NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER THREE

Part III

One well-known traveler in the Medieval Period gives us a very descriptive view of the Jordan River in the days of Jesus and John the Baptizer. I’ve left this quote in its original English text so you can see how thoughts were expressed back then:

“The river Jordanis¹ springeth from the Fountain Paneades,² which gave the surname to Cæsarea, whereof we will speak. It is a pleasant River, and so far as the situation of the country will permit, spacious, offering itself to the neighboring inhabitants; and reluctantly, as it were, it passeth to the Lake Asphaltites,³ cursed by nature: by which it is swallowed up; it loseth its own esteemed waters, by their becoming mixed with those of the Pestilential Lake. And therefore upon the first opportunity of any valleys, it poureth itself into a lake, which many call Genesara,⁴ which is 16 miles long and 5 broad. This environed with beautiful towns; on the east side with Julias⁵¹⁹ and Hippo⁶ on the south with Tarichea⁷ by which a name the lake is by some called; and on the west with Tiberias,⁸ an healthful place on account of the hot waters.⁹”¹⁰

Also, another Greek traveler and geographer who lived during the time of emperors Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius, shares this story of an occasion when he visited the Holy Land. “And in the land of the Hebrews I myself saw a certain river Jordan passing through a lake named Tiberias, and entering another lake called the Dead Sea, in which it is swallowed up. The properties of the Dead Sea are the opposite of those of every other water; for living creatures float on its surface without swimming, and dead ones go to the bottom. Therefore there are no fish in the lake, for the fish see the danger and flee back to the water that suits them.”¹¹ So we can see, that even from the time of John the Baptizer many visitors and locals speak of Jordan as a delightful and beautiful river, just as it was when the Israelites crossed it into the Promised Land under Joshua’s leadership.¹² Was the Jordan River there by pure happenstance? No! Did not God think of this before He chose this land for His children when they came out of Egypt? Yes! Why? Because He already knew that was where He would send His son and His forerunner named John who would go there before Him, and who would use this river to baptize all those who believed his message.

But not everyone down through history has seen this in a positive way. In a classic work of Jewish philosophy, we see how and why Christians are dismissed along with other despised groups. The writer says: “As regards the twin sects, the Sadducees and Boethusians, they were heretical sectarians who denied the World to Come; they are the heretics for whom we pray for their downfall in our prayers. The followers of Jesus are the Baptists who accept the Christian religion, being baptized in the Jordan River. The Karaites, on the other hand, accept the fundamental principles of Judaism, but they reason out particular doctrines by means of logical arguments. While the damage often extends to the root principles, this is all out of foolishness rather than intentional.”¹³ It’s not clear whether this Rabbi saw the ordinance of water baptism in such a negative light because they used the Jordan River, or because they “baptized” them, signifying that they were immersed under water. But even in our so-called enlightened world today, there are those who see water baptism by immersion as nothing more than an initiation rite that does not qualify as anything higher than the hazing administered when joining a Sorority or Fraternity.

Verses 7-8: “Many Pharisees and Sadducees came to where John was baptizing people. When John saw them, he said, ‘You are all the offspring of snakes! Who warned you to run from God’s judgment that is coming? Change your hearts! And show by the way you live that you have changed.‘”

Could it be that the Holy Spirit gave John the Baptizer an inkling about the coming destruction of Jerusalem, and he saw these Jewish religious leaders coming out to hear him like snakes fleeing a burning city? Or was it that John saw that the concoction of religious thought, laws, and practice that had been created by the human mind, was about to be severely diminished, as faith in the Messiah was about to be founded and take hold, increasing rapidly as they looked on in horror? The Pharisees and Sadducees were the two main groups to attack this new repentance movement initiated by John the Baptizer in obedience to the prophecy given by the angel to his father Zechariah.¹⁴ Jewish historian Josephus mentions them in his writings: “For there are three philosophical sects among the Jews. The followers of the first of which are the Pharisees; of the second, the Sadducees; and the third sect called Essenes, which follow a stricter discipline.”¹⁵ They would later focus this denunciation on Jesus of Nazareth. First let’s look at the Pharisees and Sadducees to discover their beginnings and the religious philosophy that drove them to be such defenders of verbal law developed over the centuries, that apparently drove them into conflict with the heralding of the coming Messiah by John the Baptizer and then the Good News brought by Jesus of Nazareth, who said He was the Messiah.

