The Sadducees were a sect, or party, of the Jewish religious community. They were organized around the aristocratic class of priests whose authority covered all activities in the temple (the Pharisees controlling the neighborhood synagogues). The Sadducees--descendants of a hereditary priesthood that arose some time after Nehemiah's temple reforms--rejected entirely the oral tradition preferred by the Pharisees (and sustained by the Scribes, who made God's written Law into "traditions of men," Mark 7:5-13). The Law of Moses, in their view, was immutable, absolute and not open to new interpretations. They were far more receptive to change in secular affairs and therefore tolerated Roman rule well. They were a privileged and sophisticated group, keeping in touch with international events in politics and culture. They were the aristocracy of Jerusalem. From this small group of wealthy, pedigreed families came the high priest and the lesser priests of the temple. They were in reality political appointees of the Roman government. At the time of Jesus, these Sadducees controlled the high Jewish council, or Sanhedrin, but they had little influence among the common people, who favored the Pharisees. The Sadducees engaged in bitter rivalry with the increasingly powerful Pharisees for control of the Jerusalem temple. The Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection, nor did they believe in angels or spirits, (Matthew 22:23; Mark 12:18; Luke 20:27; Acts 23:6-8).
Jesus was a threat to the privileged position of the Sadducees. Any talk of a Messiah alarmed and frustrated them. They feared that a popular hero like Jesus might arouse another revolt against the Roman government, yet they were hesitant to arrest Him for fear of provoking a riot. A man like Jesus presented a real danger to the Sadducees, who held their privileged position with the support of the Roman authorities. Anyone who aroused talk of a Messiah undermined the peoples' allegiance to the established religious and political order. More, He endangered the relationship the Sadducees had with the Romans. Such a man must be silenced, they reasoned, before He sparked an uprising, which the Romans would crush with characteristic brutality. If that happened, the Sadducees stood to lose their privileges. In fact, the Romans might even forbid them to practice their religion except under the most stringent controls. They united with their bitter rivals, the Pharisees, as well as other groups, to plot to bring Jesus to trial and have Him condemned to death. John 11:45-57 says, "Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, put their faith in Him. But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. Then the chief priests [from the sect, or party, of the Sadducees] and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin [controlled by the Sadducees]. ‘What are we accomplishing?' they asked. ‘Here is this man performing many miraculous signs. If we let Him go on like this, everyone will believe in Him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.' Then one of them, named Caiaphas [a Sadducee], who was high priest that year, spoke up, ‘You know nothing at all! You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.' He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one. So from that day on they plotted to take His life. Therefore Jesus no longer moved about publicly among the Jews. Instead He withdrew to a region near the desert, to a village called Ephraim, where He stayed with His disciples. When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, many went up from the country to Jerusalem for their ceremonial cleansing before the Passover. They kept looking for Jesus, and as they stood in the temple area they asked one another, ‘What do you think? Isn't He coming to the Feast at all?' But the chief priests [Sadducees] and Pharisees had given orders that if anyone found out where Jesus was, he should report it so that they might arrest Him."
[Parts taken from Great People of the Bible and How They Lived:]
(See also Herodians, Pharisees, Scribes / Teachers of the Law / Expert in the Law.)
See Save / Salvation.
The Samaritans were colonists (Gentiles) whom the king of Assyria sent to inhabit the Land of Israel after the captivity, and so were despised by the Jews, (2 Kings 17:24-41; John 4:9). They were considered hated foreigners. Jews viewed Samaritans as half-breeds, both physically and spiritually. These Gentiles had intermarried with Israelites left behind when the people of the Northern Kingdom were exiled. Samaritans and Jews practiced open hostility.
In the time of Zerubbabel, they sought to form an alliance with the returned Israelite captives and to unite with them in building the temple, but were rejected, (Ezra 4:2-3). They had a temple on Mount Gerizim, (John 4:20). They were treated with charity by Christ. See the parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:30 and following, and the story of the Samaritan woman at the well of Jacob in John 4.
Samaritans were particularly hostile to Jews who were on their way to observe religious festivals in Jerusalem. It was at least a three-day journey from Galilee to the city of Jerusalem in Judea. Samaria was between Galilee and Judea. If Jews chose to go through Samaria to reach Jerusalem, Samaritans refused overnight shelter for the pilgrims. Because of this extreme dislike, Jews traveling between Galilee and Jerusalem in Judea frequently refused to step a foot on Samaritan soil and would cross over to the east side of the Jordan River to avoid that area. It is interesting that Jesus deliberately went through Samaria, speaking to the Samaritan woman at the well of Jacob, and then later to the people of her village. They accepted Him as the Savior. Later, Philip would go to them and spread the Good News of Jesus Christ, and many would be baptized. The castoffs--the despised and rejected--were now children of the kingdom of God: "Those who had been scattered preached the Word wherever they went. Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Christ there. When the crowds heard Philip and saw the miraculous signs he did, they all paid close attention to what he said," (Acts 8:4-6). Later, Peter and John came to Samaria to preach also: "When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the Word of God, they sent Peter and John to them," (Acts 8:14). "When they had testified and proclaimed the Word of the Lord, Peter and John returned to Jerusalem, preaching the Gospel in many Samaritan villages," (Acts 8:25).
