Finishing Chapter 3 & Starting Chapter 4

1. Finishing Chapter 3 & Starting Chapter 4 Consider the map on pg 69 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 who 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

2. 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 hoped for: They literally took over all of Palestine in 63 BCE • The Romans would selected trused 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

3. 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 two 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 2nd son and only a local governor and he was the one who had John the Baptist beheaded

4. 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 Pilate

5. Review Summary on page 72 • In 66 CE Jewish “zealots” bean 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 10th legion, to crush the rebellion • The Romans not only crushed the rebels, they destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem and exported the Jews in small groups throughout the Roman empire

6. Messiah means “the Anointed One” • 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”

7. 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

8. 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” • Read/study up to and including page 75 before class tomorrow

9. Chapter 4Daily Life in Jesus Time – Culture & Religion • We start here tomorrow!!!