Kingdom Come

“And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave THEM power / authority...and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans / corrupted Judaism…But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel…saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 10:1-18)

The “lost sheep” of the house of Israel are not the entire flock, but the educated leaders who have lost their way and are leading the entire flock astray. Only mentioned briefly in scripture, no doubt because at the time their background was so well-known, they were formidable force against whom this ragged itinerant preacher and his small band of followers were simply a joke. 

 The Sadducees were the aristocrats.  A family known as the Hasmoneans, ultimately led by the famous Judah Maccabee, rose to power winning the rebellion against the evil Antiochus Epiphanes when he tried to stamp out Judaism altogether. Hanukkah is celebrated to this day in place of Christmas for his conquest of Jerusalem and the purification and rededication of the Temple in 164 b.c. Judah went on to successfully establish an autonomous Jewish state, absorb a number of neighboring Semitic peoples into the Jewish people, and in 161 b.c.e. establish an military alliance with Rome.

Its no wonder he and his family were considered the Saviors of Israel. After his untimely death in battle his brothers Jonathan and Simeon continued to extend the borders of Judea. The political appointment of Jonathan to the high priesthood in 152 b.c. made this office one of the Hasmonean dynasty’s main sources of power. In 140 the Great Assembly in Jerusalem decreed Simeon high priest, in place of the Levitical dynasty established by Moses, as well as commander – i.e. Melchizedek –  and made these offices hereditary.

• Simeon’s son, John *Hyrcanus (134–104 b.c.e.) conquered Samaria, portions of Transjordan, and Idumea and forcibly converted the Idumeans to Judaism.
  • • John’s heir, *Aristobulus i (104–103 b.c.), was the first Hasmonean to give himself the title of king.
      • His brother Alexander Yannai (103–76 b.c.) was king and high priest during the zenith of the Hasmonaean power and extent of its borders
        • The Romans allowed the oldest son of Alexander Yannai, *Hyrcanus II, to remain high priest and ethnarch but abolished the monarchy and detached large areas from Judea.
          • *Antigonus Mattathias was the last of the Hasmoneans, dying in 37 b.c. at the hands of the Romans.

However, the Idumean Herod, a strong ally of Rome, had forged strong political connections by marriage to Hyrcanus’ granddaughter, making his sons Alexander and Aristobulus and grandson Herod Agrippa extremely popular due to their Hasmonean lineage. Agrippa spent part of his upbringing in Rome, where he developed advantageous friendships with future Roman emperors, including Caligula and Claudius, which later helped him secure his kingship in Judea.

In brief, the Sadducees were extremely well-connected politically and Jesus had no earthly chance of usurping their kingdom, and their power, and their glory.

The Pharisees (Hebrew: Perushim) emerged as an alternative to the sole authority of the Sadducee’s high priesthood as a party of laymen and scribes. Something like the Protestants vs the Roman Catholic Church. The Sadducees, like the Protestants with sola scriptura, refused to accept any precept as binding unless it was based directly on the Torah—i.e., the Written Law. The Pharisees, like the Catholics, on the other hand, believed that the Law that God gave to Moses included the oral traditions of the Jewish people and evolution of the law –  humans must use their reason in interpreting the Torah and applying it to contemporary problems. It was because of this progressive tendency of the Pharisees that their interpretation has remained a living force in Judaism.

How God feels about that can be recognized by Jesus’ attitude toward this practice.

“Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying…ye…made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition. Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth…but their heart is far from me…[explaining why] I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” (Matthew 15:1-8, 24)

Jesus spent most of his time disputing with these rulers of the Jews. Don’t miss the defiance and deliberate provocation as Jesus faces off against the enemy of the most powerful force in Creation – God’s Word!

“There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and let it out to

1. husbandmen, and went into a far country: And when the time of the fruit drew near,
2. he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it…
3. last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son.

