Jesus’ Birth and Early

Years
 The Virgin Birth
 The birth of Jesus is a most controversial issue
today. Many are of the opinion that the accounts
given in the Gospels are legendary, at best. The
main issue of contention is His virgin birth. In
Luke 1:34: when told by the angel that she
would become the mother of the promised
messiah Mary responded by saying “How will
this happen since I do not sexually know a
man?” To that question the angel responded
saying “The Holy Spirit will come upon you and
the power of the Most High will overshadow
you.”
Arguments against the virgin birth and
responses to them:
 Verses quoted about the virgin birth are
interpolations by later copyists.
 Response: Not a single manuscript indicates
this allegation.
 Similarities of the birth narratives to accounts
of conceptions by pagan gods. (e.g. Zeus
through deceit took Alkmene and tripled the
length of the night, and gave birth to Hercules
who for this reason was so powerful.)
 Response: Virgin birth is different. There are
many miraculous births in the Bible: Isaac;
Samson; Samuel; John the Baptist; however,
Mary was not barren.
 Literally yes, but we must look beyond for the
hidden meaning. What took place was that
Mary was raped. Mary and Joseph were
Essenes and they yielded to temptation. Virgin
would then mean a kind of nun who lived a
monastic life.
 Response: the text does not say that Mary was
raped
 Some argue from silence. The Gospels of
Mark and John do not allude to the virgin birth
and neither does the apostle Paul.
 Response: arguments from silence are always
suspect. Not their theological purpose. The
infancy stories just do not fit with these
authors’ theological purposes.
Arguments in favor of the virgin birth:
 Two independent authors authenticate
the virgin birth. They are reporting not
creating.
 The stories were written simply and
briefly suggesting the early Christian
community were well acquainted with
this concept.
 Early Christian tradition affirms the belief
in the virgin birth.
 Jesus Christ was conceived by Mary by
the dispensation of God. . . and the
virginity of Mary, and her giving birth
were hidden from the Prince of this
world. . . .”
 Justin Martyr about 140 defended the
virgin birth in his Dialogue with Trypho.
 Aristides in the 2nd century also
affirmed the idea of the virgin birth.
 The Earliest Creed confirms the virgin birth.
Christian thinkers of the 2nd century did not
seek to accept new beliefs about the faith.
They valued old traditions that had been
handed down by word of mouth.
 The Ebionites and Cerinthus denied the virgin
birth, and were both condemned by the
church.
 Conclusion: if one can admit the possibility of
miracles, nothing prohibits accepting this
event.
 His Birth: Narrative; Given in Matthew
and Luke only.
 Magi: probably Zoroastrian priests.
 Shepherds: help to emphasize that Jesus
was not born on December 25.
 Grotto in Bethlehem
Youth:
 Luke 2:52: increased in “wisdom and stature.”
 Apocryphal writings full of fanciful stories about
Jesus childhood. He is represented as a
superboy.
 He creates toys for himself to overcome his
childhood playmates
 He makes clay toys which could fly, eat and
drink. He corrects Joseph’s defective work.
 He is alleged to have struck children dead if they
annoyed him while playing.
 At age 12 very precocious.
 He was a child prodigy like Alexander
the Great; Apollonius of Tyana, Cyrus
king of Persia.
 He for the first time perhaps understood
his Messiahship.
 JUDAISM DURING THE TIME OF
CHRIST
The Temple:
 The Temple was central to the Jewish people
and to a great extent life revolved around it.
 The first Temple was destroyed by
Nebuchadnezzar and after the return from
captivity under Ezra and Nehemiah it was
rebuilt.
 It was this Temple that underwent extensive
renovation under Herod starting in 20 B. C.
and it took over 40 years.
 Synagogue

 Jews carried out worship services in

synagogues wherever there were
sufficient people to do so, (10 Jewish
males) who were in need of a form of
worship in order to meet their religious
commitments.
 It is believed that Synagogue worship
began during the time of the Babylonian
captivity, however, that is not totally
clear.
 Synagogue worship comprised of:
– The affirmation of faith Deut 6:4, (the
Shema).
– Reading from the Scripture; the first reading
was from the Torah and the second was
from the prophets or another section of the
Bible.
– Following the Scriptural passage the homily
was delivered from the “Seat of Moses” and
this was based on the Scripture that was
read.
 The Synagogue was also used as a center
for:
 Religious instruction
 Administration of justice
 Political meetings
 Funeral services
 Education
 The Sanhedrin Council

 This word is the Hebrew transliteration

of the Greek word synedrion which
means “council,” or “meeting.” This
council was derived from the “council of
the elders” which became a reality
during the Maccabean period.
 The council consisted of 70 persons and
there were guidelines regarding
qualification to become a member.
 In Jerusalem the council was “comprised
of the chief priests, elders of the people
(lay aristocracy around Jerusalem), and
scribes (sages learned in the law).
 The Sanhedrin had the authority to try
cases dealing with:
– an entire tribe,
– false prophets,
– and the high priest.
 It also served as an appellate court over
the court of twenty three in matters
pertinent to the interpretation of the law.
 This council, even though it could
recommend it, did not have the authority
to carry out the death penalty, however,
there are instances when that was done
but more likely than not those were
cases where they took the law into their
own hands or when there was no Roman
governor present.
Religious Groups Within Judaism:

