Day Five (Continues)
The Illegal Trial Of Jesus Christ
The Arrogant Sadducees
Location:
People's Court
Shekinah Fellowship
Room 101
Ms Suzy, Jurist in this courtroom speaking:
The Sadducees, a religious group, who flourished during the ministry of Jesus, were the political aristocrats, and the wealthiest elements, among the Jewish society.
They maintained undisputed control over local government as well as the Great Sanhedrin.
Their wealth came, principally, from the commercial side of the temple services, which involved the sale of lambs and cattle for offering sacrifices, at large profits.
It was Annas, their political boss, who, as a former high priest, had placed his hired agents within the Temple for those unholy purposes.
This group did not believe in the creed of future rewards and punishments; and they taught that there was no such thing as a resurrection.
( To remember this just think of the phrase "I't sad, you see, the Sadducees do not believe in the resurrection.")
With them, all things ended at the grave.
Hence their open animosity toward the Christ who had, on more than one occasion, actually brought the dead back to life!
No credence was placed in Jesus' assurances that, after His death, He would arise on the third day. They scoffed at such a thing.
While the Sadducees were never very friendly with the opposing religious group, the Pharisees, the two were ever-ready to combine their miserable talents in any conspiracy to embarrass and humiliate the Christ- as well as the final plan to destroy Him!
Enmity toward Jesus was the one, main thing which they had in common. All that Jesus was teaching, and all He preached, ran counter to the thoughts and creed and teachings of both the Sadducees and Pharisees.
We recall that, on one occasion, when the Pharisees failed to trap Jesus into stating that it was not lawful to pay tribute to Caesar, the Sadducees sent a group from their sect for the same purpose- to trap the Master. Here we find the Bible account of their efforts:
"Then came to Him a group of Sadducees, and asked Him: Master, Moses said, if a man die, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother. Now there were with us seven brothers; and having no issue, left his wife to his brother. Likewise, the second also, and the third, unto the seventh. At last the woman dies also. Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife shall she be of the seven, for they all had her?"
Jesus well knew that this group had ridiculed His teachings in respect to the resurrection, and that they were not in good faith in acting upon such a premise. Therefore, He said to them:
"Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God. But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying: I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not God of the dead, but of the living!"
And when the multitudes heard this, they were greatly astonished at His doctrine. But when the Pharisees heard that He had put the Sadducees to silence, they were no longer desirous of propounding their questions to Him.
"And no man was able to answer Him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask Him any more questions."
Failing completely in every attempt to trap the Christ, they determined to end His ministry through a scheme and conspiracy to "seek false witnesses that they might destroy Him."
The raising of Lazarus back to life, from a four-day-old grave, and the chasing of the money-changers from the Temple of God, were the two outstanding acts of the Christ which made this particular group exceedingly angered with Him.
Therefore, in a spirit of eagerness to retaliate, they happily joined forces with the Pharisees in the common cause of committing murder-murdering the innocent blood of Jesus!
And it may be added, the leaders in that unholy conspiracy and cowardly alliance were the Sadducees...
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