The apocalyptic ideas of the Essenes at Qumran, John the Baptist and Jesus of Nazareth
Summary: John the Baptist and the Essenes at Qumran held apocalyptic beliefs, although there were significant differences in their approaches. On John’s death, his second-cousin, Jesus of Nazareth, took over the leadership of John’s mission and prepared people through repentance for the imminent arrival of the Kingdom of God.
A Christian tradition has it that John the Baptist spent time at the settlement of Qumran in the Judean Desert during the Roman occupation of Judea, although this is not mentioned at all in the New Testament. On the other hand, little was written about the life of John despite his being a crucial figure in the Christian narrative. This is probably because any build-up of John would have come at the expense of his second cousin Jesus of Nazareth.
Nevertheless, the tradition that John spent time at Qumran is a very plausible one. Qumran was primarily a commune for priests and John came from a priestly family. John appreciated an ascetic existence and this was an ascetic community. In Qumran he would have studied their apocalyptic views of the end of the world and he would have agreed that the external circumstances of the Roman occupation and the corruption of the Jewish priesthood made this scenario increasingly likely. Nevertheless, there was probably one aspect of their theology that likely disturbed him and would have led to his eventually leaving Qumran. He could not agree that only members of the commune would inherit the World to Come after the forces of evil were overcome in a final apocalyptic battle. The Congregation of Israel was full of virtuous people. However, the people needed to be alerted that the end of the world as they knew it would soon be upon them so they could increase their piety and be worthy of resurrection. This would now be his mission in life. Much sooner than either of them expected, his leadership role would soon pass on to his disciple and second-cousin Jesus of Nazareth.
The different branches of Judaism in Second Temple times
Theologically, the Judaism practiced today is relatively uniform, although different branches within Judaism do exist. Nevertheless, because of this relative uniformity, it can be difficult to appreciate Judaism’s ideological diversity during late Second Temple times.
The Judaic movement most connected to the common people was that of the Pharisees. The Pharisees adhered to the Torah and its oral tradition, which they continued to interpret and develop. The Oral Law consists of laws that have accumulated on the basis of tradition, Rabbinic decrees to safeguard Torah law, and the plugging of gaps that exist within the Written Law. The Oral Law provided Judaism the ability to adjust, albeit slowly, to issues of interpretation and application throughout the centuries. The Pharisees also believed in the eternity of the soul, the concepts of reward and punishment after death, and the resurrection of the body after death. They did not encourage asceticism, although there were always Pharisees who practiced a more ascetic lifestyle. In general, Pharisaic Judaism endeavored to bring aspects of spirituality into worldly pursuits rather than to eschew life’s pleasures.
Another influential group were the Sadducees. The main focus of Judaism at this time was its Temple, and much of its priesthood, including the High Priests, were Sadducees. The Sadducees accepted all the provisions of the Written Torah but denied the validity of an oral law. They did not believe in the existence of an eternal soul, nor in the concept of judgement after death, since these are not specifically mentioned in the Torah. Their approach to life was more hedonic than the other groups, although not to excess. The Maccabean leadership of the Jewish kingdom was Sadducee, as was much of the upper class.
There were also two groups within Judaism in late Second Temple times with apocalyptic beliefs – the Essenes and early Christians. The writings of Josephus, Philo, and other historians living at this time inform us that there were about 4,000 Essenes living as self-contained communities in villages throughout Israel. This included an Essene community living in Jerusalem in the area of Mount Zion. These sources also describe a community of priestly Essenes living in Qumran, although the location of Qumran was not identified until the 1940’s.
In 1947, a young Bedouin shepherd threw a stone into a cave in the Jordanian Judean Desert near the Dead Sea, and to his surprise the stone made a sound as if it had hit something solid, and not at all like hitting the floor of a cave. He climbed up to the cave and found what were clearly ancient jugs containing manuscripts. This find would lead over time to the discovery of 10 additional caves containing almost a thousand complete and fragmentary manuscripts, and also the discovery of the nearby ruins of Qumran where the community that wrote these scrolls had lived.
