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Pharisees....
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The Pharisees talking about Jesus miracles on
shabat
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Of the three major religious societies of Judaism
at the time of the
New Testament (the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Essenes), the
Pharisees were often the most vocal and influential. The origin of the
Pharisees is uncertain, but their movement is believed to have grown from
the Assideans (i.e. the "pious"), who began in the time of the Maccabean
Revolt against the Greek/Syrian ruler Antiochus IV, or
"Antiochus Epiphanes," around 165 B.C. It was during that roughly 4
centuries between the end of the Old Testament
record and the birth of
Jesus Christ.
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Prior to the rise of the Roman empire, that the
idolatrous Greek influence was at its peak in
Jerusalem. The first direct mention of the
Pharisees was by the Jewish/Roman historian Flavius Josephus in describing
the three sects, or schools, into which the Jews were divided in 145 B.C. |
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The name Pharisee in its Hebrew form means separatists,
or the separated ones. They were also known as chasidim, which means loyal
to God, or loved of God - extremely ironic in view of the fact that by His
time, they made themselves the most bitter, and deadly, opponents of
Jesus
Christ and His message. |
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The Pharisees perhaps meant to obey God, but eventually
they became so devoted and extremist in very limited parts of The Law
(plus all that they themselves added to it), that they became blind to The
Messiah when He was in their very midst.
They saw His miracles, they heard His Words, but
instead of receiving it with joy, they did all that they could to stop Him
- eventually to the point of getting Him killed because He truthfully
claimed to be the Son of God. |
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