The Life of Jesus of Nazareth written by Rush Rhees
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Rush Rhees >> The Life of Jesus of Nazareth
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The Life of Jesus of Nazareth
_A Study_
By
Rush Rhees
1902
_Copyright, 1900,_
By Charles Scribner's Sons
To
C. W. McC.
In Recognition of Wise Counsel, Generous Help and Loving Appreciation
"_I would preach ... the need to the world of the faith
in a Christ, the claim that Jesus is the Christ, and the demand
for an intelligent faith, which indeed shall transcend but shall
not despise knowledge, or neglect to have a knowledge to
transcend._"--John Patterson Coyle
Preface
The aim of this book is to help thoughtful readers of the gospels to
discern more clearly the features of him whom those writings inimitably
portray. It is avowedly a study rather than a story, and as a companion to
the reading of the gospels it seeks to answer some of the questions which
are raised by a sympathetic consideration of those narratives. These
answers are offered in an unargumentative way, even where the questions
are still in debate among scholars. This method has been adopted because
technical discussion would be of interest to but few of those whom the
book hopes to serve. On some of the questions a non-committal attitude is
taken in the belief that for the understanding of the life of Jesus it is
of little importance which way the decision finally goes. Less attention
has been given to questions of geography and archaeology than to those
which have a more vital biographical significance.
A word concerning the point of view adopted. The church has inherited a
rich treasure of doctrine concerning its Lord, the result of patient study
and, frequently, of heated controversy. It is customary to approach the
gospels with this interpretation of Christ as a premise, and such a study
has some unquestionable advantages. With the apostles and evangelists,
however, the recognition of the divine nature of Jesus was a conclusion
from their acquaintance with him. The Man of Nazareth was for them
primarily a man, and they so regarded him until he showed them that he was
more. Their knowledge of him progressed in the natural way from the human
to the divine. The gospels, particularly the first three, are marvels of
simplicity and objectivity. Their authors clearly regarded Jesus as the
Man from heaven; yet in their thinking they were dominated by the
influence of a personal Lord rather than by the force of an accepted
doctrine. It is with no lack of reverence for the importance and truth of
the divinity of Christ that this book essays to bring the Man Jesus before
the mind in the reading of the gospels. The incarnation means that God
chose to reveal the divine through a human life, rather than through a
series of propositions which formulate truth (Heb. i. 1-4). The most
perennially refreshing influence for Christian life and thought is
personal discipleship to that Revealer who is able to-day as of old to
exhibit in his humanity those qualities which compel the recognition of
God manifest in the flesh.
An Appendix is added to furnish references to the wide literature of the
subject for the aid of those who wish to study it more extensively and
technically; also to discuss some questions of detail which could not be
considered in the text. This appendix will indicate the extent of my
indebtedness to others. I would acknowledge special obligation to
Professor Ernest D. Burton, of the University of Chicago, for generous
help and permission to use material found in his "Notes on the Life of
Jesus;" to Professor Shailer Mathews, also of Chicago, for very valuable
criticisms; to my colleague, Professor Charles Rufus Brown, for most
serviceable assistance; and to the editors of this series for helpful
suggestions and criticism during the making of the book. An unmeasured
debt is due to another who has sat at my side during the writing of these
pages, and has given constant inspiration, most discerning criticism, and
practical aid.
The Newton Theological Institution, April, 1900.
Contents
Part I
Preparatory
I
The Historical Situation
Sections 1-19. Pages 1-20
Section 1. The Roman estimate of Judea. 2, 3. Herod the Great and his
sons. 4. Roman procurators in Palestine. 5. Taxes. 6. The army. 7.
Administration of justice. 8. The Sadducees. 9,10. The Pharisees. 11.
The Zealots. 12. The Essenes. 13. The Devout. 14. Herodians and
Samaritans. 15. The synagogue. 16. Life under the law. 17. The
Messianic hope. 18. Contemporary literature. 19. Language of Palestine.
II
Sources of Our Knowledge of Jesus
Sections 20-35. Pages 21-37
Section 20. The testimony of Paul. 21. Secular history. 22. The written
gospels. 23. Characteristics of the first gospel. 24. Of the second.
25. Of the third. 26-30. The synoptic problem. 31-32. The Johannine
problem. 34. The two narrative sources. 35. Agrapha and Apocrypha.
III
The Harmony of the Gospels
Sections 36-44. Pages 38-14
Section 36. The value of four gospels. 37. Tatian's Diatessaron. 38.
Agreement of the gospels concerning the chief events. 39. The principal
problems. 40. Relation of Mark and John. 41, 42. Matthew and Luke. 43.
