The Resurrection Body

In the two centuries before Christ, several groups or “sects” arose within Judaism. We find at least a couple of them mentioned in the New Testament, including the group to which Paul had once belonged: the Pharisees.

These groups emerged from the time when a line of rulers known as the “Maccabees” (or the “hammers”) were active. God had used this family to push back the Syrians from the north in the early 100s BC. A group of Jewish leaders had partnered with the Syrians to “update” Israel, effectively doing away with “outdated” and peculiar practices like circumcision or only worshiping one God. They wanted Israel to become more Greek, more enlightened, and with the times. The Jewish Feast of Hanukkah today celebrates the rededication of the Temple after the Syrians defiled it (see Daniel 11:31). The Maccabees emerged victorious, and Israel returned to keeping the Law.

Part of this movement to turn back to the Lord involved groups that became “zealous for the Law” (cf. Rom. 10:2). These were the “Hasidim” or “faithful ones.” God arguably used them to preserve Israel. Otherwise, Israel might have just faded into history like so many other groups do over time. However, these groups soon began to argue with each other over what it actually meant to keep the Law. The Essenes were the strictest group. Some of them actually moved to the desert at Qumran and lived according to the purity standards of the Temple. They have left us the Dead Sea Scrolls.

The Pharisees were also very strict, especially in their “table fellowship” or who they ate with. The intentions of many of them were probably very good. They wanted to keep the Law as perfectly as they could. They followed and developed traditions that became known as the “traditions of the elders.” While it is easy to make fun of how meticulous they could be, many were, no doubt, sincerely trying to follow God’s laws. In truth, churches today develop all sorts of traditions about how to keep the Bible that are far from explicit in the Bible itself. We say we are following the Bible when we are more following our group’s interpretation of how to apply the Bible.

One of the key beliefs of the Pharisees was that all the faithful of Israel would be physically resurrected, especially those who had been martyred. One of the books in the Roman Catholic Old Testament, 2 Maccabees, expresses a very vivid send of physical resurrection, intestines and all (2 Maccabees 7; 14:37-46). As a Pharisee, these chapters give us a picture of what Paul may have been taught at the feet of Gamaliel, a famous Pharisee (Acts 23:3).

The question of resurrection was perhaps the key point of disagreement between the Pharisees and a third Jewish group known as the Sadducees. The Sadducees sparred with Jesus during the final week before his crucifixion and resurrection (Mark 12:18-27). The Sadducees quite possibly were priestly families whose ancestors had been removed from office by the Maccabees. By the time of Jesus, they had become the Romans’ primary point of contact with Israel. They were socially elite, wealthy, and powerful.

There were two primary schools of Pharisees. One was the school of Hillel, of which Gamaliel was a part. The advice that Gamaliel gives in Acts 5 is exactly what we would expect from a Hillelite. He counsels them to let God take care of it (Acts 5:33-39). The other school was the school of Shammai. Although Paul may have learned some from Gamaliel, he had much more of the flavor of the school of Shammai before he believed. They believed in taking action.