The Final Days of Jesus – Part Two
How Things Work – Consideration #119 (Book II Science & Religion)
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Tuesday January 23, 2024
“Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable. Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.”
– Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
PREFACE
Welcome Everybody!
For Jesus, entering Jerusalem was like walking into the lion’s den. The Holy Temple represented the center of power in traditional Judaism. The two Jewish sects most responsible for maintaining the Holy Temple and implementing Jewish law were the Sadducees and the Pharisees. The essential difference between the two sects revolved around rational spiritual concepts such as the possibility of an after-life.
“The Sadducees represented a completely empirical interpretation of reality…”
The Sadducees were upper-class Jewish aristocrats living mainly in Jerusalem whose social, religious, and political influence and power dominated Temple affairs. The Sadducees represented a completely empirical interpretation of reality; they did not believe in a resurrection or any other form of after-life or spiritual realm; nor spiritual beings such as angels.
The Jewish governing council known as the Sanhedrin was predominately comprised of Sadducees. Their view and perspective of Jewish Law was practical and pragmatic, specifically designed to help them better manage empirical existence.
“Pharisees believed in a spiritual realm including resurrection and an after-life.”
Pharisees represented a broad range of economic classes and were distinguished by their strict and rigid adherence to the Law; it could be argued they were manic about it. They believed that even the Law of Moses was sometimes ambiguous and sought to repair it by developing rules and regulations for virtually every possible situation. Pharisees believed in a spiritual realm including resurrection and an after-life. They also believed in spiritual beings such as angels.
“Jesus essentially comes to Jerusalem to publicly challenge both…”
Jesus challenges the empirical reality of the Sadducees with his proclamation regarding the Kingdom of Heaven: a non-empirical rational dimension of spirit. However, he also challenges the rational reality of the Pharisees by exposing their blindness for the Law as the limiting factor in their ability to understand the spiritual realm. Jesus essentially comes to Jerusalem to publicly challenge both the empirical and rational interpretations of the Jewish authority at the time.
The authority at the time did not appreciate it.
CONSIDERATION #119 – The Final Days of Jesus: Part Two
According to the New Testament, Jesus came to reveal the true nature of the spirit, or the Kingdom of Heaven. However, Jesus claims that the so-called “spiritual” leaders of Israel at the time did not even understand the basic concept of what a “spiritual” existence really was.
That same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him with a question. “Teacher,” they said, “Moses told us that if a man dies without having children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for him. Now there were seven brothers among us. The first one married and died, and since he had no children, he left his wife to his brother. The same thing happened to the second and third brother, right on down to the seventh. Finally, the woman died. Now then, at the resurrection, whose wife will she be of the seven, since all of them were married to her?”
Jesus replied, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God. At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. But about the resurrection of the dead – have you not read what God said to you, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ He is not the God of the dead but of the living.”
When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at his teaching.
Matthew 22:23-33
The fact that the Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection shows the hypocrisy of their very question; the answer doesn’t really matter to them because they do not believe in the premise of the question in the first place. The only purpose of the question is to downplay the idea of resurrection and to try and trick Jesus; an insincere question asked by insincere questioners.
“…an expert in the law decides he can get the best of Jesus.”
After embarrassing the Sadducees with their own trick question about the law, an “expert” in the law decides he can get the best of Jesus. Jesus not only answers his question regarding what the most important law is, but generously offers him the second most important as well.
Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Matthew 22:34-40
If your heart is connected and in tune with God’s intention, and you love others as yourself, there is in reality, no need for other complicated commandments. And therefore, essentially, no need for “experts” to interpret them and illuminate the Law’s complexities as a power over others. From Jesus’ perspective, the Law is ultimately very simple.
The revelations of Jesus' teachings to the people were in conflict with the authority of the tradition. Threatened by Jesus’ charisma and influence, the authorities sought to bring about an end to his ministry, and his life. As Jesus prepares to celebrate his final Passover meal with his disciples, the chief priest Caiaphas, along with the help of the Apostle Judas Iscariot, are plotting the death of Matthew’s Messiah.
However, before celebrating the Last Supper, Jesus tells his disciples what is about to take place next in their story. Things are about to take a drastic turn.
When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples, “As you know, the Passover is two days away – and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”
Matthew 26:1-3
The “lamb of God” was about to be sacrificed for the “sins of man.”
POSTSCRIPT
The public ministry of Jesus is about to transform into the public execution of Jesus. However, his final lessons are privately shared with his apostles. He will finally reveal to them the ultimate truth about his mission; a truth they can neither comprehend, nor sustain. Soon, Judas would betray him. Peter would abandon and deny him. And all would come to doubt him.
Next week, the Last Supper…
This Week on “The Thread”…
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