500. Jesus met all manner of people-and accepted them all if they repented of their sins. Harlots, tax collectors, liars, cheats, the infirmed, and the diseased all received kind words, healing, and a message of hope. One such man was especially memorable.
501. A rich tax collector called Zacchaeus wanted to catch a glimpse of Jesus, but he had to climb a sycamore tree (Luke 19:4). This is an inferior kind of fig tree that has traditionally been a food of impoverished people in the Near East. Thus the rich man was forced to rely on the tree that was a symbol of poverty. Jesus did not harbor any love, however, for the proud and often conniving leaders of the Jewish faith who consistently misled the people.
502. Obedience to laws without a sense of mercy is an action empty of spiritual value. Several times Jesus quoted the prophets who had said, "God desires mercy more than sacrifice." He reserved a special anger for the scribes and Pharisees, who might loosely be called "lawyers." Matthew's term for Pharisees is hypocrites, a term in Greek that applied to actors or people who were pretenders. They were people who said one thing but did another.
503. The Pharisees were a group of Jewish clerics who felt that their strict obedience to Jewish traditions set them apart from the rest of the pagan culture. Their name means "the separated ones." They were intolerant of anyone considered ritually unclean and persecuted many people. Their reliance on rules made them appear pious to the masses, but Jesus criticized them for having an outward show of piety while neglecting the fact that inwardly they were proud, pompous sinners.
504. The Sadducees were the Jewish aristocracy who rather enjoyed the artistic and political advantages that came from being allied to the Roman Empire. During Christ's life they controlled the high Jewish council, called the Sanhedrin, but they were haughty and pompous and generally disliked by the common people.
505. Jesus called special helpers to His aid in order to preach and teach and minister to the people. There were twelve helpers in all-Simon Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, James, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot.
506. The words disciple and apostle are often used interchangeably but mean quite different things. The word disciples means "learners" or "students." The disciples of Jesus were those who listened to Jesus, followed him, and even taught what Jesus taught. An apostle, from the Greek apostolos, for "one who is sent out," generally means a messenger of the Gospel. The author of Luke used the word apostle specifically for the twelve disciples who had been companions of Jesus, were witnesses of the resurrection, and eventually became leaders of the church.
507. The name Mary, derived from the Greek form of the common Hebrew Miriam, the name of the sister of Moses, is the name of three different women in the life of Jesus. His mother Mary only made a few appearances in the Gospel accounts, but she was at the foot of the cross with John. Mary the sister of Martha and Lazarus was a close friend of Jesus. Jesus healed Mary Magdalene (or Mary of Magdala, a town near Tiberias) by casting out the demons within her. She then became a devoted follower of Christ.
508. To the devout Jews who accepted Jesus, He was the promised Savior who fulfilled the word expressed in their Scriptures of a coming "Messiah" or "Anointed One" from the line of David who would deliver the children of Israel and usher in a new age of peace under God's rule. Though he was later called the "Christ," this is not a name but a title. Christos comes from the Greek meaning "Anointed One" or "Messiah."
509. Hebrew was still the language of the places of worship, but outside of them the people spoke a dialect known as Aramaic. They also carried on conversations in Greek. It was not the classical language of Homer and the heroes, but a dialect known as Koine, the language in which the bulk of the New Testament was written. Undoubtedly Jesus learned to speak all three languages.
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