“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices…But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides…Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean…on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? …upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth…
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”
Matthew 23
The Prestige of Being a Separate People
The Romans looked at the Jews (and other mono-theists) as very strange. For the vast majority of ancient cultures, belief in an entire pantheon of gods in various ascending hierarchies was the norm. In modern western countries, the question of whether “God exists” or not is predicated on very Christian and Jewish assumptions. The “west” has been monotheist for so long now, that we just take it for granted that we don’t have to debate if other gods also “exist” or not (as if it’s an obviously settled question and that we don’t even need to bring it up).
But for the Jews in Roman times, they were considered a very peculiar people with their one God, Yahweh. And although exempted from the Caesar cult out of respect for being an ancient people (they distrusted everything “new”), the Jews inspired a range of feelings—from disgust, to fascination.
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And particularly in a Hellenistic culture (that was open to a wide range of gods and ideas and philosophies) being an Israelite/Jew would, although reprehensible to many, eventually become a point of pride for the Jews themselves.
For regardless of all the strange looks that an Israelite would have no doubt received—and maybe even looks of fascination or appreciation by some—this treatment of being very peculiar and strange would eventually be expected…and probably at some point, even appreciated. Yes, what would be embarrasing to one group would eventually be something to be proud of in another group. As we discussed earlier, ancient peoples didn’t always come to the point of war between each other just because of wounded egos or disputes over land and resources (although they often did), but rather also often due to opposing values.
A good example of these opposing values would be the Israelite practise of circumcision. Hellenistic and Roman culture considered this practise to be disgusting and cruel, and would have thought very poorly of those who approved of it. But for Israel, it was a practise that set them apart from the nations, and the antagonism/shock from other peoples over issues like that would probably end up forging their identity to an even greater degree.
Yes, these conflicts over values—however destructive or terrible they could come to be—often had the inadvertant affect of causing different peoples (like the Israelites) to have a stronger sense of who they were as a people and a tribe after the war had been won (or lost). Yes, in the same way that modern veterans of global and regional wars in the last century ended up defining themselves to varying degrees by their heroic service in such conflagrations, so also the many wars that Israel had engaged in over millenia would end up defining the Israelite people themselves.
And so by the time this Jesus of Nazareth had come on the scene, the majority of “Israel” had a very strong sense of who they were as a tribe and a people (which stood in stark contrast to those around them). And regardless of whether or not they were actually true to the original spirit of their prophets and their laws, they were nonetheless highly forged into a distinct people separate from everyone else, simply by virtue of everything that had happened over the ages.
And this identity, although even mocked by others, eventually carried with it a prestige and a sense of pride that, by virtue of simply being in “the tribe”, would have helped people keep their heads up high. And the longer they continued on despite opposition and even (numerous) subjugations, the more pride they had simply as a distinct people.
But for Jesus of Nazareth, this pride and prestige of a name and being a separate people obviously wasn’t going to be enough. The compromises Israel had made had become too much, and the essence and glory of what it meant to be Israel to begin with, had been lost. And therefore, as their own Torah had promised, the most severe of judgments was on it’s way. Although the pride and prestige of simply being a separate people may be enough for others, according to Jesus, it wasn’t going to be enough for the Israelites to maintain their temple and who they were.
Hypocrisy on some level was probably always going to be inevitable. But for this Jesus, there was definitely such a thing as critical mass. Claiming to follow a certain set of values—while living in such a way, for so long, that openly mocked those very values—must always eventually destroy the world of which they would have been so proud.
The reason Jesus said that their much revered holy house (of which the disciples pointed out how majestic it was) would soon “be left to them desolate” was not because of just being Jewish, or (as people would soon be) Christian, or any other faith or viewpoint. And nor was it because they took pride in being who they were as a people.
But rather, because while claiming to be one thing, they had forsaken the essence of what that very thing was. This was… “an abomination that would soon cause desolation”.
Ananias and Sapphira
The book of Acts documents the wildly successful movement of the early Christians. Although dismissed by the majority of society at large, it nonetheless flourished greatly after the remarkable experience they all had at Pentecost:
“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:42-47)
But even here, in this very early Christian movement, where everyone seemed so sincere and even shared all their belongings—just as the Israelite faith could be infiltrated to a large extent (and even dominated) by people who didn’t really share the heart of it all—so also the Christian movement was attempted to be infiltrated with insincere and opportunistic people trying to capitalize on the success of this apparently quite giving community. As Acts 5 explains:
“Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet.” (5:1-2)
In this remarkable context, everyone had been sharing literally everything they had with everyone else. And Ananias and Sapphira no doubt would have been very impressed by this situation and would have wanted to be a part of it, but their hearts weren’t in it completely. But they were willing to pretend that they were in order to extract the benefit of belonging in the community. As Sapphira had claimed when pressed about if she had really brought everything before them, as she had claimed:
“Peter asked her, ‘Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?’
‘Yes,’ she said, “that is the price.’” (5:7-8)
And Peter famously responded:
“How could you conspire to test the Spirit of the Lord? Listen! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.” (5:9)
And then she, just like her husband previously who had also lied, dropped dead.
But what was the “sin” of Ananias and Sapphira? Was it that they didn’t give enough? Was it that they should have given more, or sacrificed everything in the same way that others in the group had?
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No. Their “sin” was that they were trying to capitalize on a name and a group of people by joining it insincerely, and thus they represented themselves as something they were not. If they had just simply kept all their wealth to themselves, nothing like this would have happened. It was the pretense of it all that got them killed according to the Book of Acts, and that is the very pretense that Jesus spent so much time railing against when he excorciated the Pharisees in Matthew 24.
The Synagogue of Satan?
“I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars—I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you.” (Revelation 3:9)
This passage from the Book of Revelation has unfortunately been used by many bigoted people over the years (Christian anti-semites in particular) to imply very negative things about Jewish people in general, as a people. Of course though, to do this is to actively disrespect it’s context and it’s obvious meaning. For this verse is getting at the exact same principle that Jesus of Nazareth was getting at.
Exactly the same principle as the story of Ananias and Sapphira, the issue in this verse is spelt out clearly: namely, that the “synagogue of Satan” are those “who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars”. But as it turns out (and should really be a surprise to no one), this is not a “Jewish” issue… nor (as we’ve shown) a “Christian” issue… or even a “pagan” or Roman or otherwise issue.
No, this is a very human issue that affects us all, and has been with us since time immemorial. After a long enough period of time being in a comfortable and privileged position that has been established through the blood, sweat, and tears of our anscestors, as humans we can easily tend to take things for granted. We can all tend to forget what the real spirit of our faith and ours laws and our customs and culture was, and how we got here to begin with. It is in this place of “not seeing the forest for the trees” where the privilege and prestige of a name and of being in a certain group of people (in contrast with other groups of people) becomes the primary thing.
And thus, we get to a point where we have “lost the plot”, just as the Pharisees had, when they loved to be adored by their own people instead of staying true to who they said that they were:
“Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others.” (Matthew 23:5-7)
For Jesus of Nazareth, this hypocrisy had gone way too far, and was now due to be humbled.
Proceed to Part 58
Jonathan E
·
Jun 20
Return to Part 56