The scrolls were written and deposited in these caves by members of an Essene community (the Yahad), many of whom were scribes, either as part of their library, or more likely to hide them from the Romans. They included books of the Bible, commentaries on the Bible written by the commune, texts that were not included in the Bible, and scrolls defining their communal rules. Of particular interest were copies of the Bible, since no Bible scrolls from as early as the Second Temple period had been previously found.1
The Essene community in Qumran consisted mainly of priests who had left the Temple in Jerusalem and who were attempting to create an alternative holy community in the desert in preparation for the End of Days. They lived as a commune and individual monies and property were handed over to the group. They believed that the current running of the Temple was corrupt. They renounced many worldly pleasures for an ascetic existence. Most members were celibate males. For those married, marital relations were viewed in procreative terms. They avoided sex, for example, during their wives’ pregnancies. They purified themselves frequently in ritual baths, especially before meals, as would be the case when eating food from the Temple. They kept to the Torah rigidly, although there were differences in interpretation from the Pharisees. They kept to a solar calendar, for example, whereas the Pharisees, Sadducees and early Christians used a lunar calendar adjusted to the solar calendar so that the festivals remained in season. They therefore celebrated Jewish holidays at different times from other Jews, thereby effectively separating themselves off from the rest of the Jewish community.
Their austere lifestyle is described by the Jewish historian Josephus writing in the Roman period:
“Before the sun rises, they utter nothing of the mundane things, but only certain ancestral prayers to Him, as if begging Him to come up. After these things, they are dismissed by the curators to the various crafts that they have each come to know, and after they have worked strenuously until the fifth hour they are again assembled in one area, where they belt on linen covers and wash their bodies in frigid water. After this purification they gather in a private hall, into which none of those who hold different views may enter: now pure themselves, they approach the dining room as if it were some [kind of] sanctuary. After they have seated themselves in silence, the baker serves the loaves in order, whereas the cook serves each person one dish of one food. The priest offers a prayer before the food, and it is forbidden to taste anything before the prayer; when he has had his breakfast, he offers another concluding prayer. While starting and also while finishing, then, they honor God as the sponsor of life. At that, laying aside their clothes as if they were holy, they apply themselves to their labors again until evening. They dine in a similar way: when they have returned, they sit down with the visitors, if any happen to be present with them, and neither yelling nor disorder pollutes the house at any time, but they yield conversation to one another in order. And to those from outside, the silence of those inside appears as a kind of shiver-inducing mystery. The reason for this is their continuous sobriety and the rationing of food and drink among them – to the point of fullness.”2
Their community was preparing itself for a new world era in which the forces of evil would be overcome and virtue and peace would reign for eternity. They regarded the rest of the Jewish world as sinful and doomed, and they anticipated that they would be the sole righteous remnants of a cosmic struggle between good and evil.
They had an extremely vigorous admission process for novices that stretched over several years, and they were sworn to secrecy regarding their rules and the esoteric books they studied.2 In contrast to the Pharisees who believed that prophecy had ended with the prophets Haggai, Zecharia and Melachi, their leader, the Teacher of Righteousness, reserved the right to interpret the books of the prophets in a prophetic way. The Essenes viewed the visions of Isaiah as being related to an approaching golden age at the end of time and not time-related as this book has interpreted them.
The Essenes believed in two Messianic figures who would help usher in the expected eschatological times; one a High Priest and the other a Davidic king.3 They believed in the immortality of the soul and divine reward and punishment. They also believed in the importance of fate, although they did acknowledge the existence of free will.
Qumran was the repository of eschatological manuscripts and its study center. Much of the apocalyptic literature available during this period was written anonymously because of its prophetic nature. A work found in the first cave that was relatively intact and that has been extensively analyzed is “The War of the Sons of Light against the Sons of Darkness,” also known as the “War Scroll.” Many other scrolls of this genre have also been found in nearby caves.4 This particular scroll was written during either the Seleucid or Roman periods and is a prophecy about a forty-year series of apocalyptic cosmic struggles between the Sons of Light (namely the Yahad) and the Sons of Darkness. The Sons of Darkness are Edom, Moab, Ammon, the Amalekites, the Philistines, and violators of the Covenant (i.e. anyone in opposition to the Yahad) led by the Kittim of Ashur. Each side will fight with angelic hosts and supernatural beings and only after a 3:3 draw and during the final seventh battle will victory be achieved by the Sons of Light with the direct intervention of God. All the Sons of Darkness will be eliminated in a terrible carnage, and darkness and evil will be destroyed forever. For the Sons of Life there will be peace, blessing and glory.
