Sadducees

Now when they were going, behold, some of the watch came into the city, and shewed unto the chief priests all the things that were done. And when they were assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they gave large money unto the soldiers, Saying, Say ye, His disciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept. And if this come to the governor's ears, we will persuade him, and secure you. So they took the money, and did as they were taught: and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day. (Matthew 28: 11 – 15)

We said that the Sadducees are concerned with the here and now. They will stop at nothing to enforce that belief on all. And it is because they are sure that their doctrine is temporal and has no substance beyond the present.

But that is not where he stops at. He must disqualify any evidence that proves his doctrine is false. He must fight to prove it is valid even if all evidence points to the contrary.

Jesus has risen from the dead. And the soldiers were eyewitnesses because the Sadducees had wanted to make sure the resurrection does not happen. That is why Rome was involved in sealing the tomb.

But Jesus will not be restrained by rocks sealing caves. He rises from the dead. And the soldiers who were to block it were there to witness it.

You would expect the priests to have reconsidered their theology after getting that evidence. You would expect them to have believed in Christ after sampling that evidence.

Yet what did they do?

They bribed the witnesses to corrupt their compelling witness. They even went as far as bribing their boss because the corrupted testimony could have exposed the soldiers to the accusation of unprofessional conduct as a soldier is not supposed to sleep on his watch.

All this because the resurrection had to be hushed!

And it was not because it was false. They fabricated a story to argue away the resurrection, spending vast amounts of money to fund the fabrication.

They therefore are not opposed to the resurrection because it is not true. They actually know that it is true and have the evidence.

They only refuse to acknowledge it because its acceptance would topple their theology. It would mean that they face their unbelief head on, a thing they were in no way ready for as it would have meant their changing how they lived and especially practiced religion.

They bribed to cover the truth about the God they superficially preached because the God they preached was not the same one they served; and they did not want that truth to come out.

Sadducees KNOW that they do not represent God. That is the reason they are rigorously opposed to any contrary opinion concerning their doctrine.

And we are talking about the twenty first century peddlers of their doctrine.

Try to challenge the prosperity gospel peddler concerning the spiritual poverty they visit on their adherents and you will be faced with very violent opposition.

My brother recently shared a video of a sermon trashing the doctrine to such a pastor. Incidentally this pastor rarely (probably never, from my experience) receives calls or responds to texts. But his response was swift and brutal you could almost feel the fire in the response. I remember the same brother asking a question in a church meeting concerning scriptural qualifications for leadership and the response was also swift, bitter and incoherent, until people wondered what the problem had been.

Truth is not the issue when you deal with the Sadducees. Their position is more important than truth.

Even the scriptures are not treated aright. They are only used to argue their persuasion. That is why a preacher or writer will use a dozen different translations because a verse must be forced to say what he wants said. Many time they will use just a portion of the verse as the remaining part does not support his heresy. The preacher is therefore akin to a lawyer using any trick in the book to argue for the side that has hired him.

Do not use logic to argue with the modern day Sadducees. Forget about logic if you want to convince them as they are not interested. Like I said recently, it is possible they are irredeemable as even Christ did not waste any time on them. And none of them got saved after the resurrection.

The Sadducee could very easily hire people to falsely accuse you of nothing you have not done when they think you may ruin their business. And it has nothing to do with your wronging them or sinning. Preaching the Gospel can very easily become a capital crime as it may open the people’s eyes to the truth about God that they are shielding. I have said that as I have tried to introduce discipleship to churches, I always get the most resistance from pastors yet they ought to be the ones with the greatest interest that their members grow and mature. But I now understand why.

I remember a pastor mentioning sin very lightly, yet scripturally in a mega church as he preached. The next thing is that he was called by the owners (elders, deacons) to explain why he was demotivating the flock. He eventually had to move to another church because of the pressure he experienced.

I also remember the pressure I went through when I decided to follow God’s leading instead of agreeing to be a poster boy for them. One time I asked the big guys a question, Am I doing what you had called me to do? Is what I am doing bringing fruit? They answered in the affirmative. But they insisted I must go, later killing the ministry (literally) to ensure none of that fruit remains. I guess it was because they did not want to meet people with the kind of spirit I had.

Many ministers will tell you of great ministry openings that the Sadducees requested for partnership only to hijack and kill. How many ministers have been requested to help set us ministries yet are dumped immediately it becomes visible or invites resources?

You see, Sadducees do not care that ministry is flowing. They just can’t stand people being connected to Christ. They will need people to be connected to Christ initially, until money or influence starts flowing. Then connection to Christ becomes a liability as His Lordship does not require proxies. And Sadducees are proxies.

That is the reason many churches have the inner circle that runs the church and the members who fund the system without knowing what happens when the clique meets.

I think it is safe to advise that we stop praying for the Sadducees and start praying for their flock that God may open their eyes to who Christ is beyond the shades they use to preach Him.

But confront them a number of times to be sure they are not just deceived or are being ignorantly recruited into Sadducceeism. Share a prophecy or message with them to know whether they are completely sold out to error. And be ready to be fought, especially if you do that when there are witnesses. But listen to God as you do it.