PHARISEES: The word itself comes from a Hebrew word that means: “to set apart, be separate, or divide into.”¹⁶ From this root word came the name “Phares” which we find was the name given to one of the twins born to Judah by Tamar his daughter-in-law.¹⁷ Today they would be called Separatists. They were a religious philosophical Jewish sect whose aim it was to live in such a way that they kept themselves apart from persons or things thought to be impure, in order to attain the highest degree of holiness and righteousness required in those who wanted to a closer communion with God. This is clearly seen in the prayers of the Pharisees and those called “Publicans” or public servants.¹⁸ Their relationship with those in control of the Jewish religion can be liken to Protestants and the Roman Catholic Church during the Protestant Reformation. They first appeared on the scene in Israel in the time between the writing of Malachi in the Old Testament and the beginning events of the New Testament. They emerged out of a group called the Hasidim, which means: “pious ones”, who helped foster what is known as the Maccabean Revolt. You can read about this in the two books contained in most Roman Catholic Editions of the Bible calls 1 & 2 Maccabees. Not long after the revolt, the rising leaders of the Maccabeans became corrupt in the eyes of these pious ones. These descendants of the original Maccabeans had succumbed to Greek influence and had also illegitimately seized control of the office of High Priest. It is out of this pious movement that the Pharisees appeared. The Pharisees then formed a league or brotherhood of their own, admitting only those who, in the presence of three members, pledged themselves to the strict observance of Levitical purity, and to spurn any close association with those they called ignorant and careless peasants. They adhered to a painstaking payment of tithes and other tariffs due to the priest, the Levites, and the poor, and to have a conscientious regard for vows and for other people’s property. They were accordingly scrupulous observers of the Law as interpreted by the Scribes, in accordance with tradition. Therefore, they were opposed to anyone who tampered with the existing written word or spoken word passed down from generation to generation. In the Gospel of Mark we find a candid view of how the Pharisees were seen by the people of their day, “The Pharisees and all the other Jews never eat before washing their hands in a special way. They do this to follow the traditions they have from their great leaders who lived long ago. And when these Jews buy something in the market, they never eat it until they wash it in a special way. They also follow other rules from their people who lived before them. They follow rules like the washing of cups, pitchers, and pots.”¹⁹ This exclusivity was reflected in their arguments and debates, as we can see illustrated in the writings of early church father, Jerome, where he uses the Pharisees as an example of putting words in other people’s mouths when writing to his friend, a Roman senator. “The proofs which you have used against the Jews or against other heretics bear a different meaning in their own contexts to that which you used in your epistles. I see passages manipulated by your pen and pressed into service to win you a victory which in the volumes from which they are taken have no controversial bearing at all. May he not reply to us in the words of the Savior: ‘I have one mode of speech for those that are without and another for those that are within; the crowds hear my parables, but their interpretation is for my disciples alone’?²⁰ The Lord puts questions to the Pharisees, but does not elaborated on them. To teach a disciple is one thing; to vanquish an opponent, another.”²¹ Also, Jerome mentions in another letter about a Christian woman dedicated to the service of the Lord, that “…her delight in the divine scriptures was incredible. She was forever singing, ‘Thy words have I hid in mine heart that I might not sin against thee,’²² as well as the words which describe the perfect man, ‘his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.’²³ This meditation in the law she understood as more than a review of the written words, as the Jews the Pharisees think, but of action according to that saying of the apostle, ‘whether, therefore, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.’²⁴”²⁵ Then again Jerome expounds: “…the Pharisees who separated themselves from the Jews on account of certain superfluous observances, and took their name from the fact of their dissent.”