Texts in Conversation
In Matthew, Jesus teaches to seek righteousness above all else, echoing 1 Maccabees where the faithful pursue righteousness and justice in the wilderness. Both similarly interpret Isaiah’s view of righteousness and justice as qualities of the faithful.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
1 Maccabees 2:29
Deuterocanon
27 Mattathias cried out in the city with a loud voice, saying, “Whoever is zealous for the law and maintains the covenant, let him follow me!” 28 He and his sons fled into the mountains, and left all that they had in the city. 29 Then many who sought justice and judgment went down into the wilderness to live there— 30 they, their children, their wives, and their livestock—because evils were multiplied upon them. 31 It was told to the king’s officers and the forces that were in Jerusalem, the city of David, that certain men who had broken the king’s commandment had gone down into the secret places in the wilderness;
Date: 134–63 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Matthew 6:33
New Testament
31 So then, don’t worry saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ 32 For the unconverted pursue these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But above all pursue his kingdom and righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 So then, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Today has enough trouble of its own.
Date: 70–90 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Jesus had already been acknowledged in Galilee as a rabbi: a master of halakhah whose actions were equal to his words. His teaching had made him seem like other Galilean rabbis, who were known as chasidim. During the Maccabean revolt that followed the desecration of the Temple by the Seleucids in 167 B.C.E., the term was applied to Jews so faithful to the Torah that they preferred to die rather than to do violence on the Shabbath (see 1 Maccabees 2:29–48). Having known the chesed, the compassion of God, they refused to betray him, their compassionate Lord. The chasid’s sense of integrity carried on long after the Maccabees. By the first century the word applied especially to rabbis who were shown to have obtained divine mercy not only for themselves but, more strikingly, for others. These rabbis cured sickness and relieved drought through prayer: that was the mark of divine compassion working through them. Chasidim were ancient Judaism’s shamans, faith healers, witch doctors, and sorcerers. In one bold move, Jesus had joined their ranks. He had proved that he was anointed with holy Spirit: he was able to channel the energy of God ..."
Bruce Chilton, Rabbi Jesus: An Intimate Biography (New York: Doubleday, 2000), 118.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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