In one of their Isaiah scrolls the following passage from the Second Isaiah was given particular emphasis. This is of interest because its first sentence is also quoted in the gospel of Mark as the calling card for John the Baptist. As did John, the Essenes saw this passage as reflecting their mission, which was to announce the imminent arrival of the Kingdom of God:
“A voice calls, ‘In the desert, clear the way of God, straighten out in the wilderness, a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised, and every mountain and hill shall be lowered, and the crooked terrain shall be made level and the closed mountains a plain. And the glory of God shall be revealed, and all flesh together shall see that the mouth of God spoke” (Isaiah 40:3-5).
Before discussing further the apocalyptic messages of John the Baptist and Jesus of Nazareth, some history.
A brief history of the Second Temple period
When the returnees left Babylon for Judea in about 539 BCE they remained under the rule of the Persian Empire, although Persian control was never particularly tight. The Persians were defeated by Alexander the Great in 331 BCE, and he inherited their empire. This would bring Hellenism to the Near East. Like the Persians, Alexander the Great believed in religious autonomy for the nations in his kingdom. However, he did not anticipate dying at a young age, and his empire was now fought over by his generals. Ptolemy took over the southern section of his empire, including Egypt, while Seleucid took the northern section. Israel was initially part of the Ptolemaic Kingdom. However, the two empires fought each other, and Israel was conquered by the Seleucids, who, during the rule of Antiochus promulgated very anti-Jewish laws. This encouraged the Maccabi Revolt.
The Chanukah story celebrating the Maccabi victory can leave the impression that this revolt was short-lived and that the Temple was rapidly restored to its full function. However, this was not the case. The struggle of the Maccabee brothers against the Seleucid Greeks continued over decades. Even the Temple could not be accessed easily, as the Greeks put up a fortress close to the Temple, the Accra. It was not until the reign of the Maccabean king Alexander Yannai that the Jewish kingdom achieved stability and strength, and was even able to extend its borders. However, a civil war between the two sons of Alexander Yannai now permitted the Roman general Pompey to invade Jerusalem in 61 BCE.
Encouraged by a semi-Jewish Idumean family, the Jewish state came under increasing control of the Roman empire. Herod was elected king of the Jews by the Roman Senate under the urging of Marc Anthony. However, it took Herod three years to achieve his throne and crush the Maccabean Antigonus. His entry into Jerusalem marked the end of the rule of the Maccabean dynasty.
Herod the Great (73-4 BCE) ruled Judea as a semi-independent kingdom. Herod, and later the Romans, controlled the position of High Priest. Herod’s rebuilding of the Temple and its recognition as one of the wonders of the Roman world encouraged many Jewish and non-Jewish visitors to the kingdom. With the increased wealth brought into Jerusalem and the political interference in the Temple leadership came corruption of the priesthood. This corruption is recognized in the Talmud and would have been strongly felt by the Essenes. Furthermore, the alignment of the priesthood with the Sadducees who had no respect for the oral law, brought religious contention into the confines of the Temple.
After the death of Herod, his murderous non-Jewish son Archelausreigned Judea. After 9 years, the Romans decided to dispense with the monarchy and the country was now ruled directly by procurators. Many were insensitive to the religious feelings of the Jews, some were frankly anti-Semitic, and others squeezed the Jews with taxes to their own advantage. In the end, the Jews were almost goaded into the Great Revolt, which lasted from 66 to 73 CE. Jerusalem was destroyed, although much of the country was otherwise unaffected.
The destruction of the Temple and the Great Revolt had the effect of consolidating Judaism. The Sadducees disappeared. Essene communities, such as in Qumran, were destroyed by the Romans during the Great Revolt. Thus, the Pharisees remained as the religious leaders of the people because of their wide acceptance, their involvement in the development of the oral law, and their remaking of Judaism such that the Temple was no longer the focus of communal and personal holiness.
