Inter-testamental Period

Order of Service

• Sunday School Lesson — Inter-testamental Period
• Scripture Reading — Mark 12:13-17
• Scripture Reading — Mark 12:18-27
• Discussion
• Prayer of Dismissal

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Sermon Title: The Inter-testamental Period

Scripture: Mark 12:13-27

I. The Political Landscape at the Birth of Christ

A. The Roman conquest of Israel (63 BC) under Pompey ended ~80 years of Maccabean political and religious freedom

B. Rome's approach to ruling Israel differed from the Greeks

1. The Greeks attempted forced Hellenization, creating repeated conflict
2. The Romans allowed relative religious freedom, including temple sacrifice

C. Herod the Great (reigning from ~40 BC) was placed as vassal king over Israel

1. Known for massive building projects, including a greatly expanded and ornate temple
2. Known for cruelty — willing to slaughter infant boys in Bethlehem to eliminate a rival king (Matthew 2)
3. Known for having approximately 10 wives and many sons, several of whom appear throughout the Gospels
4. Included wings for pagan worship (and self-worship) in the expanded temple complex — evidence of syncretism

D. Jewish longing for a conquering Messiah grew under Herod's cruel rule

1. The people hoped for political liberation from Roman occupation
2. This expectation shaped how they received and misunderstood Jesus

II. The Religious Landscape — Origins of the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes

A. The Maccabean Revolt (166 BC) was sparked by Mattathias, a Jewish priest who refused to sacrifice on a pagan altar

1. He and his sons waged guerrilla warfare against the Hellenizers
2. His son Judas led the cleansing and rededication of the temple in 164 BC
3. The Hasidim (pious Jews) rallied to join the revolt

B. By ~140 BC, under Jonathan (fifth son of Mattathias), the Hasidim fractured into three groups: Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes

C. Philip Schaff identifies parallels between these groups and Greek philosophical schools

1. Pharisees ~ Jewish Stoics: traditional orthodoxy, legal self-righteousness, formalism
2. Sadducees ~ Jewish Epicureans: skeptical, rationalistic, worldly
3. Essenes ~ Jewish Mystics

D. The Pharisees (Philip Schaff)

1. Represented stiff formalism and fanatical bigotry
2. Added oral traditions that effectively nullified Scripture
3. Laid heavy religious burdens on the people — contrasted with Jesus' invitation in Matthew 11:28-30

E. The Sadducees (Philip Schaff)

1. Accepted the written Scriptures (especially the Pentateuch) but rejected oral tradition
2. Denied the resurrection, immortality of the soul, angels, spirits, and providence
3. Numbered among the wealthy; held the high priesthood (e.g., Caiaphas)

III. Jesus Confronting These Groups in Mark 12

A. Pharisees and Herodians attempt to trap Jesus over taxation — Mark 12:13-17

1. "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's"
2. Implication: the Pharisees were failing to render to God what belongs to God

B. Sadducees challenge Jesus on the resurrection — Mark 12:18-27

1. Their hypothetical question about levirate marriage assumes resurrection is absurd
2. Jesus rebukes them: "You know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God"
3. God declared himself the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob — he is the God of the living

C. Jesus taught with authority unlike the scribes and Pharisees — Matthew 7:28-29

IV. Lessons and Applications from the Inter-testamental Period

A. God sovereignly preserved the messianic line through centuries of upheaval — seen in the genealogy of Jesus (cf. Matthew 1)

B. Parallels to the present age

1. We also live between redemptive epochs — between the Incarnation and the return of Christ
2. Competing interpretations of Scripture abound, as in the intertestamental period
3. The pull toward syncretism — mixing worldly ideas with scriptural truth — is real and must be resisted

C. Key differences from Israel's situation

1. We live in light of the completed Incarnation and the full canon of Scripture
2. The church is a spiritual kingdom, not a political theocracy
3. The desire for a unifying political-religious leader reflects the wrong messianic impulse

D. The proper biblical response to affliction and upheaval is repentance, not self-righteousness

1. Seen in Daniel — Daniel 9
2. Seen in Esther — corporate fasting and humility before God
3. The Jewish sects largely missed this, pursuing external purity rather than contrite repentance
4. The church today largely neglects fasting; Jesus assumed his disciples would fast after his departure