Jesus' Ministry and Jewish History

• Cultural scripts are shared information between the reader and writer.
• Background knowledge is often underappreciated, yet crucial for understanding texts.
• An alternate phrase for shared cultural understanding is "cultural scripts".
• The Bible is filled with cultural scripts that inform background understanding.
• The first century religious context differs from the present day.
• The bible is a Jewish document from beginning to end.

Second Temple Judaism

• Second Temple Judaism refers to a specific historical period.
• Monotheism is a major feature, with the belief in one God distinguishing them from surrounding Gentiles.
• The single Temple in Jerusalem reflects monotheism and made Judaism unique.
• Special days like the Sabbath were consecrated to rest and spending time with God.
• Circumcision was practiced as a sign of covenant with God.
• Special diets showed faithfulness to clean food practices.

Alexander the Great

• Alexander the Great (ATG) significantly impacted the New Testament era.
• ATG was the son of Philip of Macedon and became king in 336 BC at age 20, born in 356 BC.
• ATG introduced Hellenism through his conquests.
• Hellenization involved forcing conquered peoples to adopt Greek culture, including in Israel.
• Hellenization brought about new beliefs and traditions.

Hellenization and the Maccabees

• ATG's influence extended for centuries into the New Testament period.
• Hellenization fostered a Greco-Roman cultural environment.
• After ATG's death, his kingdom divided, but Hellenization continued in Israel.
• Jews faced pressure to adopt Hellenistic beliefs.
• The Book of Maccabees begins with Alexander the Great.

Jewish Responses to Hellenism

• Four responses to Hellenization emerged in Israel.
• The Sadducees accepted Hellenism, were lenient, cooperated with gentile rulers, tolerated the practice, and did not believe in the resurrection of the dead.
• The Pharisees engaged with Hellenistic culture by politically and diplomatically pushing back against it.
• The Essenes withdrew completely, creating their own communities and writing the Dead Sea Scrolls.
• The Zealots fought to eliminate Greek and other gentile cultures, leading wars against Rome.
• Hebrew scriptures were translated into Greek to help Jews appreciate their heritage.

Temple Story

• The Temple was lost in a battle against Rome.
• Antiochus Epiphanes, the ruler of Syria from 175-164 BC, applied pressure on the Jews and tried to remove their distinctives.
• Antiochus Epiphanes became a tribute to Rome.
• They turned their back on everything they once believed.

Maccabean War

• The Maccabean War in Modi'in was for the annihilation of the Jews.
• The Maccabean War was to regain the Jews' Temple.
• Remembrance of lost Jewish identity was not a reaction to the defilement of the temple.
• Mattathias, the founder of the Maccabees, challenged King Antiochus took over Judea during the reign.
• Mattathias stood up for the Law, for God, for the Jews.
• The Maccabees retook control of Israel, removed Antiochus, and re-sanctified the Temple.
• It kept the survival of Judaism as a faith.

Impact of Hellenism

• The Hasmoneans embodied Jewish hope for a golden age.
• The Hasmoneans were a Jewish dynasty of priests and kings ruling Judea from around 140 BCE to 37 BCE.
• Descendants of the Maccabees from Modi'in.
• They realized there was a threat to Jewish existence.
• The Hasmoneans wanted to reclaim their identity after winning the war.
• The law became an important sign of distinction for Jews, sometimes prioritized over Yahweh.
• Sanctity was observed not for God's sake, but to preserve their separate identity.
• Jewish fear of Gentile influence arose after Antiochus Epiphanes' reign.
• The Maccabees became the royal family, but their rule collapsed after 100 years.

Romans in the Holy Land

• Romans entered the Holy Land at the end of Maccabean rule.
• They expanded the territory beyond Solomon's borders.
• Internal disputes within the dynasty led the Maccabees to seek Roman mediation.
• Romans were invited, not initially invaders, arriving amid a looming civil war.
• Romans eventually laid siege to Jerusalem due to unrest among Jewish rebels.
• Attempts at Jewish self-rule resulted in inviting gentiles.
• The Roman invasion is seen as a failure.
• The Romans fused political and priestly authority, conflicting with Jewish tradition.
• Roman taxation and heavy handedness led to intense Messianic hope among the Jews.
• This Messianic hope fueled the desire to be freed from gentile control.

Psalms of Solomon

• The Psalms of Solomon are a famous Messianic text.
• It as written after Pompey's conquest.
• Being named after Solomon gives the text credibility.
• Conquering Messiah Jerusalem would become an oasis of Righteousness

Ministry of Jesus

• Jesus' ministry caused issues.

Forgiving Sins

• Forgiving Sins and Healing the Paralytic are in Mark 2,3,5 and Luke 5:17-6:11
• Forgiveness of sins is fundamental to second Temple Judaism.
• People associated with him, engaging religious practices, and The Sabbath also caused issues with Jesus.

Challenging Tradition and Ritual Purity

• Matthew 15:1 discusses the tradition of the elders.
• The "tradition of the elders" are oral laws Pharisees and scribes believe are as binding as Mosaic Law when interpreting the law.
• "Corban” means given over to God and it caused them not to honor parents, canceling out God's rule.
• Matthew 5:21 shows where Jesus deepens the law, going after heart issues.

Claiming to be King

• The way Jesus came into Jerusalem, and why, caused Him trouble.
• Zechariah said the Messiah would come riding on the back of a donkey.
• "Triumphal Entry" portrayed the humble way of the Messiah entering the city.

