Knowing God Through Sacred Scripture

1. Faith and Revelation Knowing God Through Sacred Scripture

2. Chapter 6 Jesus Christ: The Fullness of Divine Revelation

3. Chapter Objectives The student will be able to understand: • The Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes • Herod the Great • Galilee and Samaria • Factors which aided the spread of Christianity • The Annunciation • The Nativity • The Epiphany • The Finding in the Temple • St. John the Baptist • The baptism of the Lord and his temptation in the desert • Christ’s miracles • The Twelve Apostles • The Last Supper • The Cup of Consummation • Christ’s trial before the Sanhedrin • Pilate’s condemnation of Christ • Judas’s and St. Peter’s betrayals, and St. Peter’s repentance • Christ’s Crucifixion • The Cup of Consummation • Psalm 22 as a prophecy of Christ’s Passion • The Resurrection • Christ as the New Adam • Christ as the New Noah • Christ as the Abraham • Christ as the New Moses • Christ as the New David • Christ as the fulfillment of the Davidic Covenant

4. Keys to Chapter 6 • God became man in the fullness of time. • Christ’s humanity and divinity were revealed from his youth. • Christ taught and worked miracles in his public life. • Christ was condemned to death by crucifixion. • He rose from the dead, fulfilling the covenants and the words of the prophets.

5. In This Chapter We Will Discuss: • The religious and political situation at the time of Christ. • Mary as the New Eve and Ark of the New Covenant. • The basic overview of the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. • The meaning of the Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Christ. • Christ as the Passover Lamb. • How Jesus fulfilled the Law and the prophets.

6. Jesus Christ: The Fullness of Divine Revelation Lesson Objectives The Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes Herod the Great Galilee and Samaria Factors that aided the spread of Christianity

7. Jesus Christ: The Fullness of Divine Revelation Basic Questions • Who were the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes? • The Pharisees were zealous and learned laymen who believed in separation from Gentiles and adherence to their interpretation of the Mosaic Law. The Sadducees were politically connected priests who believed in accommodating to Gentile rule. The Essenes withdrew to the desert to live a form of purified Judaism. • Who was Herod the Great? • Herod the Great was a crafty, murderous king who got the Romans to conquer Judea for him and brought prosperity to Israel, rebuilding the Second Temple.

8. Jesus Christ: The Fullness of Divine Revelation Basic Questions • How did Judeans view the Jews of Galilee and the Samaritans? • Galilee was a region of poor, backward farmers; the Samaritans were a mixed population of Jews and Gentiles whom Judeans considered heretics and with whom they had no contact. • What factors aided the spread of Christianity in the Roman world? • The spread of Christianity was aided by thePax Romana the spread of Greek philosophy, the Jewish Diaspora, and the proselytes of the Gate.

9. Anticipatory Set • Examine the objectives (p. 181, “In This Chapter We Will Discuss”) and then free write for two minutes about the following: • What do you already know about one or more of the objectives?

10. Focus Question • How was the time immediately preceding Christ similar to that of King David’s reign? • Israel had regained her old borders, Jerusalem was the capital, the Temple was purified and reconsecrated to God, and the king was both the religious and political leader of the nation.

11. Focus Question • How did John Hyrcanus “Judaize” Israel? • He required every man to be circumcised or leave. Being circumcised implied obeying the whole Mosaic Law with all its rituals and requirements.

12. Focus Question • How did John Hyrcanus earn the hatred of the Samaritans? • He destroyed the Samaritan temple on Mt. Gerizim, the center of Samaritan religious life.

13. Focus Question • When the high priest Aristobulus proclaimed himself king, why did this not fulfill the promises of the covenant? • Though Israel was again whole and there was a king in Jerusalem, Aristobulus was a Levite, not a descendant of David (Tribe of Judah).

14. Focus Question • Why was Israel doomed to be conquered again? • Israel had splintered into numerous battling factions, and, as Christ said, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand” (Mt 12:25).

15. Focus Question • How did Israel lose her independence? • Herod entered into a plot with the Roman emperor to seize power.

16. Focus Question • What was the central power in the world at the time of Christ? • The Roman Empire was the power.

17. Guided Exercise • Read Matthew 23:1-39, and then discuss the following question: • Why was a speech like this certain to earn the Pharisees’ hatred? • Why might Christ have adopted such a harsh approach to them?

18. Focus Question • How did the Pharisees answer the question, “How can Jews be faithful to God amid pagans”? • The best way was to build a cultural wall around themselves to keep out Gentile and pagan influences. Pharisee comes from the word perushim, which means separated.

19. Focus Question • How was the practice of Judaism under the Pharisees? • Besides refusing to associate with Gentiles, the Pharisees thought everyone should follow the complicated ritualistic regulations they developed in their interpretations of the Mosaic Law. • continued

20. Focus Question • How was the practice of Judaism under the Pharisees? • Extension: • The Pharisees basically took the rules and regulations Moses gave to the Levitical priests to follow when they were serving in the Temple and applied them to all Jews in their everyday lives. The Pharisees were laymen, not priests.

