Jesus and the Law. Jar from Qumran Rule of the Congregation (1QSa)

Jesus and the Law

Jar from Qumran

Rule of the Congregation (1QSa)

Synagogue at Capernaum

Ant. 13. 297-98: "...The Pharisees had passed on to the people certain regulations handed down by former generations and not recorded in the Law of Moses, for which reason they are rejected by the Sadducean group, who hold that only those regulations should be considered valid which were handed down (in Scripture), and that those which had been handed down by former generations need not be observed. And concerning these matters the two parties came to have controversies and serious differences, the Sadducees having the confidence of the wealthy alone but no following among the populace, while the Pharisees have the support of the masses."

Pharisaic Oral Law

Jesus' Criticism of the Pharisaic / Scribal “Tradition of the Elders”

What does Josephus say about how the Pharisees are different from the Sadducees?

Qumran Sectarians (Essenes)“Seekers of Smooth Things”

“For they [apostates from the community] sought smooth things and chose delusions and sought out loopholes” (CD 1.18-19).

“Builders of the wall" (CD 4.19-20)

Pharisaic Oral Law


How do the Essenes describe the Pharisees? What is the nature of their criticism of them?

Mark 7:1 The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus and 2 saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were "unclean," that is, unwashed. 3 (The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. 4 When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.) 5 So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, "Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with ‘unclean’ hands?" 6 He replied, "Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: “‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 7 They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.’” Why would the Pharisees insist on the washing of hands? What is Jesus’ view of the Pharisees’ oral tradition?

Jesus' Critique of Pharisaic Oral Law


Mark 7:8 You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men." 9 And he said to them: "You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions! 10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.’ 11 But you say that if a man says to his father or mother: ‘Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is Korban’ (that is, a gift devoted to God), 12 then you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother. 13 Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that." What does Jesus say that Pharisees allow to happen because of their oral law?



Matt 23:16 Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whoever takes an oath by the Temple, that is nothing; but whoever takes an oath by the gold of the Temple is obligated.' 17 You fools and blind men! Which is more important, the gold or the Temple that sanctified the gold? 18 And whoever takes an oath by the altar, that is nothing, but whoever takes an oath by the offering on it, he is obligated. 19 You blind men, which is more important, the offering, or the altar that sanctifies the offering? 20 Therefore, whoever takes an oath by the altar, takes an oath both by the altar and by everything on it. 21 And whoever takes an oath by the temple, takes an oath both by the temple and by Him who dwells within it. 22 And whoever takes an oath by heaven, takes an oath both by the throne of God and by him who sits upon it. On which grounds does Jesus criticize the oral law concerning taking oaths?



Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites. For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.

Which metaphor does Jesus use to describe the moral state of the scribes and Pharisees?

Jesus' Criticism of the Moral Character of the Scribes and Pharisees


Mark 12:28: One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?" 29 "The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' [Deut. 6:4, 5] 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ [Lev. 19:18] There is no commandment greater than these." 32 "Well said, teacher," the man replied. "You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. 33 To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices." 34 When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.How are all the commandments unified in Jesus’ view?

Jesus’ View of the Law

Jesus' View of the Law as Having a Center

Matthew 7:12: So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

What is Jesus’ view of God’s moral requirement for human beings?



23 Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. 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. 24 You blind guides. You strain out a gnat (galma) but swallow a camel (gamla). What does Jesus’ criticism of the Pharisees reveal about his view of the Law?



Mark 7:14: Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, "Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. 15 Nothing outside a man can make him ‘unclean’ by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him ‘unclean.’" 17 After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable. 18 "Are you so dull?" he asked. "Don't you see that nothing that enters a man from the outside can make him ‘unclean’? 19 For it doesn't go into his heart but into his stomach, and then out of his body“…. 20 He went on: "What comes out of a man is what makes him ‘unclean’. 21 For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. 23 All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean’." What is Jesus’ view of the nature of moral purity in this passage?


Jesus' View of Obedience as Flowing from a Pure Heart

Luke 11:39 Then the Lord said to him, "Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. 40 You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also?

How does Jesus parody the Pharisees’ distinction between the inside and the outside of a cup?



Matt 7:17: Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.

What is Jesus’ point in this saying? What is the metaphor that Jesus uses to make his point?



Matt 6: 22 The lamp of the soul is the eye. Thus if your eye is sound, your whole body will be illuminated; 23a But if your eye is in poor condition, your whole body will be darkened

How does Jesus use the metaphor of eye and sight to explain his view?



Matt 23:5 Everything they do is done for men to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; 6 they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; 7 they love to be greeted in the marketplaces and to have men call them 'Rabbi.'


Jesus' Objection to Hypocrisy

Matt 6:1 Be careful not to do your acts of righteousness before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. 2 So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Matt 6:16 When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18 so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

What is Jesus’ view of the performance of religious activities? How is this consistent with his view of obedience as flowing from a pure heart?