The Pharisees:
 Their name is derived from the Hebrew
parush meaning “separate” or
“interpret.”
 There is the distinct likelihood that this
group first emerged during the early
days of the Maccabean revolt.
 They were the largest and most loved
sect within Judaism.
 They considered themselves to be the
“pure ones.”
 They were very conservative and placed
an almost equal, if not superior, status
upon their interpretation of the Torah.
 They are the most mentioned group
within the Gospels.
 They held fast to a strong messianic
expectation.
 Jesus condemned their hypocrisy and
desire to display their religion.
 In the NT they are often mentioned
along with the Scribes; the Scribes were
those individuals who were expert at
interpreting the Torah.
They were very strict with:
 keeping of the Law
 the oral traditions
 tithing
 fasting
 ritual purifications
 Sabbath keeping.
 Pharisees continued to be a factor in
Judaism long after the destruction of
Jerusalem.
Sadducees:
 The name “Sadducee” is apparently
derived from the name Zadock.
 They were the liberal group within
Judaism
 Most of them were wealthy priests;
there were also wealthy laymen among
them
 From a political standpoint they were
conservative, thus they would not
venture to do anything that would
“disturb the social structure of the
society.”
 They did not accept all of the OT
 The Torah a prominent position; the rest
of the Scripture was to be held in
subjection to it.
 Rejected the oral traditions
 They did not believe in supernatural
things such as; angels, spirits, etc.
 They rejected the resurrection from the
dead.
 During Jesus’ time the high priest was a
Sadducee
The Essenes:
 The origin of this name is not clear but it
is generally believed that it comes from
the Greek version of the Aramaic word
hasayya, “the pious ones.”
 This group is not mentioned in the
Gospels.
 Some assert that John the Baptist; and
maybe even Jesus, were Essenes. There
is absolutely no evidence to validate that
claim.
 They were not a part of the normal
community; practiced communal living
 Before one was able to join this sect he
had to be observed for one year and
after that was put on a two-year
probationary period before becoming a
full member. Anyone accepted into
membership had to experience the
“washing of purification” and swear an
oath to live according to the Law of
Moses as “interpreted by the ‘men of the
covenant.’”
 This sect practiced a strict system of
discipline and one could be excluded for
even minor infractions.
 They were the most conservative group
within Judaism.
 They gave a rather high priority to the
Scriptures and spent considerable time
studying it.
 This sect was even further sub-divided
since there were divergences of beliefs
among them.
 They possessed a strong eschatological
expectation and as such they interpreted
the writings of the prophets in a manner
that referred to their days.
 They were looking for three Messiahs:
 The prophet predicted by Moses in Deut
18: 18, 19
 A royal Messiah through David’s line
 And a priestly Messiah; he would be the
most important.
The Therapeutae:
 Very little is know of this group outside
of the writings of Philo of Alexandria and
even the name is one ascribed to them
in his writings.
 This group lived in a communal manner
near Lake Mareotis in Lower Egypt and,
according to Philo, they were known for
living a contemplative life.
 Among other things this sect renounced
private property, family life in their
“quest for the vision of God.”
The Zealots:
 These were militant Jews who were
actively opposed to the Romans
 They were at the forefront after the
destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70.
 This group practiced subversive activities
against the Romans as well as Jews who
collaborated with them
 Noted for carrying a concealed dagger
 The idea of Zealots comes from the
actions of Phineas in the Old Testament
 Herodians:
 These were Jews who gave their support
to Herod’s regime. However they are not
mentioned outside of the Gospels and
even there there is a paucity of
information.
 Due to the fact that Herod was not nice
to the Jewish people his supporters were
also not liked.
 However Herod showed favor to them
 Samaritans:
 The origin of this group of people can be
traced back to 2 Kings 17; however even
among the Samaritans there was a
distinction since they preferred to sees
themselves as being samerim “keepers
of the Torah” rather than someronim
referring to the inhabitants of Samaria.
 There existed great hostility between the
Samaritans and the Jews and the Jews
considered them as being foreigners.
 Among other things religious Samaritans
identified themselves with the tribes of
Joseph and practiced:
 circumcision
 strict Sabbath worship
 and avoidance of image worship.
Five Cardinal Principles:
 Faith in Yahweh
 Faith in Moses
 Faith in the Law
 Faith in Mt. Gerizim
 Faith in the day of Vengeance and
Recompense
Samaritan Belief in Four Epochs:
 Age of Adamic perfection
 Age of disfavor
 Age of Divine favor
 Second age of disfavor
 Unfortunately, however, there is no
mention of them within that context in
the NT and most of the extant literature
on them dates from the fourth century
AD.
 Since they believed in, and adhered to
the Torah they saw it as imperative to
preserve it and they had their own
version of it, dated from around the
second century B. C. and it is known as
the Samaritan Pentateuch.
Proselytes:
 This term is derived from the Greek
word proselytos and can be used to refer
to two classes of people:
 those who are sympathetic to Judaism
 and individuals who were converts to
Judaism.
 During the time of the NT there was a
divergence in the way in which one
became a proselyte but three things
seemed to have held sway:
 circumcision
 baptism
 and an offering at the temple.
 Philosophically, a proselyte was
supposed to have the same rights and
privileges as a natural born Jew
Diaspora Jews:
 This term is used in reference to Jews
who were living outside of Judea; they
were Jewish in ethnicity but they did not
live in Judea.
 There were basically two categories into
which Jews from the Diaspora belonged:
 Hebraist
 and Hellenist.
Hebraist Jews:
 retained all of the distinctives of
Judaism;
 such as the language
 festivals
 customs, etc.
Hellenist Jews:
 maintained the basics but did not speak
the language of the Jews
 did not practice circumcision, etc.
 However they did observe the Sabbath.
Publicans:
 They were the most despised group of
people within Judaism due to the fact
that they collected taxes for the
Romans.
 They were very unscrupulous and did
not have a problem with charging
individuals more taxes than they were
supposed to pay.
 Collected two kinds of taxes:
 head tax; which was charged based on
the fact that someone was a resident of
a particular area
 and poll tax.