Part 4 - Jesus of Nazareth's Ministry Was... To "the Circumcision"

This Article is part of a multi-part Study Series called Christ In Conflict With Religion.

We've established that Jesus of Nazareth's core ministry was specifically to "the house of Israel." Lets now consider the relationship between Jesus of Nazareth and Israel's hypocritical religious leaders as seen in the gospels.

The Nation Israel was still under the Mosaic Law, to which Israel's religious leaders had added many nuances of the "laws of men" on top of the Mosaic Law; these are called the "Tradition of the Elders."

By contrast, Jesus came to Israel as the immutable "TRUTH" and truth teller. He exposed Israel's religious leader's greed of money and lust for position and power over the people of Israel.

Jesus' message of grace, love and healing that He brought to the "lost sheep of the house of Israel" was a brief foretaste of the hope of the coming "kingdom of heaven." Rather than being recognized and welcomed, Jesus was seen as a threat to the religious order of things such that repeatedly "they sought to kill Him" (Jn 5:18, 7:1), and as we know they ultimately did kill "the Prince of Life" (Act 3:15).

In this series we note how Jesus did not shrink from proclaiming the truth and even "offending" (v12 below) the hypocritical religious leaders of Israel, with their manmade laws they call "traditions." I here offer my definition of "religion" as I use it in its negative sense that opposes God.

  • When I use the word "religion" I refer to it as any system of belief that requires man's own human effort to please, or win favor with God, and/or to be saved from judgment.

Thus "religion" is in stark counter-distinction with Biblical dispensational Christianity as is in effect today, during this age of "the dispensation of the grace of God" (Eph 3:2). By contrast, genuine Christianity is Based Solely Upon One's Faith that depends upon What God Has Done FOR US By Freely Extending His GRACE TO US in the person of Christ.

  1. His Grace is seen in the offering of God's Son's Life at the Cross in order to pay the penalty for our sin-debt (1John 3:5, 1Peter 2:24),

8 By Grace are ye Saved Through Faith; and that (faith is) NOT of yourselves: it is the GIFT of God: 9 NOT of works, lest any man should boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

  1. and to simultaneously disarm the "sin nature" that remains latent within every persons "flesh" body (Rom 8:3b, 6:6-7),
  2. and also simultaneously placing His Son's very Own Resurrected "Spirit of LIFE" INTO the human spirit of every believer (Col 1:27, Rom 8:9-10)... to be their indwelling Christian life (Col 3:4), and thereby also be their all-sufficient source for righteous daily living (2Cor 5:21).

The exchange we read below serves is an example of the conflict between Jesus of Nazareth, by whom "grace and truth" came into the world... versus religion, with its "traditions" and the "commandments of men."

"Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying, 2 Why do thy disciples transgress the Tradition  (Gk. paradosis, Laws) Of The Elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.

3 But he (Jesus) answered and said unto them, Why do Ye (Pharisees) Also Transgress The Commandment Of God By Your Tradition? 6 ... Thus have Ye Made The Commandment Of God Of None Effect By Your Tradition. 7 Ye Hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, 8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. 9 But in vain they do worship me, Teaching For Doctrines The Commandments Of Men.... 12 Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were OFFENDED, after they heard this saying?" (Matt 15:1-3, 6-9, 12)

Sadly, most of the so-called Christian church at large to this day still proclaims Israel's "Law," even though the Mosaic Law was not given to the Gentiles (Rom 2:14a).

Then also, since the cross and to this very day, both the Roman Catholics and Protestants have added their traditions, liturgies, ceremonies, ritual's, rites, and religious class distinctions, hierarchical mediatorial religious class, all as part of their "manmade" religious laws. These manmade "traditions of men" serves to block and frustrate the power of Paul's "gospel of the grace of God" (Act 20:24) for us today. Yet, today, Paul's "gospel of the grace of God" for the Gentiles is centered upon the great truth the blessing of "Christ IN you" to be our innermost life and Lord... to be our all-sufficient life-supply. This is the greatest of all the blessings of the "New Covenant."

Sadly, the church today largely marginalizes or ignores the words of "Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles" (Rom 11:13) who was sent by the ascended Lord to the Gentile "body of Christ." They don't hear or heed Paul's words; "ye are NOT under the Law but under grace" (Rom 6:14).

As seen below, sadly, Israel was as the church largely is today; having leadership that is corrupt in its motive of heart and in the misuse of their authority.

"The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests exercise rule at their own hands and by means of the prophets. And My people love to have it so! But what will you do when the end comes?  (Jer 5:31 AMP)

The four so-called Gospels refer often to the Sadducees and Pharisees, the religious and political leaders of Israel. After all, Israel was a theocracy and the religious leaders were the heads of the Nation state. Jesus was in constant conflict with them. The Sadducees and Pharisees comprised the ruling class of Israel. There are many similarities between the two groups but important differences between them as well.

The Pharisees: In contrast to the Sadducees, the Pharisees were mostly middle-class businessmen, and therefore were in contact with the common man. The Pharisees were held in much higher esteem by the common man than the Sadducees. Though they were a minority in the Sanhedrin and held a minority number of positions as priests, they seemed to control the decision making of the Sanhedrin far more than the Sadducees did, again because they had the support of the people.

