Douglas Jacoby Podcast

Christ Through the Ages, 6: Many Flavors of Messiah

Episode Summary

Douglas continues his series Christ Through the Ages, looking today at Many Flavors of Messiah.

Episode Notes

For additional notes and resources check out Douglas’ website.

By clicking on the link, you can listen to the 6th lesson in our series, 1st Century Judaism: Many Flavors of Messiah. The podcast is 20 minutes in length.

Sectarian groups of the 1st century

• Pharisee – Torah (written and oral)
• Sadducees – Temple
• Essenes – Land (Qumran and library of Dead Sea Scrolls)
• Zealots – Kingship (Sicarii -- extreme measures)
• Herodians – Regime (Mark 3:6)
• Scribes – Text (Shammai & Hillel; Mark 12:34)
• Samaritans – Sectarian past (see 2 Kings 17; John 4)
• Christians – Messiah (Christ)

Later Judaism

• Remnant of Jews joined the Christian movement (Romans 9-11).
• Escalating antipathy, esp. after 70 AD. Anti-Christian curses.
• Did not deny Christian miracles, but rejected Jesus’ divinity.
• Expected a political Messiah (John 6:15).
• Heirs of Pharisees (rabbinic Judaism) codify oral law in Mishnah, c.200 AD.

Modern Judaism

• Descendants of the Pharisees
• Three main divisions
  • Orthodox (right)
  • Conservative (center)
  • Reform (left)
• Mystics (kabala)
• Charismatics (chasidim)

Conclusion

• Divisions into sects -- each with its own take on the Messiah -- was not just a Jewish phenomenon of the first century.
• As we shall see, division will come round again in the course of church history, and perhaps nowhere more so than in our generation – about 20 lessons from now.
• This violates God's ideal that his people remain one (John 17:22-23).

Next section: Christ in the Gospels.  Next podcast: Mark: Lord Caesar or Lord Jesus?