The Sabbath Controversies

27/04/2015Teaching of Jesus - Jesus and the Law2 Introduction  The controversies were mostly with the Pharisees  Some major Palestinian Judaisms – Sadducees Messiah had come in the Hasmoneans Rejected the resurrection of the dead Rejected oral law Rejected prophets and writings

27/04/2015Teaching of Jesus - Jesus and the Law3 Zealots – Messiah comes through human action – Used violence to drive out Romans – Properly speaking they are a later phenomenon – But various spontaneous groups and to a degree Shammite Pharisees had their values.

27/04/2015Teaching of Jesus - Jesus and the Law4 Essenes – Extreme purity required to receive the Messiah(s) – Prepared for the final battle – Rejected Jerusalem leadership The wicked priest The teachers of smooth things – Accepted scriptural interpretation of the "Teacher of Righteousness"

27/04/2015Teaching of Jesus - Jesus and the Law5 Pharisees – Believed in the coming of Messiah – Believed in the resurrection – Focused on tithing – Focused on ritual purity – Prepared a people for God's coming kingdom – Accepted oral + written law – Two groups: Hillelites and Shammites

27/04/2015Teaching of Jesus - Jesus and the Law6 These controversies fall into three segments  Sabbath controversies 2:1-3:6  Traditions of the elders 7:1-23  Final controversies 12:1ff.

27/04/2015Teaching of Jesus - Jesus and the Law7 The Sabbath Controversies show increasing opposition to Jesus  Questioning among themselves  Challenging his apprentices  Direct approach to Jesus  Planning to destroy Jesus

27/04/2015Teaching of Jesus - Jesus and the Law8 The healing of the paralytic  Jesus sees "their" faith (2:5)  The issue: is Jesus usurping the prerogatives of God? – God forgives sins – God does it in the temple – One could have read this as a prophetic announcement of forgiveness  Both forgiving and healing were signs of the presence of the kingdom  The title "Son of Man" is ambiguous The phrase in Aramaic can mean simply "I" The phrase can mean "a human being" as in Ezekiel The phrase can refer to Dan 7:13

27/04/2015Teaching of Jesus - Jesus and the Law9 There are two legitimate responses then  The healing/forgiveness could be viewed neutrally as a wonder  The healing/forgiveness could be connected to Dan 7:13  Only the reaction of the scribes is viewed by Mark as illegitimate

27/04/2015Teaching of Jesus - Jesus and the Law10 Eating with tax collectors and sinners  Jesus associates with disreputable people – These are "Jews who have made themselves gentiles" Tax collectors Hired shepherds Prostitutes Tanners Other non-observant Jews  This is a tradition about Jesus accepted by radical scholars

27/04/2015Teaching of Jesus - Jesus and the Law11 The reason for eating with “sinners”  The poor/ disreputable are more fit for the kingdom than the rich/ respected  Jesus has a right to be with these people, for the forgiveness of God extends to them – And this happens without the ritual purity of temple sacrifice

27/04/2015Teaching of Jesus - Jesus and the Law12 The question over fasting  Fasting had (and has) two purposes – To express sorrow over personal or corporate sin or misfortune – To deepen communion with God  The presence of Jesus was a new phenomenon – This was not a time for sorrow – The Christian community would fast – The Way introduced by Jesus would not fit the forms of Judaism The fasts in question were pious additions to Jewish practice Jesus drops many of the practices added over the centuries.

27/04/2015Teaching of Jesus - Jesus and the Law13 Two Sabbath disputes  In both cases the Sabbath was being violated – By reaping on the Sabbath day – By healing on the Sabbath day  The issue revolves around: – Does God intend his ceremonial regulations as rigid rules? – Should the law be interpreted so as to prevent good?  The one present is more important than the Sabbath anyway

27/04/2015Teaching of Jesus - Jesus and the Law14 The Beelzebul controversy  By what power did Jesus act?  Jesus suggests that it was self-evident  Rejecting the Holy Spirit hardens one to God’s action

27/04/2015Teaching of Jesus - Jesus and the Law15 Lucan controversy stories  The sinful woman (Luke 7:36-50) – Parallels the forgiving of sins in Mark 2:1-12 – Revolves around love rather than faith  The crippled woman (Luke 13:10-17) – Parallels the Sabbath healing in Mark 3:1-6 – The motivation is humanitarian  Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10) – The issue is eating with an outcast – The point is that salvation has come to an outcast and that God can save a rich man

27/04/2015Teaching of Jesus - Jesus and the Law16 The Johannine Sabbath stories  Healing of the paralyzed man (John 5)  Healing of the blind man (John 9)  The Johannine contribution – Use of long discourses to bring out the issues – The focus on Christology

LATER CONTROVERSIES Controversies that do not have to do with the Sabbath 27/04/2015Teaching of Jesus - Jesus and the Law17

27/04/2015Teaching of Jesus - Jesus and the Law18 Unwashed hands (Mk 7:1-22)  The teachers have used the law to destroy the intent of the law – The use of the prosbul – The use of one law to limit the applicability of another  The inward attitude is what matters.  Mark believes that Jesus set aside Jewish dietary laws (7:19)

27/04/2015Teaching of Jesus - Jesus and the Law19 The final controversies  Jesus provokes them with: – Triumphal entry – Demonstration in the Temple  They revolve around the authority of Jesus