Sadducees, Pharisees, And The Church

What the Sadducees believed. The Sadducees had their roots in the time of the Hasmonaean dynasty. After the Israelites returned from the Babylonian Captivity, it was the tradition that the high priest must be of the tribe of Levi, the family of Aaron, and the family of Zadok, Solomon's high priest (1 Kings 2:35 and Ezekiel 40:46). Descendants of this family (called Zedukim, or "Sadducee" in English) were the temple authorities throughout the time before Jesus was born. Descendants of Zadok and their supporters, many of them priests, were also called Sadducees. They were wealthy and politically active (having the favor of the Romans and the support of the Herods), and they were a large majority on the Sanhedrin. This gave them far greater influence than their small numbers justified (some scholars believe there were fewer than 1,000 actual Sadducees). They also controlled the economy of the temple, for which they were criticized by the Essenes and confronted by an angry Jesus. Apparently, many were Hellenistic in lifestyle, though faithful to the temple rituals. The Sadducees were the conservatives of the time. They held that only the written Torah was authoritative, rejecting the oral law completely. And even holding the prophets and other writings of less value than Torah. They opposed the Pharisees in every way they could up to the time the Temple was destroyed in AD 70. They denied a bodily resurrection and most of the Pharisaic doctrine of angels and spirits. They held completely to the letter of Torah with no room for the creative applications of the Pharisees. This was especially true in cases involving the death penalty. Extenuating circumstances made no difference.The Sadducees' authority was one of position and birth, unlike the Pharisees, whose authority was based on piety and knowledge. They hated the Pharisees, believing the synagogue and study of the Torah and its interpretations as a form of worship undermined the temple ritual. They frequently dealt brutally with anyone who undermined the temple, its economy (their income), and its ritual. Also with Roman support were capable of severe punishment. The Sadducees offered worship that brought God down to the people. In their eyes, worship was an act of homage to the divine ruler, not an exercise in understanding. Their power was largely based in Jerusalem and Judea through the Sanhedrin, the ruling religious council, used by the Romans and Herod's as the instrument to govern the Jewish people. The Sadducees had the most to lose because of Jesus. Any popular movement jeopardized not only their place as the majority on the Sanhedrin, but also the support of the Romans who ruled through it (John 11:49, 53), a fact that would have profound consequences. This was the one group most likely to wish Jesus removed from the scene. The early church, now a growing movement, faced a similar reaction from the Sadducees (Acts 4:1, 5:17), although a large number of priests who became believers in Jesus probably were Sadducees (Acts 6:7). When the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed, the Sadducees ceased to exist. Like the Sadducees of Jesus' day, modern Sadducees also do not teach the whole plan of God and they seem to disagree amongst themselves on specifics. These are partial Christians which are not Christians but use only a few choice scriptures instead of the whole word of God. See Matthew 4:4. Nearly all will not teach that we are to be born again by his grace, (As seen at Calvary, read John 1:29 and Hebrews 9:15-22.) and our active faith through our water baptism (John 3:5, Mark 16:16, Matthew 28:18-20, Ephesians 2:8-10, and Luke 24:45-47.) to be part of God's family. Neither teach that we are begotten through the spirit of God, which enters in after our baptism in the one name (Acts 4:12, Colossians 3:17, John 14:6, and 1 Peter 3:21) that now saves us. Also see Matthew 3:12-17, Romans 6:4, and Colossians 2:12. Some deny that there are eras of God's Church. Read Revelations 1:4 and Revelations 2:213:21. Most do not consider that the top priority of the Church should be proclaiming the Gospel to the world as a witness. Mark 16:15-18. Acts 1:8 and 2:142. We read in Smith's Bible Dictionary says that the Sadducees "were for the most part judges, and individuals of the governing class. The leading tenet of the Sadducees was the negation of the leading tenet of their opponents. The second distinguishing doctrine of the Sadducees was the denial of man's resurrection after death." Halley's Bible Handbook says the Sadducees "were a priestly clique, irreligious, they were rationalistic and worldly minded." In addition Josephus

