Kingdom, The

Jesus referred to His vision using this term   

Parable

A Greek word meaning “comparison” 

Abba

An Aramaic word that means something far more intimate than just “father” 

Hillel

The most prominent of the Jewish sages and he was probably still alive when Jesus was a boy     

(Great) Sanhedrin

The powerful officials of the Temple 

Saduccees

The aristocracy of the priestly caste    

Pharisees

The chief political and religious rivals of the Sadducees 

Hasidim

The pious ones because of their strict adherence to the Law    

Essenes

Priests who reacted so strongly to the weaknesses of the religious-political leaders that they withdrew from Jewish society altogether in order to observe strict religious traditions     

Zealots

A sect that maintained that Jewish independence could be attained only through a military overthrow of the Romans     

Ekklesia

A Greek term meaning “Church”   

Great Teacher

The predominant portrait of Jesus in Matthew    

Mary

She abandoned her traditional woman’s role and joined the men to hear Christ’s teaching       

Martha

In Luke, she represents the traditional woman