Groups in 1st Century Judaism

Judaism at the time of Jesus was a complex mixture of divergent social, political and religious ideologies. In general terms, we can speak of four distinct movements, ideologies or life-options. It is helpful to situate Jesus in terms of these social groups of his day in order that we can come to appreciate the distinctiveness of his own life and mission.

The Zealot movement took the revolutionary option. It advocated outward violence, even armed rebellion, to rid Israel of Roman oppression. Nothing else, they figured, would bring final liberation to the Jewish people. Depending on the point of view, Zealots were looked upon as freedom-fighters or revolutionaries. Certainly Jesus had zealots among his followers, for example 'Simon the Zealot'. Judas Iscariot is also thought to have been a Zealot. Moreover, Jesus came into conflict with both the Jewish temple and the Roman state. Finally, he was executed as a zealot revolutionary. However, few would argue that Jesus was a violent revolutionary. 

The Sadduccees were the great pragmatists of the day. As wealthy lay-nobles, priests and aristocrats, they sought to conserve their wealth and power through comprosmise with Rome. Politically speaking, this was the most realistic option. Most of the members of the Sanhedrin were from the Sadduccee group. In many ways, the Sadduccees could be described as the least religious group as is evidenced by their non-belief in the resurrection from the dead. However, it would be wrong to see them as agnostics or atheists as some have argued. They were committed to the Jewish faith on the basis of the earlier books of the bible. Moreover, as the people at the top of the pecking order in the Jewish society of their time, they were much more concerned with present-day affairs than speculation on the life-to-come. In the Gospels, it is evidently the Sadduccees who are the main opponents of Jesus at the time of his trial and death. They rightly saw that Jesus' radical brand of religion threatened their power and status.

The Pharisees were in many ways the idealists of Jewish society. Most of the Scribes (the 'theologians' of the day) were Pharisees. In general, despite their 'bad press' in the Gospels, the Pharisees sought to live a life of spiritual purity by a meticulous following of the torah (Jewish law). They did not believe in compromise with the Romans (as did the Sadduccees) nor in revolutionary activity (as did the Zealots). No doubt their emphasis on the law could result in legalism which may, in turn, become a pretext for hypocrisy. Nonetheless, many Pharisees were highly committed and deeply spiritual people. They believed in the resurrection of the dead. From their perspective, Jesus seemed to relativize the law which explains their anger towards him.

Finally, there were the Essenes who solved the problem of Jewish identity in a Roman-occupied Israel by withdrawing to a monastic-like setting. They were, if you like, the hippies of the day insofar as they completely opted out of mainstream Jewish society. The most notable group in Jesus' time was the Qumran community who lived an ascetic life and were waiting for God's apocalyptic intervention in human history. It is unlikely that Jesus had any contact with this particular group. Still, he was introduced to the ascetical option through his contact with the disciples of John the Baptist who represented a quasi-Essenic withdrawal from maintstream society. Jesus' public ministry demonstrates his decision to engage directly with the wider members of his society.

Consequently, while Jesus had dealings with the various socio-political groups and religious ideologies of his his time, he took his own unique life-option. It was a position that had certain parallels with the likes of his cousin, John the Baptist, though there are significant differences in their teachings and ministry. Jesus was more than a teacher. He was also experienced as prophet, miracle-worker, healer, defender of the poor and oppressed. Above all, Jesus is the divine Son of God and Savior so this is the important point to keep in mind when looking at how he related to these various groups. Nonetheless, Jesus' distinctiveness needs to be appreciated in the context of his Jewish life and times. This was a context in which religion and politics were intertwined in a much more complex way than we think of them today.