first-century Judaism.
The Scriptures contained promises of a coming deliverer. The prophets spoke of a Son of David who would rule forever (2 Samuel 7:12–16), a child born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14), a servant who would suffer and die (Isaiah 53), a shepherd-king (Ezekiel 34), and a figure like the Son of Man (Daniel 7). Different Jewish groups interpreted these promises in different ways. Some expected a warrior-king who would overthrow Rome. Some expected a priestly figure. Some expected a heavenly being who would come in judgment.
The disciples did not know which of these interpretations was correct. They had to learn. That is the drama of the Gospels.
Josephus on the parties
“The followers of the first of which are the Pharisees; of the second, the Sadducees; and the third sect, which pretends to a severer discipline, are called Essenes.”
Josephus, Jewish War 2.119
Josephus writes as a former Pharisee, from Rome, after the Temple had fallen. His account is our main non-Christian source for the religious landscape of first-century Judea.
It is the Sabbath. The synagogue at Capernaum is crowded. The Torah portion has been read. A visiting teacher from Nazareth is asked to read from the Prophets. He stands, unrolls the scroll of Isaiah, and reads: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor.” He rolls up the scroll. He sits down. Every eye in the room is on him.
And then he says: “This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.”
The room goes silent. Then the whispering starts. Then the anger. By the end of the day, they will try to throw him off the cliff on which their village is built.
Why This Waypoint Matters
The Jewish world of the first century is the world Jesus was born into. The Temple, the synagogue, the Scriptures, and the parties are the vocabulary of his teaching. When he says that he is the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets, he is speaking into a world that had been waiting for that fulfillment. When he disagrees with the Pharisees, he is disagreeing with a specific group that had a specific understanding of what God required. Understanding the parties is understanding the disputes.
