Key persons/groups/terms found in the Gospels (cont'd)

Sadducees – A Jewish religious and political group that was a rival to the Pharisees. While the Pharisees were scribes and teachers, the Sadducees were priests. Consequently, the Sadducees controlled the temple. The high priest was a member of the Sadducees. While the Pharisees enjoyed the support of the general public, Sadducee support was largely confined to the wealthy upper class. The Sadducees did not believe in angels, demons, the resurrection of the dead, Satan, Hell, immortality of the soul - eternal life and eternal damnation, and the coming of the Messiah. They accepted only the first five books of the Bible (the Pentateuch) as authoritative Scripture. The Sadducees completely rejected the oral laws and traditions embraced by the Pharisees. The Sadducees did not completely reject Greek culture and cooperated with the Romans. They were more concerned with political influence than spiritual matters. The Pharisees and Sadducees were constantly at odds with one another in an effort to gain greater influence over the Jewish people.

The Sadducees resented Jesus because He believed in the resurrection, eternal life, Hell, etc. More importantly, they attacked Him for teaching as one who had authority to interpret God’s Law/to speak on behalf of God but that authority did not come from the Sadducees.

Although the Pharisees and Sadducees were polar opposites in their beliefs, the one thing that united them was their resentment of Jesus. They regarded Jesus as a threat to their hold on Jewish society. They worked together to remove that threat.

Sanhedrin – The highest Jewish judicial court in Jerusalem under the leadership of the high priest. It is similar to our Supreme Court with the high priest acting as the Chief Justice. The Sanhedrin consisted of 71 members (70 elders, priests, and teachers of the law plus the high priest.) Membership in the Sanhedrin was conferred by appointment and accompanied by a ceremony of ordination through the laying on of hands. The Sanhedrin heard matters related to Jewish religious law. Jesus was put on trial before the Sanhedrin for breaking the Law and claiming to be the Son of God. During the New Testament era the Sanhedrin was controlled by the Pharisees and Sadducees who rarely agreed on anything. Think Republicans and Democrats who control Congress today. Read Acts 23:1-11.

Samaritans – A group of people who lived in a region called Samaria located between the Sea of Galilee and Jerusalem. In Old Testament days, it was the location of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. In 722 B.C., Assyria conquered the Northern Kingdom and forced thousands of Israelites into exile. The Assyrians then forced several different people groups to live in the Northern Kingdom – peoples of different cultures and religions. Read II Kings chapter 17. Over time these people groups intermarried with one another and with the few remaining Israelites who were not sent into exiles. A group of Samaritans developed a worship of God based on the first five books of the Bible. They had their own priests and built a temple on Mt. Gerizim where the Samaritans worshipped God by offering animal sacrifices. The Samaritans rejected Jerusalem as a holy place. They believed in a Messiah who in their view would be a great prophet like Moses. Because of the Samaritans’ mixed heritage and their different religious beliefs, the Jews developed a growing hostility towards Samaritans. They regarded Samaritans as half-breeds both physically and spiritually. During the Intertestamental Period, the Jews destroyed the Samaritan temple at Mt. Gerazim. This act created a permanent rift between Samaritans and Jews marked by racial, social, and religious segregation. Think of the segregated relationship between whites and blacks in the South from 1865-1960’s. The Samaritans avoided contact with Jews and Jews avoided contact with Samaritans. For example, many Jews refused to step foot on Samaritan soil. They would cross the Jordan River and travel along the eastern boundary to get to Galilee. Jews regarded any object touched by a Samaritan to be unclean. Pharisees used the word Samaritan as a racial epithet against Jesus. A small group of Samaritans (about 700) continue to practice their religion (including animal sacrifices) in Israel today on Mt. Gerizim.