wrote, "Sadducees, think it an instance of virtue to dispute with those teachers of philosophy whom they frequent. Sadducees say that they may act as they please. But the behavior of the Sadducees ones towards another is in some degrees wild; and their conversation with those that are of their own party is as barbarous as if they were strangers to them." Thus the Sadducees were a mixture of independents and semi-independent individuals. Scripture confirms that many of the Sadducees were associated with the priesthood and that they were somewhat hostile to the true Church, "Then the high priest rose up, and all those who were with him (which is the sect of the Sadducees), and they were filled with indignation, And laid their hands on the apostles and put them in the common prison" (Acts 5:17-18). And the Sadducees may have been prophesied, How do ye say, We are wise, and the law of the LORD is with us? Lo, certainly in vain made he it; the pen of the scribes is in vain. The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken: lo, they have rejected the word of the LORD; and what wisdom is in them? (Jeremiah 8:8-9). The Sadducees apparently considered human governance and position more important than God's as John wrote, "The chief priests answered, "We have no king but Caesar!" " (John 19:15). They also would not teach the whole plan of salvation, "For Sadducees say that there is no resurrection and no angel or spirit" (Acts 23:8). "Then some Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him. Jesus answered and said to them, "Are you not therefore mistaken, because you do not know the Scriptures nor the power of God?" " (Mark 12:18/24). What The Pharisees believed. The Torah was of great importance to the Pharisees. It was the focus of every part of their lives. They believed that Moses had given a two-part law: the written law of the Torah itself and additional oral commandments that had been passed through generations to help the faithful understand and apply the written law. The Pharisees continued to interpret and expand the Torah to cover every possible occurrence of unfaithfulness to the written law. This oral law became a complex guide to everyday life often beyond the comprehension of the average person. Yet its intent was to help people understand Torah, much as a creed or catechism is intended to help summarize and interpret the Bible today. It is important to recognize that the word "law" can mean either (or both) of these "Torahs" when used in the Bible. It is often the oral Torah that Jesus criticized, though he kept it in many respects. The Pharisees had many beliefs in common with Jesus and the New Testament. They believed in the physical resurrection of the dead (While the Sadducees did not!) and a coming day of judgment followed by reward or punishment. They anticipated the Messiah at any moment. They believed in angels. They recognized a combination of free choice and divine control in human life. They thought of God as all-wise, all-knowing, just, and merciful. They taught that he loved his people, calling them to a life of obedience. The Pharisees believed that everyone had the power to choose good or evil, and die Torah must be his or her guide. And since their lives revolved around the study of the Torah, the Pharisees made the synagogue their community center, though they supported the Temple as well. There were more than 6,000 Pharisees by Jesus' time, and they were the dominant influence on the people's spiritual lives. The "yoke of Torah" (or method of obeying) taught by the Pharisees was a heavy burden, sometimes obscuring the very law they sought to obey. The Pharisees desired to raise the spiritual character of the Jewish people to help them draw nearer to God (Psalm 73:28, 34:18, and James 4:8 for a New Testament expression of the same idea). Halley's Bible Handbook says that the, "Pharisees were the most numerous and influential of the religious sects of Jesus' day. They were strict legalistic. They stood for the rigid observance of the letter and forms of the Law, and also for the Traditions". According to Smith's Bible Dictionary, "The fundamental principle of the Pharisees is that there was an oral law to complete and explain the written law, given to Moses". A scriptural example of that would be Matthew 15:1-2, "Then the scribes and Pharisees who were from Jerusalem came to Jesus saying, 'Why do Your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread'".

The Pharisees were very concerned about 'the tradition of the elders' even though there was no biblical requirement to wash hands before eating bread. Modern Pharisees are focused more on traditions than the Bible. The man made trinity tradition developed in Babylon and passed to all cultures was then brought in by Greeks (Justin Martyr 145 A.D. in water baptism and Tertullian 200 A.D. in Godhead.) and adopted by Catholics and later Protestants, fits this mode or tradition. Jesus often called the Pharisees hypocrites (Matthew 15:7,16:3, 22:18, 23:23-29, and Mark 7:6). According to Strong's Exhaustive Concordance, the Greek word Jesus used that was translated as hypocrite means, "an actor under an assumed role". "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!" (Matthew 23:2324). "Pharisees and lawyers rejected the will of God for themselves" (Luke 7:30). Today one may decide to be either a Sadducee, Pharisee, or a saved believer of God. And now more than ever we are looking up for Jesus, as our redemption draws nigh. It's not about looking busy rather we are about our father's business of seeing souls saved by his name. He told all to "Occupy till I come" (Back. Found in Luke 19:13). Jesus said, "Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing" (Mat 24:42,46). He also said, "Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is" (Mark 13:33). Also, look at what we are warned in the book of Ezekiel (the book must be warning people who at least have read the Bible), Son of man, when the land sinneth against me by trespassing grievously, then will I stretch out mine hand upon it, and will break the staff of the bread thereof, and will send famine upon it, and will cut off man and beast from it: Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord God. If I cause noisome beasts to pass through the land, and they spoil it, so that it be desolate, that no man may pass through because of the beasts: Though these three men were in it, as I live, saith the Lord God, they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters; they only shall be delivered, but the land shall be desolate. (Ezekiel 14:13-16). God can save anyone from anything if it is his will. Nothing is impossible with him. Now depending on others will not save you. That is why Paul says in Philippians, "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling" (2:12). And Peter plainly said this with the support of the other Apostles and all of the church. Acts 2:38-40 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation. And nobody will serve God long with true love and acceptance of his word. We must be like the first believers. They all gladly heard, believed, and received the word. 1 Corinthians 3:11 “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” Acts 2:41-47 Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the Apostles. And all that believed were together, and had all things common; And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. They all had things to be worried about yet they focused their faith in him who changes not. Therefore they were in perfect peace through the Prince of peace. In Isaiah 26:3-4. Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. Trust ye in the Lord for ever: for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting

strength. Psalm 29:11 The Lord will give strength unto his people; the Lord will bless his people with peace. Today, if you have accepted Jesus Christ by name in all things then you are the people of God. Matthew 1:21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins. And your are safely saved by his name (Yeshua) which is the strong tower. The righteous run into it. May the peace and purpose of God be always in your heart and life, until his soon return.