BEMA Episode Link: 77: Silent Years — Herodians
Episode Length: 31:15
Published Date: Thu, 21 Jun 2018 01:00:00 -0700
Session 3
About this episode:

Marty Solomon and Brent Billings continue a look at the responses to Hellenism in the world of first-century Judaism, this time examining the group known as Herodians.

Silent Years — Herodians Presentation (PDF)

Discussion Video for BEMA 77

Sepphoris (Zippori) — Wikipedia

Transcript for BEMA 77

Notes

*Note: The following notes are handwritten by me, Adam, and I reserve the right to be wrong.

• About the Herodians
  • Herodians are mentioned in the Gospels twice and more in Josephus.
  • They were named after Herod and clearly followers of him but we aren’t sure what like of allegiance they actually had to Herod.
  • Herodians were the ones who believed they could embrace Hellenism without sacrificing their devotion or God or their Judaism.
  • Herodians would have been non-levitical Jews who reacted in a similar way to Hellenism as the Sadducees did.
  • Hellenism is not sinful. Enjoying Hellenism is not the problem. The problem with it is that the world view of Hellenism puts the self at the center of the universe.
• Sepphoris/Zippori
  • A city (photos of the “Nile House” in the presentation) is a Herodian village that had mosaics decorating the homes.
  • The Herodians from this village decorated everything because they loved the art and wanted to enjoy it.
    • Do we do similar things? Granite countertops or artwork?
  • The money and the effort that would have gone into the mosaics on the floors would have been astounding.
  • Marty questions their devotion to their Judaism but has matured over the years and his perspective has changed.
  • Photos of the Greek god of Pan.
  • The floor in the dining room depicts the mythology of the Nile. Brent mentions that God defeated the gods of the Nile. It’s odd that they would depict such things.
• What is the positive and negative of this?
  • God wants to redeem these story. Who knows this world better than Herodians.
    • If God wants to redeem theater, sports, education, healthcare? Who knows those things better than Herodians?
• Joseph the Tekton
  • Joseph is referred to as a carpenter in our Bibles but he’s actually referred to in the text as a Tekton which is a stone worker.
  • Joseph would have lived in Nazareth and between Nazareth and Zapphori would have been a rock quarry owned by Herod.
  • Much of the rock for the Herodian artwork, including mosaics, likely came from that rock quarry.
  • This leads Marty to wonder what kind of home Jesus would have grown up in.
  • He likely had exposure to the Herodian worldview, possibly even in his own household.
  • Something we cannot know until we meet Jesus again but it’s curious to wonder about nonetheless.

Discussion

• Remember
  • Hold these ideas loosely.
  • The western culture likely struggles with the Herodian world view.
• Head
  • What is the good and bad of Hellenism and the Herodian world view?
• Heart
  • What is the significant yet sustainable steps that you can create to help you deal with this that will help you honor what your learning about who God is and how he’s showing up in your life?
    • There are people who are deeply convicted about this: that’s ok. Others will overcompensate and will need encouragement to slow down to something that’s sustainable.
    • This conversation can go sideways really quick. We have been taught how to feel terrible about ourselves and need to be careful not to overdo it.
• Hands
  • What confession or repentance is there?
  • What is the beautiful stuff that we get from Hellenism and the Herodian world view?
    • Understanding that Herodian is not evil. All groups fall short and all groups have something to bring to the table.

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