Doublets. 44. The degree of certainty attainable.
IV
The Chronology
Sections 45-57. Pages 45-56
Sections 45-48. The length of Jesus' public ministry. 49. Date of the
first Passover. 50. Date of the crucifixion. 51-56. Date of the
nativity. 57. Summary.
V
The Early Years of Jesus
Sections 58-71. Pages 57-69
Section 58. Apocryphal stories. 59. Silence of the New Testament
outside the gospels. 60-62. The miraculous birth. 63. The childhood of
Jesus. 64. Home. 65. Religion, Education. 66. Growth. 67. Religious
development. 68. The view from Nazareth. 69 The first visit to
Jerusalem. 70-71. The carpenter of Nazareth.
VI
John the Baptist
Sections 72-84. Pages 70-81
Section 72. The gospel picture. 73. Notice by Josephus. 74.
Characteristics of the prophet 75-78. John's relation to the Essenes;
the Pharisees; the Zealots; the Apocalyptists. 79. John and the
Prophets. 80-82. Origin of his baptism. 83. His greatness. 84. His
limitations and self-effacement.
VII
The Messianic Call
Sections 85-96. Pages 82-91
Sections 85, 86. John and Jesus. 87. The baptism of Jesus. 88, 89. The
Messianic call. 90. The gift of the Spirit. 91-94. The temptation. 95.
Source of the narrative. 96. The issue.
VIII
The First Disciples
Sections 97-105. Pages 92-97
Section 97. John at Bethany beyond Jordan. 98. The deputation from the
priests. 99. John's first testimony. 100. The first disciples. 101. The
early Messianic confessions. 102. The visit to Cana. 103. The miracles
as disclosures of the character of Jesus. 104. Jesus and his mother.
105. Removal to Capernaum.
Part II
The Ministry
I
General Survey of the Ministry
Sections 106-112. Pages 101-105
Section 106. The early Judean ministry. 107. Withdrawal to Galilee; a
new beginning. 108. The ministry in Galilee a unit. 109. Best studied
topically. 110. The last journey to Jerusalem. 111. The last week. 112.
The resurrection and ascension.
II
The Early Judean Ministry
Sections 113-124. Pages 106-114
Outline of events in the Early Judean ministry. Section 113. The
opening ministry at Jerusalem. 114. The record incomplete. 115. The
cleansing of the temple. 116. Relation to synoptic account. 117. Jesus'
reply to the challenge of his authority. 118. The reserve of Jesus.
119. Discourse with Nicodemus. 120. Measure of success in Jerusalem.
121. The Baptist's last testimony. 122. The arrest of John. 123. The
second sign at Cana. 124. Summary.
III
The Ministry in Galilee--Its Aim and Method
Sections 125-149. Pages 115-137
Outline of events in the Galilean ministry. Section 125. General view.
126, 127. Development of popular enthusiasm. 128. Pharisaic opposition.
129, 130. Jesus and the Messianic hope. 131. Injunctions of silence.
132-135. Jesus' twofold aim in Galilee. 136, 137. Character of the
teaching of this period: the sermon on the mount. 138. The parables.
139. The instructions for the mission of the twelve. 140. Jesus' tone
of authority. 141. His mighty works. 142-144. Demoniac possession. 145.
Jesus' personal influence. 146. The feeding of the five thousand. 147,
148. Revulsion of popular feeling. 149. Results of the work in Galilee.
IV
The Ministry in Galilee--The New Lesson
Sections 150-165. Pages 138-152
Section 150. The changed ministry. 151. The question of tradition. 152.
Further pharisaic opposition. 153. Jesus in Phoenicia. 154. Confirmation
of the disciples' faith. 155. The question at Caesarea Philippi. 156.
The corner-stone of the Church. 157-159. The new lesson. 160. The
transfiguration. 161. Cure of the epileptic boy. 162. The feast of
Tabernacles. 163. Story of Jesus and the adulteress. 164. The new note
in Jesus' teaching. 165. Summary of the Galilean ministry.
V
The Journey through Perea to Jerusalem
Sections 166-176. Pages 153-165
Outline of events. Section 166. The Perean ministry. 167. Account in
John. 168, 169. Account in Luke. 170. The mission of the seventy. 171.
The feast of Dedication. 172. Withdrawal beyond Jordan. 173. The
raising of Lazarus. 174. Ephraim and Jericho. 175,176. Summary.
