(urth) Latro

[Lee]

>Dan'l Danehy-Oakes:  And you're right to wonder how many wives the Sanhedrin might have had;
>Paul says that an elder (presbyter, priest) should have only one.


Thanks for that confirming info. I find the proscription against polygamy to be the most 

anthropological/sociologically profound difference between Christianity and its predecessors and 

competitors, yet it is so rarely discussed.


>Antonio Pedro Marques: Jesus was certainly opposed to the Saducees. There is no dearth of verses 

>chiding them as enemies of God. But not every priest was a Saducee, not even the whole Sanhedrin, 

>and the evidence is that the common Jew didn't do anything regarding religion that Jesus especially 

>condemned.


I think you are right that there was a special place in Jesus' heart for the common man. But there was

(and perhaps still is) a belief among jews of the time that those with wealth, status and power had 

been specially blessed by God.


But over and over, the message of Jesus is that the lofty trappings of wealth and high social status

in this world are not only irrelevant to the Kingdom of Heaven but can be seen as signs of disfavor 

with God. The Eye of the Needle and Good Samaritan parables come to mind as generally critical of

the wealthy and the superior, priestly castes of Cohains and Levites.


This is what I meant by saying Jesus' ministry was an attack on the prevailing practice of Judaism at

the time. It was rather centered around reverence for wealth, power and inherited social status. 


(There are some arguments that much of Jesus' ministry was a veiled criticism of jewish toleration and

veneration of Roman rule but that's controversial and a whole other can of worms to open.)