The King is Anointed
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Text:
1 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea,
Why is John preaching in the wilderness?
7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
Why is John so hard on the Pharisees and Sadducees?
And where did these groups come from?
The religious and political context of John’s and Jesus’ ministries
The religious and political context of John’s and Jesus’ ministries
Jewish Sects during 1st century AD:
Jewish Sects during 1st century AD:
Sadducees—corrupt temple officials
Sadducees—corrupt temple officials
Temple officials who wanted to keep the status quo.
Believed and followed only the Torah (Gen-Deut)
Did not believe in the resurrection of the dead
Members of the Sanhedrin court
Notable example: Caiaphas (High Priest)
The High Priestly garb
The Temple (of Herod)
Pharisees—legalistic common-man’s religious leaders
Pharisees—legalistic common-man’s religious leaders
Believed and followed all the Old Testament books (Gen-Mal)
Believed in the resurrection of the dead
Members of the Sanhedrin court
Very influential in local synagogues
Notable example: Nicodemus (John 3), Paul (Phil 3:5)
6 Now when Paul perceived that one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. It is with respect to the hope and the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial.”
Zealots and Sicarii—political extremists dedicated to Rome’s extermination
Zealots and Sicarii—political extremists dedicated to Rome’s extermination
Zealots
Zealots
Drew their inspiration from OT examples like Phineas (Num 25), Judas Maccabeus, etc.
Believed that Israel’s purity could only be reclaimed through the violent overthrow of foreign rulers.
Notable examples: Simon the Zealot (Mk 3:18), Barabbas (Lk 23:18-19), Judas the Galilean (Ac 5:37)
Most famous for inciting the First Jewish War (AD 66-70) which lead to the sacking of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple by Titus (AD 70), and the final stand at Masada.
Sicarii
Sicarii
Sicarii were cloak and dagger assassins. Not a part of the Zealots, but similar in ideology.
Examples: “the Egyptian” in Acts 21:38
38 Are you not the Egyptian, then, who recently stirred up a revolt and led the four thousand men of the Assassins out into the wilderness?”
Herodians—loyalists of Rome and Rome’s puppet king, Herod.
Herodians—loyalists of Rome and Rome’s puppet king, Herod.
The Herod family and their supporters
Puppet kings given authority by Rome over parts of Israel/Judea
Loyal to Rome, tasked with keeping the peace in Judea
Were not well liked by the regular people
Of mixed lineage and not descended from the Davidic line of kings.
Notable examples: “the Herodians” (Mt. 22:16), Herod the Great (Mt. 2:16), Archelaus (Mt. 2:22), Herod Antipas (Mt. 14:3), Herod Agrippa I (Act 12:1), Herod Agrippa II (Act 25:26)
Essenes—Jewish purists who rejected the temple establishment and lived in remote enclaves
Essenes—Jewish purists who rejected the temple establishment and lived in remote enclaves
They were similar to the Pharisees in their beliefs but were even more separatist.
Refused to offer sacrifices in the Jerusalem temple because they believed it was polluted by the corrupt priesthood.
Many Essenes were celibate and lived in monastic settlements. Others married and lived in villages throughout Israel.
Many scholars think John the Baptist was from the Essene sect.
Notable examples: John the Baptist (maybe?), Qumran community (Dead Sea Scrolls), Masada community
Excavated ruins of the Qumran community of Essenes, which produced the Dead Sea Scrolls
(Some scholars have identified Qumran with the “City of Salt” or Secacah referenced in Joshua 15:61–62 “61 In the wilderness, Beth-arabah, Middin, Secacah, 62 Nibshan, the City of Salt, and Engedi: six cities with their villages.”)
Cave IV, one of the caves in which the Qumran scrolls were discovered
The temple scroll of the Dead Sea Scrolls Library
Political spectrum of Jewish Groups
Jewish Groups after AD 70
13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. 14 John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” 15 But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. 16 And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; 17 and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
Where did the practice of baptism originate?
