synagogues” and having Jesus speak of “yourLaw” when debating with
Pharisees. He also darkens the Markan portrait of the Pharisees in his Gal-
ilean section and the profile of the Jerusalem authorities in his passion
narrative. Most notoriously, he has “the people as a whole” tell Pilate, “His
blood be on us and our children!” (27:25).
Even so, Matthew’s community represents a type of Judaism. It was
comprised largely of Jews who continued to observe Sabbath (12:1-8;
24:20), to practice tithing (23:23), and to engage in almsgiving, prayer, and
fasting (6:1-19) — and who were not ready to dispense completely with rit-
ual purity concerns such as kashrut even though they set a priority on
matters of moral purity (15:17-18; contrast Mark 7:19b). It is not Judaism
that Jesus’ followers are to reject but the hypocrisy, burdensome halakah,
casuistry, ostentatious piety, and status-seeking of the Pharisees (Matthew
23). But they must also recognize that ethnic Israel no longer holds exclu-
sive elect status since God’s plan of salvation now includes the Nations as
well. The Matthean community’s debate with Pharisaic Judaism can be
seen in large part as an intra-Jewish argument, but the community re-
flected in this gospel pushed the boundaries of the common Judaism of
the day to the breaking point.
The Gospel of John vies with Matthew for the distinction of being the
most “Jewish” and “anti-Jewish” of the Gospels. Like the Matthean com-
munity, the Johannine community pitted itself against Pharisaic Judaism.
By the time the Fourth Gospel was written (ca. 90-100c.e., somewhere in
the Diaspora, possibly Ephesus), it had broken off all contact with the syn-
agogue and was so deeply alienated from its formative roots in Judaism
that it called Jesus’ opponents (and its own) “the Jews.” The term does not
refer to all Jews in all times and places but primarily to the Jewish leader-
ship, who in this Gospel are identified, anachronistically, with the Phari-
sees. (In a few passages,hoi Ioudaioiis a neutral designation for the inhab-
itants of Judea, and in 4:22 it is used positively in Jesus’ remark to a
Samaritan woman that “salvation is from the Jews.”) In the narrative, the
Jews function as a dramatic foil to Jesus and in symbolic terms are equiva-
lent to “the world” in its ignorance, unbelief, and rejection of him.
The Fourth Gospel was written independently of the Synoptics,
though its author knows some Synoptic traditions and was probably aware
of one or more of the other gospels. Although it has some affinities with
them, especially in its passion narrative, and though itshares half a dozen
episodes from Jesus’ public ministry with them, it is largely unique in con-
tent, style, and theology. Its Jewishness is evident in its regard for major412daniel c. harlowEERDMANS -- Early Judaism (Collins and Harlow) final text
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