WHO WAS JESUS?
THE SETTING When an unknown carpenter's son was baptised by the desert prophet John in the River Jordan, the atmosphere in lsrael was electric with expectation. Yet again in
the history of this small proud nation, the country was under military occupation. The Jewish people, tired of the insult of being under the thumb of the'unclean', the Gentiles, tired of paying heavy taxes and sick of brutal repression, were looking for a great leader, a Messiah, to deliver them. ln the hills,the nationalist rebels, the Zealots, were sharpening their swords ready for the next ambush of a Roman convoy, ln the desert fanatical monks, Essenes, were keeping themselves apartfrom the contaminated world. The religious leaders from reading the scriptures were talking of the imminent coming of God's prophet. The rulers were worried by these stirrings and rumours. Not long before, small children from awhole neighbourhood had been massacred by King Herod because amongst them, supposedly, was a baby who was destined to be king favoured by the Jewish God. By the time of Jesus, two generations after the Romans had made their rule secure, the religious response to the Roman presence was divided and varied. The High Priesr in Jerusalem and his associates were from the aristocracy and were appointed by the Romans. Any power they had was dependent on Roman backing. Recognising this they tended to be conservative and expedient in their politics. Not surprisingly, many Jews accused them of colruption and collaboration. Their party was called the 'Sadducees'.
Another party, made up of the intellectuals and scholars, was called the 'Pharisees' (literally means 'set apart'). They had considerable influence amongst the people, and had developed a literal understanding of the Jewish law. Salvation lay in strictly observing the law, and waiting passively for the arrival of the promised Messiah. All political affairs were in the hands of God and meanwhile it was important as far as possible to. remain untarnished by the things of this world. Eventually though (after Jesus died) the Pharisees did rebel.
A third response was to take to the hills and join the rebels. The Zealots believed that they were God's fighting army, and that the Messiah, like King David, would drive the Romans back to the sea. The northern country, around-Galilee, where Jesus grew up, was a stronghold of this party. The story of Jesus is the story of another way of following God in those
troubled times.