Were John the Baptist and Jesus of Nazareth influenced by the Essenes?
Much has been written as to the extent that Jesus and his followers were influenced by the Essene movement. This academic work is usually linked with attempts to rediscover the historic Jewish preacher from late Second Temple times called Jesus of Nazareth.
There can be little doubt that Jesus was not an Essene, in that many of his views were directly opposed to those of the Essenes, such as his strict adherence to Pharisaic Judaism, his identification with the Jewish people, and his considerably less exclusivity in his preaching. However, like the Essenes, his mission was wrapped in apocalyptic terms.5
Both the Essenes and Jesus believed that an apocalyptic cosmic event would usher in the Kingdom of God. Both groups considered this moment to be close, although Jesus anticipated its arrival at any moment whereas the Essenes were less specific. This vagueness allowed their community to continue even when their leader, the Teacher of Righteousness, passed away. The Essenes held that only a select community trained in holiness could inherit the Kingdom of God whereas Jesus believed it was open to everyone who repented of their sins and adopted a life of righteousness, including those from the lowest rungs of society. In fact, his mission often concentrated on such people. Both groups anticipated a time of judgement and assumed that most of the world other than themselves would be destroyed.
Did Jesus borrow any of his ideas from the Essenes? He would almost certainly have been aware of their ideas - not because he was an Essene but because the ideas of the thousands of Essenes in the Jewish kingdom would have been part of the discourse of Second Temple times. It has been speculated that some, or even many, of Jesus’s followers were sympathetic to Essene ideas before they met Jesus, and they may even have been followers of the Essene movement. These people would have approved of the ascetic lifestyle of the Essenes, but not necessarily their exclusivity.
Almost our only sources of information about the life of Jesus are the four gospels Mark, Mathew, Luke and John. Despite their titles, they were probably written anonymously. The first gospel of Mark was written between the mid-60’s to early 70’s CE. Mathew and Luke were written 10 or 15 years later, and the gospel of John was probably written in about 90 to 95 CE. Assuming Jesus died in about 30 CE, there was a gap of at least 30 years between his death and the first account of his life. Thus, none of the gospel writers was an eye-witness to Jesus’ activities and all were relying on textual information handed down to them. The gospel of Mark is closest to the events recorded and seems most reflective of the apocalyptic ideas of John the Baptist and Jesus of Nazareth.6
There are numerous discrepancies and omissions in the accounts of the four gospels. The gospels were written primarily to provide their communities with information about Jesus, but their accounts very much reflect their own perspectives of what Jesus was attempting to accomplish. The theology of Christianity changed after Jesus death and prior to the years the gospels were written, primarily because it became a gentile movement under the influence of Paul of Tarsus, rather than a Jewish movement. Paul also held that belief in the person and mission of Jesus should take the place of repentance and acts of righteousness as the means of entering the Kingdom of God – which is not the same message as that of Jesus. The apocalyptic aspects of Jesus’ ministry is also reported in a progressively attenuated form from the gospel of Mark to that of John.
According to the four gospels, the starting point of Jesus’s mission was his baptism by John the Baptist, his second-cousin.7 Little is written in the gospels about the ministry of John. The later gospels, in particular, had good reason for downplaying his role, as this would otherwise detract from the primacy of the role of Jesus.
John’s preaching was eschatological and identical to that of Jesus. He believed that the Kingdom of God was immanent and he baptized people as a part of a process of repentance and preparation for the World to Come. His use of ritual bathing was therefore different from that of the Essenes at Qumran who used it as a means of maintaining spiritual purity. (It was also different from the baptism of Christians nowadays, which is a means of establishing or affirming belief in Jesus).
According to the gospels of Mark and Luke, it was John who initiated Jesus into his own apocalyptic movement. However, John was incarcerated by Herod Agrippa (according to Josephus for preaching against the king’s sexual affairs and the divorcing of his wife) and Herod had him killed while he was imprisoned in his fortress.
