gotten as oral traditions about Jesus began to circulate, so it is impossible
to gain a full sense of his attitude toward aspects of Torah piety. Neverthe-
less, even granting the historicity of the halakic disputes in the Synoptics
(which stand in some doubt), the positions attributed to Jesus fall within
the bounds of acceptable Jewish behavior. Healing on the Sabbath, for in-
stance, was not considered a violation of Sabbath law in pre-70 Judaism (at
least no pre-70 Jewish text indicates that it was), and Jesus’ stance on mar-
riage and divorce (Mark 10:2-12 pars.) was not less but more stringent than
what the Torah requires. Although his disciples were allegedly criticized by
some Pharisees for plucking grain on the Sabbath and not washing their
hands before meals (Mark 2:23-28 pars.; Mark 7:1-23/Matt. 15:1-20), these
perceived infractions would have been relatively minor. On the face of it,
Jesus’ statement “Let the dead bury their own dead” (Matt. 8:22/Luke 9:50)
conflicts with Torah piety, but the eschatological urgency of his mission
must be taken as a mitigating factor. The single major infringement of
Jewish halakah attributed to Jesus comes with the statement in Mark that
“he declared all foods clean” (Mark 7:19b). But this is the evangelist’s edito-
rial comment and reflects an attitude that probably goes beyond Jesus’
own position. It is quietly dropped in Matthew’s redaction of the passage
(Matt. 15:17-18).
Whence then the opposition? What Jesus’ Pharisaic and Sadducean in-
terlocutors found most objectionable was probably not so much his partic-
ular stance on matters of Torah praxis but the way he articulated his stance.
He propounded his views by uttering authoritative pronouncements in the
first person, and not by entering into debate in the style of a contemporary
scribe or rabbi. Instead of citing the opinions of revered teachers, he went
straight to the Scriptures. This practice appears most dramatically in the se-
ries of antitheses that now make up the Sermon on the Mount, which are
introduced with the formula “You have heard it said to the men of old...
butIsaytoyou...”(Matt. 5:21-48). Some of the antitheses are polemical
and go beyond the literal meaning of the Torah, but they effectively inten-
sify Torah commandments by trying to get at their root intention. The for-
mula “You have heard it said...butIsaytoyou”doesnotimply a demotion
— far less a rejection — of the Torah but only a challenging of traditions of
scriptural interpretation. An analogous formula, “You know...butwesay,”
features in the halakic document from Qumran (4QMMT). On occasion,
Jesus also pronounced sins forgiven when he healed people (Mark 2:1-12
pars.), but the passive verb form he used, “Your sins are forgiven,” bears the
implication “by God.” In making such statements he certainly invited cen-395Early Judaism and Early ChristianityEERDMANS -- Early Judaism (Collins and Harlow) final text
Tuesday, October 09, 2012 12:04:17 PM