VI
The Final Controversies in Jerusalem
Sections 177-188. Pages 166-180
Outline of events in the last week of Jesus' life. Section 177. The
cross in apostolic preaching. 178. The anointing in Bethany. 179. The
Messianic entry. 180. The barren fig-tree. 181. The Monday of Passion
week. 182-186. The controversies of Tuesday. 187. Judas. 188.
Wednesday, the day of seclusion.
VII
The Last Supper
Sections 189-195. Pages 181-187
Section 189. Preparations. 190,191. Date of the supper. 192. The lesson
of humility. 193. The new covenant. 194. The supper and the Passover.
195. Farewell words of admonition and comfort; the intercessory prayer.
VIII
The Shadow of Death
Sections 196-208. Pages 188-200
Sections 196, 197. Gethsemane. 198. The betrayal. 199. The trial. 200.
Peter's denials. 201. The rejection of Jesus. 202. The greatness of
Jesus. 203, 204. The crucifixion. 205. The words from the cross. 206.
The death of Jesus. 207. The burial. 208. The Sabbath rest.
IX
The Resurrection
Sections 209-222. Pages 201-216
Section 209. The primary Christian fact. 210. The incredulity of the
disciples. 211-216. The appearances of the risen Lord. 217-220. Efforts
to explain the belief in the resurrection. 221. The ascension. 222. The
new faith of the disciples.
Part III
The Minister
I
The Friend of Men
Sections 223-229. Pages 219-225
Section 223. The contrast between Jesus' attitude and John's towards
common social life. 224. Contrast with the scribes. 225, 226. His
interest in simple manhood. 227. Regard for human need. 228, 229.
Sensitiveness to human sympathy.
II
The Teacher with Authority
Sections 230-241. Pages 226-237
Section 230. Contrast between Jesus and the scribes. 231. His appeal to
the conscience. His attitude to the Old Testament. 234. His teaching
occasional. 235. The patience of his method. 236. His use of
illustration. 237. Parable. 238. Irony and hyperbole. 239. Object
lessons. 240. Jesus' intellectual superiority. 241. His chief theme,
the kingdom of God.
III
Jesus' Knowledge of Truth
Sections 242-251. Pages 238-248
Sections 242, 243. Jesus' supernatural knowledge. 244. His predictions
of his death. 245. Of his resurrection. 246. His apocalyptic
predictions. 247, 248. Limitation of his knowledge. 249, 250. Jesus and
demoniac possession. 251. His certainty of his own mission.
IV
Jesus' Conception of Himself
Sections 252-275. Pages 249-269.
Section 252. Jesus' confidence in his calling. 253. His independence in
teaching. 254. His self-assertions in response to pharisaic criticism.
255. His desire to beget faith in himself. 256,257. His extraordinary
personal claim. 258. His acceptance of Messianic titles. 259-266. The
Son of Man. 267-269. The Son of God. 270, 271. His consciousness of
oneness with God. 272. His confession of dependence; his habit of
prayer. 273. No confession of sin. 274, 275. The Word made flesh.
Appendix
Index of Names and Subjects
Index of Biblical References
Map of Palestine
Part I
Preparatory
I
The Historical Situation
1. When Tacitus, the Roman historian, records the attempt of Nero to
charge the Christians with the burning of Rome, he has patience for no
more than the cursory remark that the sect originated with a Jew who had
been put to death in Judea during the reign of Tiberius. This province was
small and despised, and Tacitus could account for the influence of the
sect which sprang thence only by the fact that all that was infamous and
abominable flowed into Rome. The Roman's scornful judgment failed to grasp
the nature and power of the movement whose unpopularity invited Nero's
lying accusation, yet it emphasizes the significance of him who did "not
strive, nor cry, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street," whose
influence, nevertheless, was working as leaven throughout the empire.
2. Palestine was not under immediate Roman rule when Jesus was born. Herod
the Great was drawing near the close of the long reign during which, owing
to his skill in securing Roman favor, he had tyrannized over his unwilling
people. His claim was that of an adventurer who had power to succeed, even
as his method had been that of a suspicious tyrant, who murdered right and
left, lest one of the many with better right than he should rise to
dispute with him his throne. When Herod died, his kingdom was divided
into three parts, and Rome asserted a fuller sovereignty, allowing none of
his sons to take his royal title. Herod's successors ruled with a measure
of independence, however, and followed many of their father's ways, though
none of them had his ability. The best of them was Philip, who had the
territory farthest from Jerusalem, and least related to Jewish life. He
ruled over Iturea and Trachonitis, the country to the north and east of
the Sea of Galilee, having his capital at Caesarea Philippi, a city built
and named by him on the site of an older town near the sources of the
Jordan. He also rebuilt the city of Bethsaida, at the point where the
Jordan flows into the Sea of Galilee, calling it Julias, after the
daughter of Augustus. Philip enters the story of the life of Jesus only as
the ruler of these towns and the intervening region, and as husband of
Salome, the daughter of Herodias. Living far from Jerusalem and the Jewish
people, he abandoned even the show of Judaism which characterized his
father, and lived as a frank heathen in his heathen capital.