In the last two sentences of thefollowing passage, Mark establishes a direct connection between John’s imprisonment and death and Jesus proclaiming the Kingdom of God, which suggests that Jesus took over John’s mission:
“The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God, It is written in Isaiah the prophet: I will send my messenger ahead of you who will prepare your way, a voice of one calling in the desert, prepare the way for the Lord make straight paths for him (Isaiah 40:3). And so John came, baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to meet him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the River Jordan ….. At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. As Jesus was coming out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: ‘You are my son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased ... After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee proclaiming the good news of God. ‘The time has come’ he said ‘The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news” (Mark 1:1-5, 9-11, 14-15).8
The apocalyptic views of Jesus
Much of the textual evidence for the apocalyptic ideas of Jesus is also seen in the early gospel of Mark. In the following quotations, Jesus foresees the Temple being destroyed and a “Son of Man” bringing Divine judgement to this new world:
“As he was leaving the Temple, one of his disciples said to him: ‘Look, teacher. What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!’ ‘Do you see all these great buildings?’ replied Jesus, ‘Not one stone will be left on another; everyone will be thrown down.’ As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the Temple, Peter, James, John and Andrew asked him privately: ‘Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be sign that they are all about to be fulfilled?’ ... ‘When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen but the end is still to come. Nation will arise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains …... But in those days following that distress, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, the stars will fall from the sky and the heavenly bodies will be shaken. At that time men will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens” (Mark 13:1-3,14-26).
Compared to the War Scroll studied by the Essenes, the features of the war of Armageddon in which nation will be against nation are relatively subdued in these quotations, although they are present. Jesus foresees the Temple being destroyed.9 His words also imply physical changes in the nature of the world, although he may be speaking allegorically.
The gospel of Luke quotes Jesus talking about the End of Days in similar terms:
“When you hear of wars and revolutions, do not be frightened. These things must happen first, but the end will not come right away. Then he said to them: ‘Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilence in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven …. When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near…. There will be great distress in the land and wrath against this people. They will fall by the sword, and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled on by the gentiles until the times of the gentiles are fulfilled. There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea ..… At that time, they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near” (Luke 21:9-11, 23-25,27-28).
The entry ticket into the Kingdom of God is acts of righteousness. The unrighteous, on the other hand, are doomed to eternal punishment.
It is helpful to consider Jesus’ thoughts on what righteous deeds (tzedakah in Hebrew) were meant to accomplish. As discussed in the secondchapter of this book, they can have two aims – one is to make the world a better place to live in and the other is to elevate one’s own level of holiness. The Torah considers both aspects.10 Jesus, however, comes down firmly on the aspect of character development:
“As Jesus started on his way a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. ‘Good teacher’ he asked, ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ … ‘You know the commandments: Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.’ ‘Teacher’ he declared, ‘all these I have kept since I was a boy…’ Jesus looked at him and loved him. ‘One thing you lack,’ he said. ‘Go sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.’ At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad because he had great wealth. Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, ‘How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God” (Mark 10,17-23).
This individual could have been encouraged to use his wealth to perfect society rather than his own character. But this is not where Jesus is coming from. Improving society is of no interest to him because the world as we know it is coming to an end! This would explain why Jesus regards wealth as having no purpose other than to be given away, lowliness and humbleness to be virtues, and even maintaining family harmony for its own sake as being pointless. All that matters is personal virtue:
“The Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes … Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near, and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Luke 22-23, 32-34).
Family relations are of no concern to Jesus. In fact, he almost anticipates their break up by those following his teachings:
“Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you but division. From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law” (Luke 12:51-53).11
and:
“Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved” (Mark 13:12-13).
Jesus envisages the Kingdom of God occurring during his and his follower’s lifetime and not in the distant future:
“I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the son, but only the Father. Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come ….. If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!” (Mark 13:30-33, 36-37).
In another passage, in Mark, the high priests and Sanhedrin judging Jesus are told that they too will witness this event:
“ …… and you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven” (Mark 14:62).
What will be Jesus’ role at the End of Days?
Who is this “Son of Man” mentioned so frequently by Jesus? The earlier gospels record Jesus as saying that he is a human figure appointed by God to judge mankind:
“Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap. For it will come upon all those who live on the face of the whole earth. Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man” (Luke 21:34-36).
