Two Opposing Powerful Parties and Social Movements among the Jews - Essay Example

Life and ministry of Jesus there were two opposing powerful parties and social movements among the Jews - Pharisees and Sadducees. Both groups were prominent religious sects and opposed the teaching of Jesus (Matt 12:14; Matt 16:1-6; Matt 21:12).
The Pharisees came mostly from middle-class families, while the Sadducees were represented by upper-class aristocrats. The major difference between the two groups was their understanding of the Law of Moses – the Pharisees were very accurate to follow it, while the Sadducees believed and followed only 5 books of the Old Testament. Unlike the Sadducees, the Pharisees believed in the supernatural (Acts 23:7-8), stressed formal representation of religion more (Matt 23), and developed the oral tradition. According to Josephus (War 2.164-166), the Pharisees treated each other with love and respect. The Sadducees, though more open in their political views, were aggressive and harsh in debates even with each other.
The movements founded on the Pharisees tradition made up the Zealots party (a radical party fighting for freedom from the Roman rule), The Essenes (a communistic movement leading a monastic life (War 2.160-161)) and Qumran (an ascetic sect). The offspring of the Sadducees was a political party called the Herodians, which was fighting for establishing the Herodian dynasty – the family of King Herod (73-4 BCE) who was a pro-Roman ruler of a small Jewish state (Lendering).
As a religious leader, Jesus was seen by Pharisees and Sadducees as a person breaking the Law. They, for example, checked if he was keeping the Sabbath day holy (Mtt.12) or followed the formal rituals prescribed by the Law (Mtt.15, Lk.11) because both parties were worried more about the tradition than about its actual meaning. So, they were opposing the ministry of Christ because he was to change the church institution their power was based upon.
Galilee and Judea
Galilee and Judea, the regions in which Jesus was active, were located on the territories of modern Israel and Palestine. In the times of Jesus these territories were separated by the Samaria region (Galilee to the north of it, and Judea – to the south), so to get from one location to another Jesus had to travel through Samaria (Wikianswers.com).
Galilee was a mountainous region between the Dead Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. By the Ramah plain it was divided into South (Lower) and North (Upper) Galilee (Jacobs, Benzinger and Eisenstein). On the north it bordered with Syria; Decapolis and Samaria were located to the East and South correspondingly. The Sea of Galilee is located right in the center of the region, surrounded by mountains, and connected with the Dead Sea by the river of Jordan, which runs through the mountains from north to east. The largest cities of the country were located between the Sea of Galilee and the Mediterranean Sea - Nazareth and Cana, and near the Sea of Galilee – Tiberias, Dalmanutha, Gennesaret, Capernaum, Chorazin, and Bethsaida (Large Map of the Life, Events, and Ministry of Jesus). Read More