After Solomon’s Temple was destroyed and the Jews were hauled off in the Babylonian exile, they could no longer come together at the temple in Jerusalem to worship, so they began to develop these local meeting locations where they could come to gather throughout the Babylonian Empire for prayer, to read scripture, and to receive instructions in God’s ways. As we move forward in time, by the third and second century BC, synagogues had become widespread throughout Judea, Asia Minor, Egypt and … [Read more...] about The Pharisee in Us
Pharisees
Politics During Jesus’ Time
How should we respond to the politics that invade our daily lives in the news, workplace, school and from so many social media platforms? According to Wikipedia which often conveys modern thought regarding a subject: “Politics (from the Greek word, politiká, meaning 'affairs of the cities') is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations between individuals, such as the distribution of resources." This is a well-thought-out … [Read more...] about Politics During Jesus’ Time
Garments, Wineskins and Fasting
Parading their self-righteousness, the Pharisees, the religious elite of Christ’s time, and their followers fasted twice a week. Yet the disciples of Christ did not. The religious leaders demanded to know from Christ why his followers didn’t fast. Jesus answered with a parable about wineskins and garments. “Then He spoke a parable to them: 'No one puts a piece from a new garment on an old one; otherwise the new makes a tear, and also the piece that was taken out of the new does not match the … [Read more...] about Garments, Wineskins and Fasting