Judaism in the New Testament

What kind of world did the New Testament actually come from?

Students enter the first-century Jewish world before beginning with Christian theology.

Second Temple Judaism: Judea, Galilee, and Jewish Identity

A first-century Jew living in Judea or Galilee didn't experience "Judaism" as a single monolith. It was a living, contested, richly diverse world. This lesson sets the scene: who lived there, under what rule, practicing what, and believing what about their place in God's covenant. We'll look at:

• Life under Roman occupation and what that meant day to day
• Regional differences between Judea and Galilee
• What "Jewish identity" actually meant: ethnicity, practice, land, and Torah bound together

Torah, Covenant, Temple, and Synagogue

The four pillars of first-century Jewish life. Torah as instruction and identity, Covenant as the relationship it flows from, Temple as the geographic and spiritual center, and the emerging Synagogue as the place Torah was read, taught, and debated locally. Students leave this lesson able to picture where religious life actually happened.

Jewish Sects & Movements: Pharisees, Sadducees, and Roman Occupation

Judaism in this period wasn't one thing. It was several competing visions of how to be faithful under occupation. We introduce the Pharisees, Sadducees, and other movements, what they disagreed about, and why those disagreements matter for reading the New Testament without flattening its Jewish context.

Messianic Expectations and Jewish Redemption

What did "Messiah" mean before Christianity existed? This lesson unpacks Jewish hopes for redemption in their own terms: national, political, and spiritual, so students can recognize where later Christian usage draws on, and where it departs from, those expectations.

Space for live discussion using Tanakh, Josephus, Mishnah, and New Testament references from the week.

What changes when we encounter Jesus as a first-century Jewish teacher rather than through later Christian theology?

"Rabbi Yehoshua", Jewish Discipleship, and Torah Observance

With the first-century Jewish world established in Week 1, students turn specifically to Rabbi Yehoshua ben Yosef and examine his teachings within their Jewish setting.

• "Rabbi Yehoshua" ben Yosef
• Jewish discipleship
• Torah observance

Jewish Teaching Methods and the Sermon on the Mount

Students examine Jesus' teaching methods and selected teachings within the context of Jewish interpretation and Torah.

• Jewish teaching methods
• The Sermon on the Mount
• Torah and "fulfillment"

Jesus, the Pharisees, and Jewish Debate

Students explore Jesus' interactions with the Pharisees within the wider world of Jewish debate over interpretation.

• Jesus and the Pharisees
• Jewish debates over interpretation

Righteousness and Repentance in Jewish Context

Students examine Jewish concepts of righteousness and repentance as part of the religious context surrounding Jesus and his teachings.

Textual Study

• Matthew 5:17-20
• Selected Gospel passages
• Parallel passages from Jewish sources

How much Judaism is actually present in the New Testament?

Students examine Jewish practice rather than Christian doctrine.

Shabbat, Tefillin, Prayer, and the Amidah

The rhythms of Jewish sacred time and practice: Shabbat observance, tefillin, and daily prayer built around the Amidah. This lesson gives students the practical vocabulary of first-century Jewish devotional life.

Synagogue, Torah Study, Parashah and Haftarah

How Torah reached ordinary people through synagogue readings, parashah, haftarah, and communal study.

The Jewish Calendar: Pesach, Shavuot, Sukkot

The three pilgrimage festivals structured the Jewish year and drew people to Jerusalem. Students examine what each festival commemorated and why festival settings appear throughout New Testament literature.

Textual Study

• Acts 3 and Daily Prayer
• Luke 4 and synagogue Torah reading
• Gospel references to Shabbat
• Festival references throughout the New Testament

Was Jesus opposing Torah or debating how Torah should be interpreted? Is there a difference?

Halakha, Oral Torah, and Jewish Legal Disagreement

Introduces halakha and the Oral Torah tradition, establishing that disagreement and interpretation were features of Jewish religious life.

Purity, Food, Sabbath, and Intent vs. Action

• Purity
• Food
• Sabbath
• Handwashing
• Intent versus action
• Competing interpretations of Torah

Interactive Exercise: "Put Jesus on Trial"

Students examine selected Gospel controversies and consider whether each represents:

• Rejection of Torah
• A halakhic disagreement
• A dispute over authority
• A later Christian interpretation

When did a Jewish movement become something recognizably different from Judaism altogether?

Jesus' Earliest Followers and Jewish-Christian Communities

Students examine Jesus' earliest followers, Jewish-Christian communities, and the place of Jewish identity and practice within the early movement.

Paul, Gentile Inclusion, and the Jerusalem Community

The course examines Paul, Gentile inclusion, Torah and Gentiles, the Jerusalem community, and the questions that emerged as Jewish and non-Jewish followers became part of the movement.

Primary Sources

• Acts
• Pauline letters
• Didache
• Mishnah
• Selected Jewish sources

Emerging Christian Identity

• Development of Christian identity
• Jewish and non-Jewish followers
• Emerging differences in practice and theology

What happens when Jewish concepts are removed from their Jewish context?

Students bring the previous five weeks together by examining concepts that became central to Christianity.

Messiah, Son of Man, Kingdom of God, and Covenant

• Messiah
• Son of Man
• Kingdom of God
• Covenant

Salvation, Sin, Righteousness, and Resurrection

• Salvation
• Sin
• Righteousness
• Resurrection
• Torah
• Gentile inclusion
• "New Covenant"
• Jewish scripture and Christian interpretation

Comparative Exercise

The goal is not simply to determine whether a Christian interpretation is "right" or "wrong," but to identify where the meaning changes, expands, narrows, or becomes detached from its Jewish setting.

How does the context change my previous thoughts about the subject?

This week is intentionally different from the lecture weeks. There is no new major content.

Review Time

Students receive time to review:

• Lecture materials
• Primary texts
• Notes
• Questions
• Previous assumptions
• Areas of disagreement
• Topics they want to investigate further

Personal Deconstruction Exercise

Students choose three beliefs or assumptions they brought into the course. For each one:

1. What did I previously believe or think?
2. Where did that belief or thought come from?
3. What does the primary source actually say?
4. What does Jewish interpretation say?
5. What does later Christian interpretation say?
6. What do I think now?

Reflection Themes

• What surprised me?
• What challenged me?
• What became clearer?
• What remains unresolved?
• Which questions do I need to keep studying?

Where do we go from here?

This final 90-minute session is designed as a group decompression rather than another lecture.

Opening: "What I Wish I Had Known Before I Started"

Each participant shares one idea, text, or discovery that changed the way they understand the New Testament.

Group Discussion

• What did Christianity teach us about Judaism that turned out to be incomplete?
• What did Judaism teach us about Christianity that we had never considered?
• Which New Testament passages look different now?
• What questions remain difficult?
• What should we be careful not to oversimplify?
• How can we continue studying without immediately turning everything into a debate?

Group Exercise: "Keep, Question, Release"

Closing Conversation

The course concludes by reinforcing three principles:

Students leave with permission to continue questioning, studying, and developing their understanding without feeling pressured to immediately arrive at a predetermined religious conclusion.