Religiously, they accepted the written Word as inspired by God. At the time of Christ's earthly ministry, this would have been what is now our Old Testament. But they also gave equal authority to oral tradition and attempted to defend this position by saying it went all the way back to Moses. Evolving over the centuries, these traditions added to God's Word, which is forbidden (Deuteronomy 4:2), and the Pharisees sought to strictly obey these traditions along with the Old Testament. The Gospels abound with examples of the Pharisees treating these traditions as equal to God's Word (Matthew 9:14; 15:1-9; 23:5; 23:16, 23, Mark 7:1-23; Luke 11:42). However, they did remain true to God's Word in reference to certain other important doctrines. In contrast to the Sadducees, they believed the following:

1. They believed that God controlled all things, yet decisions made by individuals also contributed to the course of a person's life.

2. They believed in the resurrection of the dead (cf., Acts 23:6).

3. They believed in an afterlife, with appropriate reward and punishment on an individual basis.

4. They believed in the existence of angels and demons (cf., Acts 23:8).

Though the Pharisees were rivals of the Sadducees, they managed to set aside their differences on one occasion, the trial of Jesus. It was at this point that the Sadducees and Pharisees united to put Christ to death (Mark 14:53; 15:1; John 11:48-50).

The Sadducees": The Sadducees were aristocrats. They tended to be wealthy and held powerful positions, including that of chief priests and high priest, and they held the majority of the 70 seats of Israel's ruling council called the ruling Sanhedrin.

Religiously, the Sadducees were more conservative in one main area of doctrine. The Pharisees gave oral tradition equal authority to the written Word of God, while the Sadducees considered only the written Word to be from God. The Sadducees preserved the authority of the written Word of God, especially the books of Moses (Genesis through Deuteronomy). The Saducees were more involved with doctrine. While they could be commended for this, they definitely were not perfect in their doctrinal views.

The following is a brief list of beliefs they held that contradict Scripture.

1. They were extremely self-sufficient to the point of denying God's involvement in everyday life.

2. They denied any resurrection of the dead (cf., Matthew 22:23; Mark 12:18-27; Acts 23:8).

3. They denied any afterlife, holding that the soul perished at death, and therefore denying any penalty or reward after the earthly life. This view is still held today by most Jews. We should note from Scripture that Israel was promised "the kingdom" on "earth," but never heaven. By contrast "the members of "the body of Christ" are promised heaven as their eternal abode (cf., Philippians 3:2--21, 2Cor 5:1b), thus making them of Christ while ambassadors on earth.

4. They denied the existence of a spiritual world, i.e., angels and demons (cf., Acts 23:8).

During the time of Christ and the New Testament era, the Sadducees were aristocrats. They tended to be wealthy and held powerful positions, including that of chief priests and high priest, and they held the majority of the 70 seats of the ruling council called the Sanhedrin. They worked hard to keep the peace by agreeing with the decisions of Rome. Israel at that time was under Gentile Roman control. They seemed to be more concerned with politics than religion. Because they were accommodating to Rome and were the wealthy upper class, they did not relate well to the common man, nor did the common man hold them in high opinion. The common man related better to those who belonged to the party of the Pharisees. Though the Sadducees held the majority of seats in the Sanhedrin, history indicates that much of the time they had to go along with the ideas of the Pharisaic minority, because the Pharisees were popular with the masses.

Because the Sadducees were more concerned with politics than religion, they were unconcerned with Jesus until they became afraid He might bring unwanted Roman attention. It was at this point that the Sadducees and Pharisees united and conspired to put Christ to death (John 11:48-50; Mark 14:53; 15:1). Other mentions of the Sadducees are found in Acts 4:1 and Acts 5:17, and the Sadducees are implicated in the death of James (Acts 12:1-2).

All in all, the Pharisees and Sadducees cared for their law-keeping and religious "traditions" (manmade laws), while Jesus cared spoke of the promise of a new living relationship with God the Father for the lost and dying people of Israel.

  • "... I (Jesus) am come that they might have life (Zoë, Christ's "Spirit of life") ..." (John 10:10b)
  • Jesus said, "I am …the Life" - Light of Life - the Living Water - the Living Bread."
  • Jesus came to the "lost sheep of the house of Israel" speaking in terms of a "relationship" with God based upon God's love and grace and that His life would be "in them" after He as one "grain of wheat" dies... to multiply His one LIFE in them as "many grains."

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except (unless) a corn (grain) of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." (John 12:24)

  • Jesus spoke of the believers living union with Him as branches abiding in the vine (cf., Jn 15)

"Abide IN (union with) Me, and I IN You. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me." (John 15:4)

This living union Jesus spoke refers to the greatest blessing of the "New Covenant" to come for Israel in the coming "kingdom" on earth. This living union is first seen in John 20:22 when Jesus breathed His breath into His disciples saying... "receive ye the Holy Spirit." Today, during the grace dispensation, all believer's have already received "the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus" to dwell in their human spirits as their new and eternal life the very moment they first trusted in Christ.

Paul, later writing to the Galatian Christians, elaborated upon this enduring, intimate, organic, totally living union, that every believer has with Christ in their spirit.

"I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but CHRIST LIVETH IN ME: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." (Gal 2:20)