 |  |
Idumaea and he was ruling when the Lord Jesus Christ was born. Thus Rome was in the
ascendancy over Israel when the story of the Gospels commenced.
At this time there were various sects in Palestine which come into the Gospel records
and a short word on each may be helpful.
The Scribes.
These were the students and teachers of the O.T. and were highly esteemed by the
people. They opposed Christ and were denounced by Him as traditionalists who emptied
the Word of God of its meaning (Matt. 16: 21; 21: 25; 23: 2). They also called
Lawyers (Matt. 22: 35).
The Priests.
The priesthood was ordained by God in the time of Moses and consisted of the tribe of
Levi. From the time of Ezra and Nehemiah the civil power passed into the hands of the
priests so that they became princes of the realm as well as ministers of religion and their
head was the High Priest. Again this sect persistently antagonized the Lord Jesus and
finally delivered Him to Pilate to be crucified (John 18: 3, 35).
The Rulers.
Differing official duties are indicated by this title. Thus we have them as members of
the Sanhedrin (the chief Jewish Council); "chief ruler" (John 12: 42) and "magistrate"
(Luke 12: 58) and ten times as "ruler".
The Pharisees.
The word means separated and was given them at the time of the Maccabees in
mockery by their enemies, because they separated themselves from the political party in
the nation. They expounded and guarded the written and oral law and were conservatives
in distinction from the Sadducees who were the modernists.
The Sadducees.
They were the political and aristocratic party among the Jews and were the rivals of
the Pharisees. They denied the existence of spirits and the resurrection and, like the other
parties, opposed Christ and were condemned by Him (Matt. 16: 1-12; 22: 23-33).
The Herodians.
These were a political party rather than a religious one. They took their name from
Herod's family and regarded Christ as a revolutionary character and came under His
condemnation (Mark 3: 6; 8: 15).