Politics were important to the writers and readers of the Bible. Both Matthew and Luke mention in their opening scenes that Jesus was born during the reign of Herod who gained the official title "King of the Jews" by the Roman Senate in 40 B.C. In gaining the throne over Israel, he replaced Israel's High Priest as the ruler over the Jews. It was also Herod who represented the the beginning of Rome's rule over Israel.
Herod was brutal in his attempts to gain and to keep his position secure. Suffering from depression and paranoia, he killed two sons and one of his wives and the Bible tells us that he killed dozens of Bethlehem's children because of a rumor that the king of the Jews was born there.
Even though we know next to nothing about common talk in the time of Jesus, I believe that politics permeated the discussions of the people in Judea and Galilee. The people lived under a cruel ruler who established by and represented the foreign city of Rome. Under him were Sadducees who controlled the temple and were all too happy to aid the foreign leaders in support. The Pharisees also had a history of political involvement battling the Sadducees for control under the watchful eye of Rome, but by Jesus' day the Sadducees had the upper hand both fiscally and politically even though they both worked together through the Sanhedrin and in their daily politics.
The High Priest descended from a line of priests that were considered illigitimate by many in Israel. In fact, the Qumram community left the cities to live in the desert because they were so discusted by the politics of Jerusalem. The Pharisees were wealthy and pretty much controlled the temple requiring taxes to the temple on top of the taxes paid to Rome.
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