A new look at Jesus and synagogue

The stories about Jesus found in the three gospels first written all present Jesus as going to the synagogue with regularity. The assumption of most people has been that there were buildings called synagogues to which Jesus went to worship and pray. This is a wrong assumption.

Several villages and towns in northern Palestine have been excavated by archeologists. In no instance have they found the remnants of a building that could be identified as a synagogue. Apparently, buildings that could be identified as synagogues did not exist until 100 to 200 years after the life and death of Jesus of Nazareth.

What was Jesus doing when he is described as going up to the synagogue?

Today, most scholars are saying synagogue was a reference to the people who gathered rather than to a place. These gatherings might take place in someone’s home or in good weather in the outdoors near the village gate. There was no such thing as synagogue, except when the people gathered.

Today a synagogue is a place. Faithful Jews gather at their synagogue for worship, prayer and the study of Torah, the law of God. For the faithful, devout Jew, the study of Torah is of special importance. The study of Torah is a life-long endeavor. Torah is very sacred and its full depth can never be plumbed.

In the time of Jesus, the Jerusalem Temple was the only place where true worship could take place. Faithful Jews who lived away from Jerusalem made regular pilgrimages to Jerusalem for mandatory worship and sacrificial ritual, but the study of Torah remained a responsibility for the local faithful. In villages and small towns, synagogue meetings took place twice a week. The gospel writers make it plain that Jesus was regular in his attendance. Our present assumption is that Jesus became literate and schooled in the Old Testament Torah in the setting of synagogue.

At synagogue meetings, Torah was not just read. The male leaders of the religious community debated and argued the meaning of Torah for their own day. The gospels portray Jesus as skilled in the debates. He carried on his debates from the perspective of the poor, the homeless, the hungry and the sick.

The Jesus perspective was very different than the perspective of those who controlled and operated the Temple in Jerusalem. The perspective of the Jerusalem leaders was the faithful keeping of holiness codes found in Torah. They were interested in ritual purity. They were interested in Sabbath-keeping, tithing and proper sacrificing. They regularly ignored the needs of widows, orphans, the poor and the sick.

Jesus, when questioned, boiled all of Torah down to two commands. Love God. Love your neighbor. By his behavior he challenged the Jerusalem interpretations of Torah. His leadership flowed directly out of his participation in synagogue and the pursuit of truth.

This leads me to a complaint and a proposal.

My complaint is that religious communities have busied themselves running their institutions. They are faithful in holding services at which the traditions of their denominations are maintained. Much work is put into baptisms and weddings. Communion is faithfully celebrated. Carefully composed prayers are recited.

However, nothing that resembles the Jesus era synagogue is taking place. The pursuit of truth through discussion and argument is not valued and prized.

My proposal is that the tradition of synagogue, as pursuit of truth, be reinstituted in our churches, in our communities and even in our nation. In my understanding of the tradition, no institutions need be formed. No place need be built. All that is needed is a few people who want to explore the meaning of truth in today’s setting.

Because of my commitment to Jesus from Nazareth, I would want to be a part of a group that started each session with reading some Jesus material. Someone else might want to start each session with a reading of the Bill of Rights or the Preamble of the U.S. Constitution. Yet another group might begin with the Platform of either the Republican or Democratic Party.

The tradition of synagogue is a great one. For a healthy society we need to reclaim the tradition.

The Rev. Howard Bess is pastor of Church of the Covenant, an American Baptist church in Palmer. His e-mail address is hdbss@mtaonline.net.