The first century Jewish
world was just as diverse as any religious movement today is. There were
theological arguments, divisions based on class, geographic differences,
interpretive schools, and political squabbles. Two thousand years later and
halfway around the globe we read about these things in the New Testament,
especially in how they relate to Jesus. However, that difference in time and
geography causes to be blind to many of the distinctions that existed within
first century Judaism.
One thing of particular interest to us is what the Jews
of that time expected in their Messiah. We normally give a standard answer of
“a military leader” and leave it at that. The truth is the expectations for the
Messiah in that world were just as diverse and varied as any set of opinions on
an important subject.
Some Jews were looking for a military leader, as we often
say, who would slaughter the Romans and establish the nation of Judah once
again as a world superpower. Others were looking for a priestly figure who
would purify the temple and return the glory of God to Jerusalem. Still others thought
that the Messiah would be a prophet that heralded the destruction of the old
temple and structures and would begin anew, and there were many more views
besides this.
The one common thread through all of these various expectations
of the Messiah is that Jesus defied them all. All of them were right on certain
points, but they were also all wrong too. In the next few posts I
will examine some of these individual groups and what they expected Jesus to
be. I’ll look at what they got right and what they got wrong, and also how they
show us things about our own expectations about Jesus. Just like them,
sometimes we get it right, and other times we miss the mark.
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