Jesus' Objection to Hypocrisy

Matt 12:1 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. 2 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, "Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath." 3 He answered, "Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 4 He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests. 5 Or have you not read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple desecrate the day and yet are innocent?....7 If you had known what these words mean, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice,' [Hosea 6:6 ] you would not have condemned the innocent. 8 For the son of man is lord of the Sabbath." Under which conditions, according to Jesus, can a Jew violate the Sabbath? How does Jesus defend his view?


The Possibility of Breaking the Law in Order to Uphold the Law

Luke 13:10 On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, 11 and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, "Woman, you are set free from your infirmity." 13 Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God. 14 Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue ruler said to the people, "There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath." 15 The Lord answered him, "You hypocrites! Doesn't each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? 16 Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?" 17 When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing. What is the view of Jesus’s critics concerning healing on the Sabbath? What is their interpretive principle for dealing with conflicts in the Law? What is Jesus’ interpretive principle?



Luke 14:1 One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched. 2 There in front of him was a man suffering from dropsy [swelling of soft tissues]. 3 Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the law, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?" 4 But they remained silent. So taking hold of the man, he healed him and sent him away. 5 Then he asked them, "If one of you has a son or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull him out?" 6 And they had nothing to say. How does Jesus argue for the validity of healing on the Sabbath? What does this imply about his view of the Law?



John 5:5 One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, "Do you want to get well?" 7 "Sir," the invalid replied, "I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me." 8 Then Jesus said to him, "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk." 9 At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, 10 and so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, "It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat." 11 But he replied, "The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’" 12 So they asked him, "Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?" 13 The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there….16 So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jews persecuted him. 17Jesus said to them, "My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working." How did Jesus defend act of his healing on the Sabbath?

Jesus’ View of the LawThe Possibility of Breaking the Law in Order to Uphold the Law

Wooden Combs from Qumran

Mount of Beatitudes

Silver Denarius

Obverse: Portrait of Tiberius with Inscription: TI CAESAR DIVI AVG F AVGVSTVS ("Tiberius Caesar son of divine Augustus son of Augustus")

Reverse: Livia, mother of Tiberius and wife of Augustus, as Pax seated, with inscription PONTIF MAXIM ("Pontifex Maximus")

Matt 5:33 "Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.' 34 But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God's throne; 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. 36 And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. 37 Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.

Why does Jesus reject the Torah’s allowance of taking oaths? How is this consistent with his view of the Torah as having a center?

Jesus' Assumption of Authority over the Law

Jesus’ Assumption of Authority over the Law

Mark 10:1 Jesus then left that place and went into the region of Judea and across the Jordan. Again crowds of people came to him, and as was his custom, he taught them. 2 Some Pharisees came and tested him by asking, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?" 3 "What did Moses command you?" he replied. 4 They said, "Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away." 5 "It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law," Jesus replied. 6 "But at the beginning of creation God `made them male and female.' [Gen. 1:27] 7 ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, 8 and the two will become one flesh.' [Gen. 2:24] So they are no longer two, but one. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate." 10 When they were in the house again, the disciples asked Jesus about this. 11 He answered, "Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. 12 And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery." Why does Jesus reject the Torah’s allowance of divorce? What is his view of the original intention of divorce, in his view?


Matthew 5:38 "You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.' 39 But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone hits you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40 And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. 41 If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. 42 Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. How does Jesus correct the Torah? What might his view have been of the original intention of the commandment?


Matthew 5:21 "You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.' 22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, 'Raca' [fool] is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell.

How does Jesus intensify the commandment against murder?


Matt 5:43 "You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' 44 But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (See Deut 18:13 :"You must be perfect before Yahweh your God" .)How does Jesus modify the commandment to love one’s neighbor? In is view, in what way is God perfect?


Matt 5:27 You have heard that it was said, "You shall not commit adultery." 28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

How does Jesus modify the Torah’s prohibition against adultery?

The Validity of the Law

Matthew 5:17 Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.

18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.

19 Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. How does Jesus view the Law? How does the Law relate to the Kingdom of Heaven (God)?

The Validity of the Law

Luke 16:17 It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the least stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law.

How does Jesus view the Law?

Jesus and the Temple

Mark 11:15 Then they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were buying and selling in the Temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves; 16 and He would not permit anyone to carry merchandise through the temple. 17 And he began to teach and say to them, "Is it not written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations'? (Is 56:7) But you have made it a robbers' den'." (Jer 7:11). 18 The chief priests and the scribes heard this, and began seeking how to destroy him; for they were afraid of him, for the whole crowd was astonished at His teaching. 19 When evening came, they would go out of the city.Why does Jesus respond as he does to the money changers and merchants in the Temple? How does he use scripture to make his point?

Jesus and the Law. Jar from Qumran Rule of the Congregation (1QSa)

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