The World of Jesus

Palestine in Jesus’ Time

 Political Setting

For thousands of years, the

Jewish people were primarily
subject to foreign rule
(Egyptian, Syrian, Babylonian,
Persian, Greek, Roman, etc.),
with only brief periods of
independence.
 Political Setting

In the first century, Romans

ruled the Mediterranean area
known as Palestine (modern
day Israel), where Jesus was
born and lived his life.
 The Jewish people accepted their
freedom in both their governing
system, and in maintaining their
own traditions, yet the Roman
government required that
everything be ultimately subject to
Roman authority.
 The Jews understood the world to
be divided into two types of
people:
 Jewish
 Gentile (non-Jew).

The Jews worked hard to disassociate

themselves from the Gentiles.
 Religious Setting

Jewish leaders fought for the purity

of their belief in one God in the face
of conflicting foreign religions. Yet
at the same time, they fragmented
into sects divided over variations of
the Jewish law. 
Essenes

A group of sectarian Jews living a

monastic life
They broke from mainstream
Judaism because they did not
recognize the legitimacy of the
Temple priesthood.
Jesus & the Essenes
Similarities
Jews devoted to Yahweh, high
regard for Moses
Dedicated to the Torah & a life of
truth, humility & justice
Value table fellowship, importance
of prayer & hard work
Jesus & the Essenes
Contrasts
Jesus did not share the exclusivity
of the Essenes
Jesus did not isolate his day to day
life, nor encourage his disciples to
limit association with outsiders
Jesus valued poverty & humility but
He did not abhor wealthy people.
Jesus & the Essenes
Contrasts
Jesus was faithful to the Torah &
its prescriptions but the service of
others & the goodness of intentions
were at the heart of His teaching.
Zealots

A party that advocated rebellion

against Roman rule.
Theirs was a God of vengeance
who destroyed the enemies of the
people.
Jesus & the Zealots
Similarities
Jesus agreed with their zeal of
worship, tribute to Yahweh & the
coming of the kingdom
Jesus shared their indignation
toward Roman occupation
Jesus & the Zealots
Contrasts
Jesus’ message is love for all,
including enemies; forgiveness &
compassion
Jesus did not agree with the
Zealots’ mentality that Yahweh is a
God vengeance.
Sadducess

The aristocracy in the Jewish

society in Jerusalem
Composed of: chief priests, elders &
lay nobles of the Hebrew community
They control the temple & the land
in Judea & Galilee.
Sadducees
They were religious fundamentalists;
accept only the Torah, not the
Prophets nor the Wrtitings.
Looked upon themselves as the
guardian of the Torah
They were politically conservative &
pragmatic. They held that
collaboration with the Romans was
the best way to keep the system.
Jesus & the Sadducees
Contrasts
Jesus was not an aristocrat but a
simple man who placed little value
on material wealth
Jesus’ liberal interpretation of the
Sabbath & purification laws must
have alienated the Sadducees.
Jesus & the Sadducees
Contrasts
Jesus’ associated with the poor,
the sinners, the disabled, all
considred unclean by the
Sadducees.
Sadducees did not believe on the
after life.
Pharisees
Promoted the system of synagogues
throughout Palestine
A party of the common people &
generally had the support of the
masses
Many of them were simple men
without formal learning who had to
support themselves by working a trade.
Jesus & the Pharisees
Contrasts
Jesus’ sense of community & table
fellowship goes beyond that of the
Pharisees & was open to women,
outcasts & sinners.
Jesus referred intimately to
Yahweh as Abba, taking the radical
position that God did not love only
the righteous but also sinners.
 Jewish Religious Leadership

High Priest
The head of the priestly aristocracy in
Jerusalem.
The president of the Jewish ruling
body, the Sanhedrin.
Through the management of the
Temple tax & the profitable sale of
animals for sacrifice, the high priest
also had sufficient economic clout.
 Jewish Religious Leadership

Country Priests
They rendered Temple service by
turns.
Being closer to the common people
both in status & in mentality they
wielded immense influence among
them.
 Jewish Religious Leadership

Levites
They were members of the tribe of
Levi.
They prepared the sacrifices, collected
tithes, provided music & acted as
Temple police.
Much like the church sacristans today.
 Jewish Religious Leadership

Elders
With close links both to the Romans &
the high priests, this small group of rich
merchants & wealthy farmers had
seats in the Sanhedrin in which they
had considerable influence.
It is on them that Christianity would
base its own leaders, the presbyterio or
priests.
 Jewish Religious Leadership

Scribes
Specialists or doctors of the law.
As official interpreters of scripture, they
had great influence on the daily life of
the Jews.
Intending to enable even ordinary Jews
to experience “being close with God,”
they extended to all people the rules of
purity (before reserved only to the
priests).
 Jewish Religious Leadership