²⁶ This was the Christian’s view of the Pharisees. But the Pharisees’ fellow Jews also had issues with them. For instance, Josephus tells how, “after Alexander left the kingdom to Alexandra his wife, the Pharisees joined in with her to assist her in the government. These are a certain sect of the Jews that appear more religious than others, and seem to interpret the laws more accurately. It seems that Alexandra listened to their advice to an extraordinary degree, since she was herself a woman of great piety towards God. But these Pharisees artfully gained her favor little by little, and became themselves the real administrators of the public affairs: they banished and reduced whom they pleased; they bound and loosed men at their pleasure; and, to agree with one another that they enjoyed the benefits of royal authority, while leaving the expenses and the difficulties of government to Alexandra.”²⁷ Since Josephus wrote this before the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD, it aptly describes the role of the Pharisees during Jesus’ time here on earth. They were strict observers of the traditions, also referred to as the verbal law of the elders. As philosophers they believed both in fate and free will. Jewish historian Josephus also notes this: “Now for the Pharisees, they say that some actions, but not all, are the work of fate, and some of them are in our own power, and that they are liable to fate, but are not caused by fate.”²⁸ They were in harmony with Jesus in that they believed in the resurrection of the dead, and that there were angels and spirits. But they were opposed to Him and His disciples because they did not practice the rules forbidding work on the Sabbath and demanding washing one’s hands before eating. In the Jerusalem Talmud of 200 AD we find it said: “There are seven kinds of Pharisees: The ‘showy Pharisee’ – who carries his good deeds on his shoulder to show them off. The ‘haughty Pharisee’ – who says, ‘wait for me. I am busy using my time to fulfill the commandments! I have no time for you.’ The ‘bookkeeper Pharisee’ – who atones for each sin by performing a good deed. The ‘stingy Pharisee’ – who says ‘From the little I have, what can I set aside for performing good deeds?’ The ‘repaying Pharisee’ – who says, ‘Tell me what sin I have committed and I will perform a good deed to offset it.’ These five types are negative, pompous, ostentatious models. The ‘reverent Pharisee’ – who emulates Job. The ‘loving Pharisee’ – who emulates Abraham.”²⁹ Likewise in the Babylonian Talmud of 500 AD we find where they refer to the “plague of pharisees”, and say that their Rabbis also taught about seven types of Pharisees. By comparison we can see how over some 300 years the definitions and criticisms changed. Their explanation goes as follows: “The shikmi Pharisee — he is one who performs the action of Shechem.³⁰ The nikpi Pharisee — he is one who knocks his feet together.³¹ The kizai Pharisee — the one who butts his head against wall.³² The ‘pestle’ Pharisee — His head is bowed like a pestle in a mortar. The Pharisee who constantly exclaims: ‘Tell me my duty that I may perform it?’ — which to them is a virtue!’³³ The one who is a Pharisee out of love and one who is a Pharisee out of fear³⁴.’”³⁵ When this sect first began, and who the originator was is not easy to say. It is certain, there were great numbers of them during the time of John the Baptist, and of Jesus, and for many years thereafter. The Jews say, that after the Temple was destroyed the second time, the Pharisees, better known as “ascetics”, increased rapidly in large numbers as Israelis joined them, and increased their abstinence from meat and wine. They did this as their way of piously restricting themselves by saying: “Should we eat flesh which used to be brought as an offering on the altar, now that this altar is no longer around? Should we drink wine which used to be poured as a libation on the altar, but is now no longer done?”³⁶ It is interesting that when asked if they were going to stop eating bread because the meal offerings had ceased; and would they no longer eat fruit because there was no longer an offering of first-fruits; of would they cease drinking water because there was no longer a ceremony of water being poured out on the altar, one writer said amazingly: “To this they could find no answer.”³⁷ In spite of this, it makes it even more puzzling as to how the Pharisees, Sadducees, Herodians, Scribes, leading priests and Sanhedrin were able to put aside all their differences in order to oppose Jesus and His message of salvation through grace by His heavenly Father.