But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance [both ruler- and land owner- ship]….And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them.” (Matthew 21)

“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!…for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves…Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation / a people bringing forth the fruits thereof.” (Matthew 23:14-15, 43)

Just like “Washington” refers not only to the city location but more importantly to the people in government, the “kingdom” that is taken away is not the entire nation of Israel, but the governors of the nation.

Following the trail of events recorded in the book of the Acts of the apostles, we find that for at least the first 20-30 years after Jesus’ death and resurrection the good news of the arrival of the Messiah / Christ and the coming of the kingdom of God, the apostles followed Jesus’ instructions to “go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel”, establishing that the early church was a sect of Judaism.

The shift from a purely a Jewish sect to an international assembly led by Gentiles becomes apparent if we organize the books in the order and the context in which they were written. While the dates the books of the New Testament can’t be known with absolute certainty, the order and historical context in which books were written is what matters, and can be determined for the most part by internal evidence.

Chronological New Testament

15-34 AD, from Acts 22:3 – Saul, means Asked or Questioned, indicative of his zealous studies at the highest level as a Pharisee, studies the Law under Gamaliel, opposes Jesus & denounces his sect. (On a side note, this is still a common name with the same meaning in Arabic, pronounced as “Sha-ul”, which to my personal delight is the family name of my granddaughter’s boyfriend.)

29, Crucifixion, Holy Spirit given at Pentecost, apostles and Jewish believers continue meeting in the temple. 

30-31, from Acts 2-8:1 And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven…Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, Cretes and Arabians, strangers /aliens, non-citizens of Rome, [ethnic] Jews and proselytes / converts to Judaism from membership in their national pagan religion to which every citizen must adhere, notably at Rome. Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour…And as they spake unto the people, 1) the priests, 2) and the captain of the temple, 3) and the Sadducees, came upon them, Being grieved that they [usurping their prerogatives and authority] taught the people [of Israel].

And in those days [before any Gentiles had been converted] when the number of the disciples [of Jesus as the Messiah of Israel] was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the [Jewish in religion but cultural in lifestyle due to the diaspora] Grecians against the [strict kosher] Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration [of their normal food]…

certain of the 1) [Grecian] synagogue [which had syncretized Judaism with Greek philosophy into Hellenistic Judaism], which is called the synagogue of the Libertines [freedom from restrictive practices], and [other culturally adapted sects of Judaism] 2) Cyrenians, and 3) Alexandrians, and of them of 4) Cilicia and of 5) Asia, disputing with Stephen [of the fundamentalist Messianic assembly in Jerusalem].” 

And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul / an assembly of believers. And at that time there was a great persecution [by the politically powerful Jewish rulers] against the church / assembly of Jewish believers in Yeshua ha Messiah which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles [who stayed at ground zero facing the opposition.]

32-34 from Acts 8 Stephen stoned under persecution of Messianic Jewish sect by Jewish religious rulers including the Pharisee Saul. They [Jewish believers in Jesus as the Promised Savior] which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen travelled as far as Phenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only

34-37, from Acts 9 When Saul, a prominent fundamentalist Jewish legal authority joins Messianic sect, his previous colleagues target him for death, indicating how great a threat he posed to their authority over their students. He is smuggled out of Judea by his supporters, and from then on he known not by his Hebrew name, but by the Gentile name of Paul, meaning “little” – obviously he is being belittled by his former colleagues.

40, from Acts 10-11 Cornelius is the first uncircumcised Gentile accepted as a convert to Messianic Judaism by Peter, whose authority is based on his intimate association with Jesus.

43, from Acts 11:20-26 some [Messianic Jews]…of Cyprus and Cyrene [notable international crossroads]…when they were come to Antioch [another major international crossroads], spake unto the Grecians…and a great number believed. Then…the church which was in Jerusalem…sent forth…Barnabas and Saul…unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the [now mixed population] church, and taught much people. “Lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit.” (Hebrews 4:11-12)