Cleansing the Temple

• Jesus established authority and showed authority over the temple.
• The temple was where God dwelled.
• Talmud described Jerusalem as the naval of the world and is the center of the world, pinpointing the temple.
• Jesus challenged money changers and rebuked religious leaders for allowing this.
• Jewish leaders wanted to remove gentiles from praying in the outer court.
• Jesus was angry that they turned the temple into a profit place and did not allow gentiles to come and pray.
• Jesus shows He has sacred authority over the temple and He is claiming it.

The New Testament Collection

• Church councils in the 4th and 5th centuries recognized, but did not select, the New Testament canon from what was in circulation.
• The New Testament books circulated for centuries and recognized the special about the books and recognized the inspiration in those books.
• The New Testament has credentials to be recgonized because books have Apostolic roots, written by apostles or someone related to an eyewitness of the apostles.
• Widespread use of these texts made it to the outer ends of the world.
• There is orthodox content correct view, orthodox theology and particular their image of God and roots in Judaism in the books.

Orality and Memory

• Orality means oral tradition, where people passed on their history, story, and family genealogy.
• The ancient world lived in an oral culture.
• The gospels happened and written down before the first printing press
• They learned them by remembering and passing it on orally
• Memory was reliable, important and the apostles spoke the gospels repeatedly.

Value of Voice

• The voice of a person valued.
• The culture valued the voice of a person telling the story.
• Papias was a church father from the 2nd century.

Types of Oralities

• Informal and Uncontrolled
• Formal and Controlled
• Informal and Controlled where apostles oversaw traditions being passed on and anyone who heard stories can pass them on.

Corporate and Collective Memory

• Multiple witnesses talking about Corporate Memory gives a robust understanding.

Examples of Memory Importance

• Disciple's collective memory
• Stake in the matter
• Couples recalling Courtship
• Memories of loved ones
• Viewpoints of battle
• Pre literate children.

Gospel Genre

• The Gospel Genre in ancient bios literature is not always chronological.
• Role of the apostles is forming this tradition and recording facts giving truth from what the apostles formulated.

Gospel Dates

• To date gospels, put together variety of evidence and look at what is in, surrounding, and not in the book.

Authorship of Mark

• Papias tells that Mark is the author.
• Mark became the interpreter for Peter accurately, although not in order.
• Mark wrote everything that was recorded and neither heard the Lord nor followed Him.

Authorship of Luke

• Luke is the author of the Gospel, evidenced by "we sections" and major events

Authorship of Matthew

• Matthew's original transcript was in Hebrew, but no current evidence exists. Translated to Greek.
• Matthew is the inly Gospel referring to Heaven as the "Kingdom of Heaven" opposed to "Kingdom of God".
• The audience that Matthew tries to attract are Jews like him.

Authorship of John

• John is a Jew with deep knowledge of the feasts and Palestine,
• There is an apostolic awareness and anonymous disciple, but traditionally John is the author

The Four Gospels

• Canon decided it was better to have four books rather than one, kept separate and not brought together as one.
• The synoptics tell the story of earth up and heaven down.
• It is a progressive revelation of who Jesus is, beginning with humanity and divinity.

Overview of the Four Gospels

• Gospel of Mark focuses on suffering, discipleship, and the cross, described as is a passion
• introduction.
• Gospel of Luke emphasized Gentile inclusion, legitimization, and old values.
• Gospel of Matthew speaking to the people of Israel to let then know that Jesus is the Messiah deals with a primary Jewish audience.
• Gospel of John connects Jesus to the Father.

Missing Gospels

• The writings of the missing Gospels are being passed the 1st century.
• They are relying on non-eyewitness and a philosphy being integrated with Christianity.
• Dualism is everything that matters, it is evil and everything spiritual is good. They separated the physical from the spiritual.

Gnosticism

• Gnosticism is a 2nd century phenomenon and a Greek philosphy.
• Dualism in the context of theology speaks of two aspects, that which is evil and good.
• In Gnosticism anything that was material was evil.
• Gnosis is knowledge.
• Gnostics believe that they had a special knowledge.
• In Gnosticism there is no Jesus who dies for sin.
• They believe everything that was created from the beginning was flawed
• Gnosticism is rooted in Neo-Platonic view
• Father of Gnosticism is Marcion who twisted the Bible and took everything our the NT except for verses about spirituality.
• Corinthian church was influened by neo-platonic movement.

The Church of Thomas

• 2nd century AD writing and a hybrid gospel.
• There are skeptical scholars dating to the same original gospels.
• Orgin said “We don’t read the Gospel of Thomas”

Background of Gnostic Theory

• Gnostic Theory took place is Nag Hammadi.
• Apocryphon of John is Gnostic writing stating that YAHWEH is not the creator and creation was flawed.
• It unearthed all the gnostic gospel writings that were meant to be destroyed and hid them.

Summary of Missing Gospels

• Jesus was someone who points to a higher spiritual experience or a spirit who occupied a human body
• It's a derivative group and a fringe movement with nothing in common betweem Christianity and Gnosticism

Explore the key events and controversies surrounding Jesus' ministry, including his actions, teachings, and interactions with Jewish traditions and figures. Understand the historical context of first-century Judaism, including the influence of Hellenism, the roles of different Jewish groups, and the significance of Jerusalem.