Alexander the Great had
conquered Israel 300 years
before Jesus was born.
Alexander wanted every-
body in his empire to speak
Greek and to act like
Greeks, but many Jews
didn't want to have anything
to do with Greek ideas but
wanted to stick with God's
Law.  They came to be
known as the Pharisees.

The problem was that after
a while they began to think
that keeping God's law was
more important than loving
God or loving other people.