A possible source for this is the Book of Daniel, which is also an apocalyptic work. Daniel describes a vision in which four beasts arise one after the other and cause devastation on earth. These are interpreted by him as representing four powerful nations that will finally be destroyed. Then the following will happen:
“I was looking until thrones were set up, and the Ancient of Days sat; His raiment was as white as snow, and the hair of his head was like clean wool. His throne was sparks of fire, its wheels were a burning fire. A river of fire was flowing and emerging from before Him; a thousand thousands served Him, and ten thousand ten thousands arose before him. Justice was established and the books were opened .….. I saw in the visions of the night, and behold with the clouds of the heaven, one like a man was coming, and he came up to the Ancient of Days and was brought before Him. And He gave him dominion and glory and a kingdom, and all peoples, nations and tongues shall serve him, his dominion is an eternal dominion which will not be removed, and his kingdom is one which will not be destroyed (Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14).
The Jewish commentator Rashi interprets the Ancient of Days as God Himself who will establish justice in the world.God then appoints a human agent to bring about a utopian world. Similarly, in the sayings of Jesus, a human figure appointed by God will bring about the Kingdom of God.
There is no suggestion in the earlier gospels that Jesus thinks that he will be this “Son of Man.” Rather, Jesus sees his role, as did John, as a “messenger” savior-figure.12Both Mark and Luke introduce this idea by quoting another passage from the Book of Isaiah:
“The spirit of the Lord God was upon me, since God anointed me to bring tidings to the humble, He sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to declare freedom for the captives, and for the prisoners to free from captivity” (Isaiah 61:1-3).
On the other hand, at his’ crucifixion, the title of King of the Jews was placed above Jesus’ cross (Mark 15:26 and John 19:19), suggesting the possibility that either he and/or his followers considered his role to be more than just a messenger.13
Moreover, the gospel of Luke describes an angel appearing to the Virgin Mary before Jesus is born and announcing:
“Do not be afraid Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David. And he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end” (Luke 1:30-33).
It is of interest that the notion of a “son of God” or “son of the Most High,” a human figure judging the world with righteousness is found in one of the Dead Sea Scrolls:14
“He will be called great and he will be called Son of God, and they will call him Son of the Most High ... He will judge the earth in righteousness ... and every nation will bow down to him...”15
On the other hand, the Jewish people are also called by God “My son” (Exodus 4:22), and in this context at least, it means no more than being appointed as it may well do in the early gospels.
Conclusions
The Essenes in Qumran believed in an immanent and apocalyptic end to the world. John the Baptist and Jesus of Nazareth also believed that the end of the world as we know it would soon come about and would be followed by the Kingdom of God. They urged their followers to repent so as to be among the privileged that would inherit this kingdom. It is likely that Jesus took over John’s program after John was murdered. The apocalyptic views of these second-cousins follow from the prophecies of Ezekiel, Zechariah, Joel and Daniel. Manuscripts from the Qumran caves also promote apocalyptic scenarios.
Jesus’ theology would never have become the basis of a world religion were it not for Paul of Tarsus who changed its doctrine to make it more appealing to the gentile world. In so doing, he brought the messianism of this new religion closer to a spiritual rather than earthly World to Come.
More about this in the next chapter.
References:
9. There is no mention in the gospels as to what will take its place, if anything. The Essenes believed it would be rebuilt, although others saw no need for it in God’s Jerusalem at the End of Time (Revelation 21:22).
10. The command to “love your fellow as yourself” (Leviticus 19:17-19) is written in the book of Leviticus, a book about individual and communal holiness.
11. See “The family and the kingdom” in “Jesus Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium” by Bart Herman, p134. Oxford University Press, New York, NY10016, 1999.
12. Mark 1:2 and Luke 4:16-19.
13. The issue of what role Jesus considered himself to have is obviously an important one in the development of Christianity. The matter is discussed in “Jesus’ trial before Pilate” in “Jesus Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium” by Bart Herman, p 221. Oxford University Press, New York, NY10016, 1999.
14. This interesting association is mentioned in an essay “The Essenes and the origins of Christianity” by Moshe Dann printed in the Jerusalem Post in July 13, 2018. https://www.jpost.com/jerusalem-report/the-essenes-and-the-origins-of-christianity-562442
15. This manuscript is 4Q 246.
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