Where did the practice of baptism originate?
1. Ritual washings in the Old Testament.
1. Ritual washings in the Old Testament.
The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Pentateuch)
The use of water as an instrument for religious and physical cleansing is prevalent throughout the Pentateuch. Those who had committed certain defiling offenses were required to immerse themselves in water in order to ritually purify the body.
Examples of such offenses include:
• Touching a corpse (Num 19:10–13; 31:23–24; Lev 11, 22:4–6)
• Eating or picking up a dead animal (Lev 17:15)
• Nocturnal and seminal discharges (Lev 15:6–8, 11–12, 13, 16)
• Coming into contact with a menstruating woman’s items (Lev 15:21–22, 25–27)
• Contagious skin infections (Lev 14:8–9)
Beyond these cleansing rituals, several other practices were required in order to partake of eating sacrificed animals (Lev 8:19–21) and temple worship (Lev 15:31). Certain impurities could be only removed by using running water (Lev 14:5–6, 50–52; 15:13; Deut 21:4).
The Lexham Bible Dictionary
2. During the Intertestamental period.
2. During the Intertestamental period.
To cleanse Gentile converts (“proselytes”) to Judaism
To cleanse Gentile converts (“proselytes”) to Judaism
Jews felt that Gentiles must be baptized because they were ritually unclean until their conversion to Judaism.
The Lexham Bible Dictionary Second Temple Judaism
Gentiles who converted to Judaism from paganism partook of baptism as entry into the Jewish community, and Jews sometimes used immersions as acts of repentance. The purpose of this entry requirement, known as proselyte baptism, was to remove any hint of ceremonial uncleanness from the Gentile (b. Yebam 46a–48b; b. Gerim 60a–61b). Gentiles were considered spiritually and ritually unclean and needed purification in order to enter Israel and the temple (Josephus, Jewish War 2:150; Philo, On the Embassy to Gaius 212; Acts 10:28). Ritual cleansing for Jews was symbolic of inward cleansing, as “one who has become a proselyte is like a child newly born” (b. Yebam 48b).
By Jews as a sign of their repentance.
By Jews as a sign of their repentance.
Some Jews came to recognize that the true source of uncleanness was their sin, so they used baptism to symbolize repentance from sins (even ones that didn’t require washing under OT laws).
The Lexham Bible Dictionary Second Temple Judaism
Apart from proselyte baptism, Jews used immersions as acts of repentance (T. Levi 2:3 B1–2). The Qumran sect participated frequently in water purification rituals. They considered immersions spiritually ineffective if not accompanied by sincere repentance and “humble submission … to all the precepts of God” (1QS 3:3–9).
Why was Jesus Baptized?
Why was Jesus Baptized?
15 But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented.
1. NOT because he needed forgiveness of his sins.
1. NOT because he needed forgiveness of his sins.
21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
2. To identify with his people.
2. To identify with his people.
Jesus’ baptism gives public approval to John’s message of repentance
Just as Jesus identifies with his people in their suffering (Mt. 2:13-23), identifies with their humility and repentance.
24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.
3. To provide an occasion for his anointing.
3. To provide an occasion for his anointing.
“Messiah” (or “Christ”) means ‘anointed one,’ a reference to the practice of anointing a new king with oil.
John had preached that the Messiah was coming
11 “I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
Jesus’ baptism served as a public anointing of sorts, where John, God the Father, and God the Spirit all three bore witness to his identity as the Messiah.
6 “As for me, I have set my King
on Zion, my holy hill.”
7 I will tell of the decree:
The Lord said to me, “You are my Son;
today I have begotten you.
17 and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
The Lexham Bible Dictionary John’s Baptism of Jesus
In all of these accounts, the authors connect John’s baptism of Jesus with the anointing of Jesus by the Holy Spirit and a declaration of Jesus’ sonship. The event served as the inauguration of Jesus’ ministry on earth and a validation of John’s ministry.
