Christ Through the Ages, 6: Many Flavors of Messiah

For additional notes and resources check out Douglas’ website.By clicking on the link, you can listen to the 6th lesson in our series, 1st Century Judaism: Many Flavors of Messiah. The podcast is 20 minutes in length.Sectarian groups of the 1st centuryPharisee – Torah (written and oral)Sadducees – TempleEssenes – Land (Qumran and library of Dead Sea Scrolls)Zealots – Kingship (Sicarii -- extreme measures)Herodians – Regime (Mark 3:6)Scribes – Text (Shammai & Hillel; Mark 12:34)Samaritans – Sectarian past (see 2 Kings 17; John 4)Christians – Messiah (Christ)Later JudaismRemnant of Jews joined the Christian movement (Romans 9-11).Escalating antipathy, esp. after 70 AD. Anti-Christian curses.Did not deny Christian miracles, but rejected Jesus’ divinity.Expected a political Messiah (John 6:15).Heirs of Pharisees (rabbinic Judaism) codify oral law in Mishnah, c.200 AD.Modern JudaismDescendants of the PhariseesThree main divisionsOrthodox (right)Conservative (center)Reform (left)Mystics (kabala)Charismatics (chasidim)ConclusionDivisions into sects -- each with its own take on the Messiah -- was not just a Jewish phenomenon of the first century.As we shall see, division will come round again in the course of church history, and perhaps nowhere more so than in our generation – about 20 lessons from now.This violates God's ideal that his people remain one (John 17:22-23).Next section: Christ in the Gospels.  Next podcast: Mark: Lord Caesar or Lord Jesus?