3. The other two who inherited Herod's dominion were brothers, Archelaus
and Antipas, sons of Malthace, one of Herod's many wives. Archelaus had
been designated king by Herod, with Judea, Samaria, and Idumea as his
kingdom; but the emperor allowed him only the territory, with the title
ethnarch. Antipas was named a tetrarch by Herod, and his territory was
Galilee and the land east of the Jordan to the southward of the Sea of
Galilee, called Perea. Antipas was the Herod under whose sway Jesus lived
in Galilee, and who executed John the Baptist. He was a man of passionate
temper, with the pride and love of luxury of his father. Having Jews to
govern, he held, as his father had done, to a show of Judaism, though at
heart he was as much of a pagan as Philip. He, too, loved building, and
Tiberias on the Sea of Galilee was built by him for his capital. His
unscrupulous tyranny and his gross disregard of common righteousness
appear in his relations with John the Baptist and with Herodias, his
paramour. Jesus described him well as "that fox" (Luke xiii. 32), for he
was sly, and worked often by indirection. While his father had energy and
ability which command a sort of admiration, Antipas was not only bad but
weak.
4. Both Philip and Antipas reigned until after the death of Jesus, Philip
dying in A.D. 34, and Antipas being deposed several years later, probably
in 39. Archelaus had a much shorter rule, for he was deposed in A.D. 6,
having been accused by the Jews of unbearable barbarity and tyranny,--a
charge in which Antipas and Philip joined. The territory of Archelaus was
then made an imperial province of the second grade, ruled by a procurator
appointed from among the Roman knights. In provinces under an imperial
legate (propraetor) the procurator was an officer for the administration
of the revenues; in provinces of the rank of Judea he was, however, the
representative of the emperor in all the prerogatives of government,
having command of the army, and being the final resort in legal procedure,
as well as supervising the collection of the customs and taxes. Very
little is known of the procurators appointed after the deposition of
Archelaus, until Tiberius sent Pontius Pilate in A.D. 26. He held office
until he was deposed in 36. Josephus gives several examples of his wanton
disregard of Jewish prejudice, and of his extreme cruelty. His conduct at
the trial of Jesus was remarkably gentle and judicial in comparison with
other acts recorded of his government; yet the fear of trial at Rome,
which finally induced him to give Jesus over to be crucified, was
thoroughly characteristic; in fact, his downfall resulted from a complaint
lodged against him by certain Samaritans whom he had cruelly punished for
a Messianic uprising.
5. There were two sorts of Roman taxes in Judea: direct, which were
collected by salaried officials; and customs, which were farmed out to the
highest bidder. The direct taxes consisted of a land tax and a poll tax,
in the collection of which the procurator made use of the local Jewish
courts; the customs consisted of various duties assessed on exports, and
they were gathered by representatives of men who had bought the right to
collect these dues. The chiefs as well as their underlings are called
publicans in our New Testament, although the name strictly applies only to
the chiefs. These tax-gatherers, small and great, were everywhere despised
and execrated, because, in addition to their subserviency to a hated
government, they had a reputation, usually deserved, for all sorts of
extortion. Because of this evil repute they were commonly drawn from the
unscrupulous among the people, so that the frequent coupling of publicans
and sinners in the gospels probably rested on fact as much as on
prejudice.
6. In Samaria and Judea soldiers were under the command of the procurator;
they took orders from the tetrarch, in Galilee and Perea. The garrison of
Jerusalem consisted of one Roman cohort--from five to six hundred
men--which was reinforced at the time of the principal feasts. These and
the other forces at the disposal of the procurator were probably recruited
from the country itself, largely from among the Samaritans. The centurion
of Capernaum (Matt. viii. 5; Luke vii. 2-5) was an officer in the army of
Antipas, who, however, doubtless organized his army on the Roman pattern,
with officers who had had their training with the imperial forces.