Scribes
They are the scholars, intellectuals &
theologians of the community.
Most of them belong to the Pharisees
& a good number were priests.
They walk proudly in the streets &
occupy the highest seat in the
synagogue.
The Jewish people believed in one
God (monotheism) who was
invisible and could not be
portrayed.
In contrast, the surrounding
cultures believed in many gods
(polytheism) who could be
represented by images or idols.
3 acts of religious piety:
Prayer
Fasting
Alms-giving
The Temple is the central & most
sacred institution for all Jews. It is
located in the capital city of Jerusalem.
Every Jewish town & village had a
synagogue. The local center for
teaching, prayer & worship.
 Economic Setting
The economy of first century Israel was
supported by three key segments:
agriculture of olives, figs, grains, dates,
and vineyards; trade fostered by Israel’s
key location on the Mediterranean Sea;
and large government building projects
sponsored by King Herod.
King Herod employed many laborers by
commissioning many public works (e.g.
building temple in Jerusalem, palaces,
ports, fortresses, stadiums, ornate stone
carvings, etc.) 
There was a very large disparity
between rich and poor.
The upper class:
Temple priests
 Priestly aristocracy (including the
Sadducees)
The middle class:
 Traders and merchants
Artisans (stonecutters, masons,
sculptors)
 Craftsman (metal, wood, cloth
dye).
The lower class:
Laborers (weavers, stone carriers,
slaves/non-Jewish person taken into
slavery because of debt)
The unemployable (lepers, blind,
insane, crippled, etc.)
The Roman government required
heavy taxation of its people. Tax
collectors were local employees
considered to be outcasts and traitors.
Jews were also required to give
sacrifices to the temple – sometimes in
the form of money, and usually by
purchasing sacrificial animals to offer to
the priests.
 During the first century, the
temple courtyards had often
become a marketplace – local
merchants would sell sacrificial
animals at excessive cost in order
to turn a profit from the tourists or
religious seekers that would
come to the temple.
 Cultural Setting / Daily Life

Jesus spent most of his life in and

around the farming village area of
Nazareth. Similar to many farming
villages throughout the world, life
was patterned after traditions,
roles and rituals passed down from
many generations beforehand.
 Population
 The village area of Nazareth was
populated mostly by Jews, but also with
some diversity of Syrians, Greeks, and
Romans.
 The major city of Palestine was
Jerusalem, which was more
cosmopolitan and contained far greater
ethnic diversity.
 Language
 The common language in the
Roman Empire was Greek.
However, at the time it was common
for Jews to also use Hebrew,
Aramaic, and Latin. Jesus’ every
day language was Aramaic.
 Family Life
 A Jewish family lived by very
strict moral, social and
religious rules. Parents,
unmarried children, and a
married son and spouse would
often all live under one roof.
Family Life
 The husband was the spiritual and
legal head of the house. He was
responsible for feeding, sheltering
and protecting the family.
 Children were instructed early to
honor their parents.
Jesus’ Family Life
 Joseph (Jesus’ father) was a
carpenter.
 Mary (Jesus’ mother) was a
teenager who was “promised” by her
parents to be married to Joseph (at
the time when Jesus was conceived
by the power of the Holy Spirit).
Role of Women
 In first century Israel, women were
considered second-class citizens, akin
to slaves. The fact that they are
mentioned as avid followers of Jesus is
unusual – both that they would be
allowed to follow him with his disciples,
and unusual that the authors of Jesus’
biographies would mention their
presence at all.
 Educational Setting
For the first century Jew, religion, law,
history, ethics and education were
inseparable. Through both written
(Torah) and oral (Mishna) law, teaching
was passed from generation to
generation. Rabbis (teachers) and
synagogues were highly esteemed
aspects of society.
For Jews, the “Torah”, translated “law”
was the source of all learning – religion,
history and ethics. The Torah includes
the first five books of the modern Bible
(Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers
and Deuteronomy)
The “synagogue” translated “house of
assembly” was the Jewish place of both
worship and education
 The Jewish education emphasized
law, ethics, and history for the
purpose of right, moral living.
 In contrast, the Greek education
system called “gymnasium”
emphasized science, arts,
linguistics and bodily training. 
 Young Jewish boys started formal
education at the age of 5, learning to
read and write. At age 10, boys would
start to learn the Jewish law. Formal
education was complete by age 18.
Young girls would learn at home from
their mothers and other women.
Young men were educated by a Rabbi
(teacher) from the local synagogue.
 At the highest level of education, a
scholar would go to a great or
renowned teacher and become a
disciple, often learning through daily
discussions and activities. These men
were known according to who their
teachers were– “from the school
of….” 
 Jesus studied at the synagogue – in
one instance when Jesus was 12
years old as recorded by Luke: “They
(Jesus’ parents) found him (Jesus) in
the temple courts, sitting among the
teachers, listening to them and asking
them questions. Everyone who heard
him was amazed at his understanding
and his answers.”