• Consider the map on pg 68 and text on pg 69
• Judea at the center was the home of
Jerusalem and where the Jews returned to after exile in Babylon
• To the south of Judea was Idumea whose people were forced to accept Judaism
• To the north was Samaria, whose people the
Samaritans, did not go into exile and were
Jewish - but not trusted by the Judeans
• To the east was Galilee, whose people were forced to become Jews

• The in-fighting among these factions led the
Sadducees and Pharisees to ask Rome for help
• Rome offered help, but more help than the
Jewish leadership had hoped for: Rome literally took over all of Palestine in 63 BCE
• The Romans would selected trusted local leaders in countries they controlled and the system worked well
• The Romans picked an Idumean Jew named
Herod who provided a stable country and ruled until his death in 4 BCE

• Herod “the Great” was:
– not trusted by Temple leaders because his tribe, the
“Idumeans,” had been forced to become Jews
– was a great builder and started to rebuild the Temple
– was politically cunning in balancing Roman interests against keeping the peace with the unruly people he ruled over
– was incredibly cruel - as when he ordered all male children under age two killed to hopefully prevent the emergence of the Messiah
– his sons inherited his cruelty, but not his political cunning
– His 3rd son, just referred to as “Herod,” inherited the throne of most of Palestine including Jerusalem
– Herod Antipas was the 2 nd son, only a local governor, and was the one who had John the Baptist beheaded

• Of Herod the Great’s three sons, the Herod who ruled Jerusalem was the worst ruler
• He was so bad the Romans had to put one of their own in place to oversee (be in charge of) him
• The Roman title for this position was a
“procurator” and no one seemed to last very long in this position
• At the time of Jesus’ trial, the procurator was named Pontius Pilate

• In 66 CE Jewish “zealots” began a revolt against
Rome
• The rebels became so troublesome that around
70 CE Rome sent two of its fiercest legions, one of which was the notoriously violent 10 th legion, to crush the rebellion
• The Romans not only crushed the rebels, they destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem, and dispersed the Jews in small groups throughout the Roman empire

• When the Jews rejected Him, Jesus predicted the destruction of the Temple. But did the Jews have to reject Jesus?
• The Anointed One in Geek translates as “Christ”
• This “deliverer” was closely associated in Jewish tradition with the lineage of King David, i.e. was to be a descendent of that famous king
• David as king had united the Jews and led them to victory over their enemies
• Hence the Jews sought a “son of David”

• In the thousand years since the time of King
David, the role of the Messiah had taken on mythical qualities
• By Jesus time, the myth had become one of a purely military leader to defeat the Romans
• The Jews who could not even say the name of
God, would have had real trouble accepting
Jesus, “the One who is to come,” as the divine son of God
• A devout Jew would have had trouble accepting that a human was “being God” in any sense

• Jewish law had grown incredibly complex from the
10 Commandments give them by God at Sinai
• Jewish daily life was a complex system of laws controlling every aspect of daily life from simple laws regarding how to act, ex. what not to eat, to complex laws which in effect controlled how a Jew was allowed to think
• Jewish law at the time of Jesus had become a form of what today we would call “thought control”

Daily Life in Jesus Time – Culture & Religion
Major Concepts
 Jesus: Born in a Particular Time and Place
 Palestine: Great Variety in a Small Land
 The People and Their Daily Life
 The Jewish Family: A Community of Faith
 Social Classes in the World of Jesus
 Major Features of Judaism

• The stories of Jesus in the New Testament emphasize that Jesus was a Jew, born in a particular place, within a particular culture, at a particular time in history.
• We need to appreciate the subtle influences of his culture (known today as “environmental influences”) that were so much a part of who He was and the message He shared.
• Jesus’ daily life enabled Him to speak to His fellow Jews using images they understood and situations they could identify with.

• As farmers, the Jews knew how to read the weather but could not read the times, i.e. what was happening in front of them: “Ye who can read the wind and stars but cannot read the
times.”
• Meals were important in Jewish life. Jesus explained eating with sinners by virtue of being a physician sent to cure the sick: “Those who
are well have no need of a physician…”

• Jesus’ apostles became afraid when He helped them catch too many fish for their nets to hold:
He tells them not to worry, He was going to
“make you fishers of men.”
• Jesus use of is knowledge as a carpenter: “Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye.. ?”

was known as:
•
•
•
•
•

• About the size of Massachusetts, 145 miles north-south and from 25 to 87 miles wide.
• The people walked everywhere. Text says they could cover up to 90 miles in two days.
This explains how Jesus and His apostles appear all over the area.
• Historians believe Jesus probably never went further than about 55 miles from His home town.

• Because of its small size, people knew the country well
• They could categorize what people were like by the town or area they came from
• They would have known that Jesus came from the area which was expected to produce the
Messiah but was at the time of Jesus’ earthly life an area of poverty and of no special significance
*** End of Material for Test on 11-24-10 ***