Category: Jesus’ Opponents
‘The Pharisees,’ edited by Joseph Sievers and Amy-Jill Levine – A Brief Review
“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!” If your upbringing was anything like mine, then perhaps you heard those words spoken from the pulpit from time to time. In my home church, it was usually uttered by some fiery evangelist directing his ire at… Continue Reading “‘The Pharisees,’ edited by Joseph Sievers and Amy-Jill Levine – A Brief Review”
Jesus is the Prodigal Son: καταπέτασμα’s Interpretation
There are many ways of reading the story of the Wayward Son (Luke 15:11-32). In the context of the other two parables Jesus offers, it is fundamentally a story about the joyous response to one who repents and turns to God: “[T]here is joy… Continue Reading “Jesus is the Prodigal Son: καταπέτασμα’s Interpretation”
Bart D. Ehrman: Matthew’s Criticism of Jewish Authorities
Bart D. Ehrman, The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings, sixth edition (OUP, 2016), 147. Perhaps the best way to explain Matthew’s extensive criticism of the Jewish authorities is to say that his own community continued to experience opposition from non-Christian Jews,… Continue Reading “Bart D. Ehrman: Matthew’s Criticism of Jewish Authorities”
Bart D. Ehrman – The Pharisees in the Days of Jesus
Bart D. Ehrman, The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings, sixth edition (OUP, 2016), 73-74. It is important to recognize that the Pharisees were not the “power players” in Palestine in Jesus’ day. That is to say, they appear to have… Continue Reading “Bart D. Ehrman – The Pharisees in the Days of Jesus”
L. Michael White: The Gospel of John and the Breach with Judaism
L. Michael White, Scripting Jesus: The Gospels in Rewrite (HarperOne, 2010), 360. The Gospel of John thus represents a social situation of much greater separation of the Christian community from its Jewish neighbors. The theme of rejection of the message about Jesus has not been magnified… Continue Reading “L. Michael White: The Gospel of John and the Breach with Judaism”
Donahue and Harrington: The Suffering Just One
John R. Donahue and Daniel J. Harrington, The Gospel of Mark, Sacra Pagina (Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 2002), 33. Intertextually two very strong Old Testament themes merge in the Gospel of Mark. One is that Jesus is the “suffering just one” who is “tested”… Continue Reading “Donahue and Harrington: The Suffering Just One”
Marie Noonan Sabin: Early Christians Were Faithful Jews
Marie Noonan Sabin, The Gospel According to Mark, New Collegeville Bible Commentary (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2006), 7. Modern Judaism and modern Christianity may have developed along clearly different paths, but readers of the Gospels need to understand that Jesus and his disciples, as well as… Continue Reading “Marie Noonan Sabin: Early Christians Were Faithful Jews”
The Amateur Exegete 