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Waiting for the Messiah... the Sadducees


After the Pharisees the next best-known group of the first century Jewish world is the Sadducees. While not mentioned nearly as often as the Pharisees, the Sadducees were actually more numerous in Jerusalem and Judea. The Sadducees were the upper class, the elite. They held, by far, the most seats on the Sanhedrin (the Jewish ruling council) and were by and large the group that most of the priests were members of. To put it simply, the Temple was their domain and they ruled it with an iron fist.
           
The Sadducees were not like the Pharisees. If we were to call the Pharisees “legalists” the Sadducees were the opposite. They chose to acknowledge only the parts of the Old Testament they liked as Scripture. They ran the Temple. They made obscene amounts of money from running the Temple. So long as the Jews of the world kept bringing their money and sacrifices to the Temple, the Sadducees were happy. They didn’t particularly care about personal devotion to the Law, so long as the system kept running.
            
When it came to expecting the Messiah, the Sadducees actually weren’t too keen on it. They had a good thing going and didn’t want the Messiah to come muck it up. Sure, they would pay lip service to hoping the Messiah would come, but really they didn’t mean it. Their greatest fear was that the Romans would destroy the Temple (and their livelihood) if they got a whiff of any sort of Messianic rebellion (this actually happened in AD 70). To them Jesus was a threat to their control.
           
Ironically the Sadducees did get something right about the Messiah; Jesus did upset the established order of things in a major way. Of course, what they got wrong was their greed and desire to keep the status quo.
            
Today I think the way of the Sadducee is far more prevalent than the way of the Pharisee. We like our “control” on life, and would much prefer it if Jesus didn’t come in and turn things upside down. A lot of times we say we want to follow Jesus and be changed, but in truth we’re just saying that. Jesus transforms everything he touches. Nothing is left the same, especially our complacency.

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