Sadducees

The Surprising Story of the Skeptical Sadducees, Part 2

I grew up surrounded by puns. Why did the old man fall down the well? He couldn’t see that well! What’s blue and not very heavy? Light blue. What do you call a can opener that doesn’t work? A can’t opener. And then there was this one: “Why did they call themselves the Sadducees?” Because they didn’t believe in the resurrection and that made them sad, you see. Yes, I know that the Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection, but I’m pretty sure that did not make them sad. In fact, several things suggest that they may have been quite happy with their lives. They were rich and aristocratic. They controlled the temple, and all the high priests were Sadducees. Outside of the religious sphere, they were successful merchants and found that the best way to get ahead is to go along with the Romans. They believed strongly in

The Surprising Story of the Skeptical Sadducees

Francois de La Rochefoucauld once said: “The only thing that should surprise us is that there are still some things that can surprise us.” The fun thing about the gap years is that they reintroduce surprise into reading the New Testament. Take Mark 12, for instance. In this chapter, we find Jesus engaging in conversations with various Jewish leaders. That’s not so surprising, but it is telling. Jesus tells a parable that gets the chief priests and the elders very angry. He gets into it with the Pharisees and the Herodians about the imperial tax. He engages with a teacher of the law about the greatest commandment. And surprisingly, he has a discussion with the Sadducees. Why is that surprising? Because while the Sadducees are frequently mentioned in the Synoptic gospels (nine times!), this is the only time Jesus has a conversation with any of their members. Even more surprising