Following the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in a cave in 1947, some extravagant claims were made in popular magazines indicating Jesus, in his teaching, reflected the message of the scrolls. Two of the scrolls contained the Book of Isaiah. They are over a thousand years older than any other known manuscripts, yet, the textual variation is minimal. Among the non-biblical texts on some of the scrolls is one of the Rule of Qumran. Here is where some people thought they saw much similarity to the teaching of Jesus, implying he might have been a member of the Qumran community.
Let us compare the values and teaching at Qumran with that of Jesus. The members of this community cut themselves off from the Temple worship in Jerusalem and from all contact with the rest of Judaism. Jesus did not withdraw from people; he even associated and dined with those regarded as outcasts in society. He wanted to purify the Temple, not destroy it.
The community of Qumran saw itself as walking in the light. Those opposed to them were sons of darkness. For them there was only hate. Only at the end of time will God bring an end to the strife between the sons of light and the sons of darkness. Jesus offered God’s forgiveness to all. For that reason, He taught, we should even love our enemies.
They carried out total uncompromising observance of the law of Qumran, especially in regard to the Sabbath. With the attitude Jesus had on this subject, he would certainly have been expelled!
The elite at Qumran renounced marriage, personal property, and ate just enough to survive. Other members could marry solely for the purpose of procreation. Jesus accepted invitations to dinner, he took a glass of wine, and on one occasion changed water into wine. He respected marriage and regarded renunciation of marriage as voluntary, not a rule of his followers.
Jesus had little in common with the monastic community revealed to us in the Dead Sea Scrolls. The kingdom announced by Jesus was not for an elite who had achieved perfection/ It was open to all because it was a call from the God who loves all his creatures unconditionally. For Jesus, there was a blessing for peacemakers, not hymns of hate and revenge. And yet, as I walked through the ruins of Qumran and viewed the cemetery containing 1,100 graves and the remains of the ingenious water system in one of the greatest deserts areas in the world, I must admit the admiration for these committed people. I could never subscribe to their philosophy, but in their own way they were wholeheartedly seeking God. I believe they are now truly, by His grace, sons of light.
The monastic rule at Qumran with its common building, with the members working and praying together, in the same uniform dress, following a written rule based on obedience, became the framework of a rule of life for Christians in Egypt in the desert. From there, Christians brought this rule of Saint Benedict, drawn up around the year 600. From Norway to Italy, from Ireland and all across Europe, thousands of monasteries were established following this rule of life. In different dress, and with a different faith, the Qumran monastic spirit has survived as a Jewish legacy. Taken from: Rabbi Levine’s Challenge Father Treacy’s: Examine Your Jewish Roots, By Rev. William Treacy, Writers Pub Service, 1987, pp. 131-133.