7. The administration of justice in Samaria and Judea was theoretically in
the hands of the procurator; practically, however, it was left with the
Jewish courts, either the local councils or the great sanhedrin at
Jerusalem. This last body consisted of seventy-one "elders." Its president
was the high-priest, and its members were drawn in large degree from the
most prominent representatives of the priestly aristocracy. The scribes,
however, had a controlling influence because of the reverence in which the
multitude held them. The sanhedrin of Jerusalem had jurisdiction only
within the province of Judea, where it tried all kinds of offences; its
judgment was final, except in capital cases, when it had to yield to the
procurator, who alone could sentence to death. It had great influence also
in Galilee, and among Jews everywhere, but this was due to the regard all
Jews had for the holy city. It was, in fact, a sort of Jewish senate,
which took cognizance of everything that seemed to affect the Jewish
interests. In Galilee and Perea, Antipas held in his hands the judicial as
well as the military and financial administration.
8. To the majority of the priests religion had become chiefly a form.
They represented the worldly party among the Jews. Since the days of the
priest-princes who ruled in Jerusalem after the return from the exile,
they had constituted the Jewish aristocracy, and held most of the wealth
of the people. It was to their interest to maintain the ritual and the
traditional customs, and they were proud of their Jewish heritage; of
genuine interest in religion, however, they had little. This secular
priestly party was called the Sadducees, probably from Zadok, the
high-priest in Solomon's time. What theology the Sadducees had was for the
most part reactionary and negative. They were opposed to the more earnest
spirit and new thought of the scribes, and naturally produced some
champions who argued for their theological position; but the mass of them
cared for other things.
9. The leaders of the popular thought, on the other hand, were chiefly
noted for their religious zeal and theological acumen. They represented
the outgrowth of that spirit which in the Maccabean time had risked all to
defend the sanctity of the temple and the right of God's people to worship
him according to his law. They were known as Pharisees, because, as the
name ("separated") indicates, they insisted on the separation of the
people of God from all the defilements and snares of the heathen life
round about them. The Pharisees constituted a fraternity devoted to the
scrupulous observance of law and tradition in all the concerns of daily
life. They were specialists in religion, and were the ideal
representatives of Judaism. Their distinguishing characteristic was
reverence for the law; their religion was the religion of a book. By
punctilious obedience of the law man might hope to gain a record of merit
which should stand to his credit and secure his reward when God should
finally judge the world. Because life furnished many situations not dealt
with in the written law, there was need of its authoritative
interpretation, in order that ignorance might not cause a man to
transgress. These interpretations constituted an oral law which
practically superseded the written code, and they were handed down from
generation to generation as "the traditions of the fathers." The existence
of this oral law made necessary a company of scribes and lawyers whose
business it was to know the traditions and transmit them to their pupils.
These scribes were the teachers of Israel, the leaders of the Pharisees,
and the most highly revered class in the community. Pharisaism at its
beginning was intensely earnest, but in the time of Jesus the earnest
spirit had died out in zealous formalism. This was the inevitable result
of their virtual substitution of the written law for the living God. Their
excessive reverence had banished God from practical relation to the daily
life. They held that he had declared his will once for all in the law. His
name was scrupulously revered, his worship was cultivated with minutest
care, his judgment was anticipated with dread; but he himself, like an
Oriental monarch, was kept far from common life in an isolation suitable
to his awful holiness. By a natural consequence conscience gave place to
scrupulous regard for tradition in the religion of the scribes. The chief
question with them was not, Is this right? but, What say the elders? The
soul's sensitiveness of response to God's will and God's truth was lost in
a maze of traditions which awoke no spontaneous Amen in the moral nature,
consequently there was frequent substitution of reputation for character.
The Pharisees could make void the command, Honor thy father, by an
ingenious application of the principle of dedication of property to God
(Mark vii. 8-13), and thus under the guise of scrupulous regard for law
discovered ways for legal disregard of law. Their theory of religion gave
abundant room for a piety which made broad its phylacteries and lengthened
its prayers, while neglecting judgment, mercy, and the love of God.
10. Yet the earnest and true development in Jewish thinking was found
among the Pharisees. The early hope of Israel was almost exclusively
national. In the later books of the Old Testament, in connection with an
enlarged sense of the importance of the individual, the doctrine of a
personal resurrection to share the blessings of the Messiah's kingdom
began to appear. It had its clear development and definite adoption as
part of the faith of Judaism, however, under the influence of the
Pharisees. Along with this increased emphasis on the worth of the
individual came a large development of the doctrine of angels and spirits.
Towards both of these doctrines the Sadducees took a reactionary position.
Politically the Pharisees were theocratic in theory, but opportunists in
practice, accommodating themselves to the existing state of things so long
as the _de facto_ government did not interfere with the religious life of
the people. They looked for a kingdom in which God should be evidently the
king of his people; but they believed that his sovereignty was to be
realized through the law, hence their sole interest was in the obedience
of God's people to that law as interpreted by the traditions.
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