Week 10

19 Oct 2022, Wed

God indeed is my savior;
I am confident and unafraid.
My strength and my courage is the LORD,
and he has been my savior.
With joy you will draw water
at the fountain of salvation.
R. You will draw water joyfully from the springs of
salvation.
(From Isaiah 12)
Announcement:

 QUIZ - 26 Oct 2021, Wed

- In the Classroom (use of paper and pen)

 Major Output
- Deadline of Submission:
Saturday evening before Midterm Exam Week
 Jesus of
Nazareth
The Human Embodiment
of God’s Life and Love
Introduction:

Popular Filipino Images of Jesus

1. As Son (Anak ng Diyos, Anak ni Maria, Sto. Nino)
2. Jesus as Host (Last Supper)
3. Jesus as Suffering Servant (Crucified Christ, Hesus Nazareno)
4. Jesus as Christ the King
5. Jesus as Miracle Worker

The images popular to Filipinos tell us who we are based on our

culture and experiences – Family oriented, Meal/ Feast oriented,
experience of suffering under colonizers and economic difficulties at
present, optimistic, spirit-oriented.

But who is Jesus as He is in History ?

A.The Social World of Jesus

1. Description of Palestine
- Part of Asia (Middle East)
- Name derived from Philistia (land of Philistines) given by the
Greeks during their reign
- Known as Canaan and Israel in the Old testament
- Familiar places of Galilee in the North, Judea in the South and
Samaria at the middle
- Jerusalem in Judea as the center of economic, political and
religious powers in the whole of Palestine
- Bethlehem in Judea as birthplace of Jesus
- Nazareth in Galilee as place of growth and maturity of Jesus; also
where he started his ministry
2. Historical Background
- Israel subjected to different foreign rulers – Persian empire,
Hellenistic rule, Hasmonean dynasty, Roman rule; sign of
gradual disintegration
- After Babylonian exile, Jews allowed to rebuild their theocratic
society led by chief priestly families
- Leaders (priestly elite, aristocracy and for sometime puppet
kings) had to constantly compromise with occupying forces at
the expense of peasantry resulting to revolts (initially the
Maccabean revolt against the Hellenistic influence and
eventually the Great revolt against the Romans in 66-70 CE)
3. Direct Roman Rule (6-66CE)
- generally described as relatively peaceful period – project of
Pax Romana throughout the empire
- Though recent studies shows it was marked by periodic
turbulence and widespread discontent in the Jewish society, the
result of heavy Roman taxation and harsh punishment for non
payment.
- People’s protests received brutal and repressive responses
leading to armed insurrections.
- Local elite continued to collaborate with Roman system to
preserve their interest
- Jesus event took place within this period of conflict wherein
Israel was struggling for survival
4. Political Situation
- Fundamental conflict – between the Jewish ruling groups
collaborating with the Romans and the Jewish peasantry
- Rome used priestly class and lay aristocracy to mediate for
their rule in Palestine; the two groups forming the party of
Sadducees (Hb Saduq – righteous one)
- Sadducees as conservative on religious matters, considering
the written Torah as the only norm. In relation to the
Romans, they preferred collaboration to preserve their
identity or position in the society.
5. Economic Condition
- Palestine as generally agricultural
- Majority of the people were poor and illiterate in rural
areas; land mostly unproductive being dry and barren
- Majority of works as peasants – farmers, tenants, hired
laborers in farms; some were artisans, fishers, merchants
- Farming with grains, vegetables, fruits, oil
- Some involved in tending animals like sheep, goats and
cattle
- In Jerusalem, business life was centered on the temple cult
which gave Sadducees control over the people in the city
6. Protest Movements
a. Peasantry – Hb Am ha arez , the “people of the land”
- experience of economic poverty and social rejection
because of being perceived as sinners; poverty associated to
lack of moral integrity
- Mostly did not support the aims of Pharisaic Judaism and careless
on the commandments especially on tithes and ritual purity
- Worsening economic conditions led to popular social and religious
movements; some resorted to social banditry
- Became the main force in the Great revolt vs. Romans in 66 CE
b. Pharisees, “separated ones” (Heb Parash - “to be separated”)
- New Testament – negative image as opponents of Jesus
- Biblical scholars – image conditioned by controversies between Christians and post 70 CE
Rabbinic Judaism (led by Pharisees); developed as well defined group concerned of
preserving the Jewish religious identity against sectarianism especially the Christian
movement; aposynagogus in the year 80 CE
- Jesus’ time – Pharisees as still disparate religious- political association consisting of some
priests, majority of scribes and some landed gentry
- Portrayed as strictly legal interpreters but in reality represented somewhat a lay
revolutionary movement in Judaism; belief in the Torah as heart of revolution
- Different from Sadducees in terms of being open to experience as source of God’s
revelation
- Talmud – list of seven types and only two of positive evaluation, Pharisees of Awe and
Love
- Divided among themselves on the attitude towards the Romans, some opted for
collaboration; not living up to the religious task of renewal
c. Essenes
- Cf. discovery of Dead Sea Scrolls at Qumran ca.1947 CE
- Option of separation from Israel’s society to live a monastic
life; discipline, strict rites of purity, total fidelity to the law
- Critical of the temple and the priestly class of Jerusalem
- Considered themselves as “true Israel”, free from corruption
and abomination
- Apocalyptic belief that Yahweh would establish a new Israel
liberated from the Romans; motivated them to join the revolt
d. Zealots
- An organized underground movement who revolted against the Romans
- From the history book Jewish Antiquities by Flavius Josephus
• Initially a group of “zealous Jews” based in Jerusalem led by Judas, a teacher and
Saddok, a pharisee resisting the direct Roman rule which started in 6 CE; refusal to
cooperate with Roman taxation
• Non violent active resistance of pious intellectuals to the Roman rule
• Judas and followers eventually captured and executed
• Around 50 years later, development of Sicarii (dagger men; Heb sicae – dagger);
involved in terrorist option; intellectuals leading the group set up program of
kidnapping and assassination of key leading Jewish figures collaborating with the
Romans
• Considered to have led in the Great Revolt
• A group committed mass suicide cornered at a place called Masada when fortress
was besieged by the Romans in the year 73 CE
7. Apocalyptic Movement
- Religious current pervading the whole society influencing the
socio-political options of the different groups
- People looking forward to the final intervention of Yahweh
and the inauguration of the end time; belief that after the
period of severe distress and suffering, comes the
transformation of the whole reality and coming of a new age;
this intervention is to be inaugurated by a “messiah”