The Sadducee Council

The 500 Witnesses

1 Corinthians 15:2–6 ESV

and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.

The five hundred witness that Jesus appeared unto after His resurrection were individuals in the Galilee area.

Jesus’ last appearance was a with Jewish pilgrims on the Mount of Olives as they journeyed to Jerusalem for the Feast of Pentecost.

Although 3000+ individuals were saved on the Day of Pentecost, many of those believers would not stay in Jerusalem but rather go back to their homes once the feast was concluded.

With the influx of pilgrims, the emerging church would go either unnoticed at first or would have been dismissed as a fringe group of pilgrims.

Resurrection Conspiracy

Matthew 28:11–15 ESV

While they were going, behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place. And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers and said, “Tell people, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day.

Refuting Sadducee Doctrine

Luke 20:27 ESV

There came to him some Sadducees, those who deny that there is a resurrection,

Dictionary of New Testament Background Section 1: Beliefs

Josephus tells us that the Sadducees (1) rejected the concept of fate and accepted the idea of free will, so that God could not be held responsible for evil, (2) did not believe that the soul exists after death and (3) did not believe that there were rewards and punishments after one died. Josephus also mentions that the Sadducees observed nothing apart from the law and that they considered it a virtue to dispute with their teachers.

The Sadduccees took offence to Peter and John’s preaching concerning the resurrection.

The Sadduccees would see the message of Christ’s resurrection, especially in the Temple area, as a direct assault to their religious beliefs.

While before the Sadducee council, Peter refuted their doctrine of no resurrection by claiming that their authority came from Jesus of Nazareth whom the Sadducees crucified and yet was resurrected three days later.

Our Blessed Hope

John 14:1–3 ESV

“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.

1 Corinthians 15:12–19 ESV

Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

1 Corinthians 15:50–56 ESV

I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.

Conclusion

Easter is the celebration of Jesus’ resurrection.

It is also a reminder of the blessed hope of we have through Jesus.