21. Focus Question • Why could the Pharisees justifiably claim they were right in separating themselves from the rest of the world? • Whenever Israel had allowed herself to be influenced by outside cultures and religions, she had met with disastrous consequences.

22. Graphic Organizer • Complete the following table about the various groups in Israel in the time of Christ.

23. Focus Question • Who were the Sadducees? • They were priests who claimed to be the spiritual heirs of Zadok, King Solomon’s priest, whose heirs were supposed to be priests in Jerusalem forever.

24. Focus Question • How did the Sadducees answer the question, “How can Jews be faithful to God amid pagans?” • They cooperated with Gentiles.

25. Focus Question • What were some of the Sadducees’s central beliefs? • They believed only the Pentateuch was canonical, denied life after death, and rejected the existence of angels.

26. Focus Question • Why did the Pharisees hate the Sadducees? • The Sadducees cooperated with the Romans rather than separate themselves from them. As a consequence, the Sadducees had political power, which was denied to the Pharisees.

27. Guided Exercise • Read Luke 20:27-40, and then free write about the following: • What did Christ reveal about Heaven in this passage?

28. Focus Question • How often are the Essenes mentioned in Sacred Scripture? • They are never mentioned.

29. Focus Question • What were the basic beliefs of the Essenes? • They held the Law of Moses and Jewish customs in high esteem; rejected the animal sacrifices of the Temple; kept the Sabbath; placed much value in ceremonial purity, washing frequently, and practicing baptism; and believed in the immortality of the soul.

30. Focus Question • What were some of the laudable moral practices of the Essenes? • They cared for the sick, practiced hospitality, treated all men equally, prohibited slavery, held goods in common, and practiced pacifism. Many also lived celibately.

31. Focus Question • How were the Galileans distinct from the inhabitants of Judea? • Most of the Hebrews who had returned from the Babylonian Exile settled around Jerusalem. Those who settled in Galilee came in contact with Israelites who had not experienced the Babylonian Exile and could trace their heritage back to the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali.

32. Focus Question • Why were Galileans looked down upon by Judeans? • They were poor peasants and farmers who had a distinct accent.

33. Guided Exercise • Compose a bullet-point list of at least three examples of Herod’s tyrannical behavior and three of his crafty behavior.

34. Focus Question • Who were the Zealots? • They were Jewish nationalists who sought to overthrow the Romans and reestablish the Kingdom of Israel as a sovereign nation. Eventually, their efforts to throw off the Romans resulted in the complete destruction of Israel.

35. Focus Question • Who were the Samaritans? • These Israelites had intermarried with Gentiles during the time of the Assyrian occupation. They lived between Judea and Galilee.

36. Focus Question • Where did the Samaritans worship? • They worshiped on Mt. Gerizim, a site of worship for Israelites before the capture of Jerusalem.

37. Focus Question • How did Judeans regard the Samaritans? • They considered them unclean heretics and so had nothing to do with them.

38. Focus Question • Who are the Samaritans today? • A few hundred survive today as a persecuted minority in Palestine. • Extension: • They speak Aramaic, the language Christ spoke.

39. Focus Question • What was the Pax Romana? • It was a centuries-long relative peace the known world enjoyed under the Roman Empire.

40. Focus Question • How did the Pax Romana and Roman rule facilitate the spread of Christianity? • There was an extensive network of roads, one currency, one law, no borders to cross, and relative safety when traveling.

41. Focus Question • What was the Roman attitude to other religions? • The Romans generally tolerated any religion as long as its adherents did not cause problems.

42. Focus Question • Was Rome completely pagan? • No. Under the influence of Greek philosophy, some had reasoned their way to a monotheism with God as the First Cause.

43. Focus Question • What was the Jewish Diaspora? • The Diaspora refers to Jews who lived outside Palestine and throughout the Roman Empire.

44. Focus Question • How many Jews lived outside Palestine, and where could they have been found? • It is estimated they comprised seven percent of the population of the Roman Empire with Jewish communities in every major town.

45. Focus Question • How did Christianity spread through the Diaspora? • It rooted itself in Jewish communities before spreading to the larger population.

46. Focus Question • What are the proselytes of the Gate? • These Gentiles were attracted to Judaism and believed in the one, true God. They worshiped in synagogues and studied the Scriptures yet refrained from converting, which required circumcision and dietary laws. They were eager converts to Christianity.

47. Focus Question • What two groups was St. Paul addressing when he began, “Men of Israel, and you that fear God…” (Acts 13:16)? • He was referring to the Jews and the proselytes of the Gate, respectively.

48. Alternative Assessment • Write about the following question: • If you had to choose only one, which would you choose to be, and why: a Pharisee, a Sadducee, an Essene, a Galilean, or a proselyte at the Gate?

49. The Infancy of Christ Lesson Objectives The Annunciation The Nativity The Epiphany The Finding in the Temple

50. The Infancy of Christ Basic Questions • What is the Annunciation? • The Annunciation refers to the announcement of the Archangel Gabriel to the Blessed Virgin Mary she would be the mother of the Savior, the Son of the Most High, and this would be accomplished by the power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit overshadowing her was described using the same word as God’s presence toward the Ark of the Covenant.