See: Luke 10:25-37, The Good Samaritan; Luke 17:12-18, The Ten Lepers (the "foreigner" who returned to give praise to God was a Samaritan); John 4, the Samaritan woman at the well of Jacob; John 4:10, Jesus does two days' work in Samaria; Acts 8:5-13, Philip does successful work among the Samaritans; Acts 8:14-25, Peter and John are sent to the Samaritan people after hearing of Philip's successful work.
See Devil / Satan.
"Save" is from the Greek word sozo. "Salvation" is from the Greek word soteria. Both have the meaning, "a deliverance from danger, suffering, etc.; to be preserved." They are used of the spiritual and eternal salvation granted immediately by God to those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and, by believing, become obedient to His Will. These people are delivered from a life of sin (living in a state of spiritual death) to a life in Christ (living in a state of spiritual life). These words are also used of the future deliverance of believers at the Second Coming of Christ for His saints. His saints will be delivered from the wrath of God to be executed upon the ungodly at the close of this age, and they will be delivered from eternal doom.
The Word of Truth is the Gospel of salvation, (Ephesians 1:13). Salvation is found only in Christ Jesus, (Acts 4:12). The one who believes the Gospel and is baptized will be saved, (Mark 16:16).
(See also Christian, Church, Disciple, Faith...Belief..., Gospel / Good News, Judge, Judgment, Obey / Obedience / Obedient, Truth / Truthful / Truthfully, Word....)
From the Greek word soter, meaning, "the deliverer; the preserver." All of the Godhead--God the Father, Christ Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit--are the deliverers, the preservers of man. Titus 3:4-7 says, "But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by His grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life."
[Parts taken from Great People of the Bible and How They Lived: ] The office of scribe had developed during the years that the Israelites were in Babylonian captivity. The Jews in captivity had worked to keep their faith alive and retain their national identity, and they organized small groups to study the Mosaic Law and the history of their people. Professional scribes, men who had mastered the art of writing Hebrew, were in constant demand to prepare copies of Israel's sacred literature on scrolls of parchment for these study groups. Many scribes devoted themselves exclusively to studying and editing the scriptures. In this way a school of scribal scholars developed in Babylonia, and the manuscripts they prepared came to make up the Old Testament.
During the time of Jesus, the larger towns and cities were often fortunate enough to have a scribe (sometimes called a doctor of the law, and later as a teacher of the law) as a teacher and religious adviser to the community. These influential men had spent most of their lives studying and copying the sacred scriptures. Their primary concerns were preserving and teaching the scriptures and interpreting the laws of the Torah, the five books containing the laws and commandments the Lord gave to Moses. They and they alone could decide whether it was lawful for a man to divorce his wife because she was flirtatious; whether a man could lawfully repair his leaky roof on the Sabbath; or how many threads must be on each tassel of a prayer shawl. Their power and influence was great among the people, and they gloried in the praises and awe of men. They were given the place of honor at important feasts and in synagogues. When a scribe passed, ordinary people rose as a sign of respect.
Most scribes were affiliated with a particular school of thinking, headed by a famous rabbi who was surrounded by a circle of disciples, or devoted followers. There were many scribal schools in Palestine in the first century A.D., most of them based in Jerusalem. It was not unusual for followers of different schools to engage in heated public discussions over a particular point of the law. The courtyard of the temple and other public places were often the scenes of such discussions. When Jesus, at the age of 12 years, traveled with His parents to Jerusalem to worship at the temple, He would have seen and heard these scribes--teachers of the law--arguing among themselves. When His parents started home to Nazareth, discovered He was not among the family members or neighbors and went back to Jerusalem to search for Him, they found Jesus in the temple's outer courtyard in discussion with these scribes. Luke 2:45-47 says, "When they did not find Him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for Him. After three days they found Him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. Everyone who heard Him was amazed at His understanding and His answers."
A sect of the Jewish religion, the Pharisees, particularly relied on the teachings of the scribes. The scribes would assure the Pharisees of what was lawful and what was not lawful. The Pharisees would then tend to every detail of this traditional law that had been accumulated over the centuries. These Pharisees, because of the teachings of the scribes, would do such things as ceremonially washing their hands, which the Bible said was "holding to the tradition of the elders", (Mark 7:3). They also observed the tradition (which they and the scribes called "law") of washing of cups, pitchers and kettles, (Mark 7:4). The scribes had the power, for example, to explain and enforce as law whether it was in violation of the Sabbath law for a man to pick a fruit on the Sabbath or whether pouring wine from an unclean pitcher into a clean one rendered the second pitcher unclean as well. Jesus said of the Pharisees and their scribes--their teachers of the law: " ‘Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: "These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. They worship Me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men," [Isaiah 29:13]. You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men.' And He said to them: ‘You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!'" (Mark 7:6-9). Jesus also said of them, "you nullify the Word of God by your tradition that you have handed down," (Mark 7:13).
The scribes, like the Pharisees of whom they were a part, loved to be seen of men. They wanted to be known for their piety. They wore bleached white tunics rather than the natural flaxen tunics of other men. The phylacteries (small leather prayer cases) they wore on their foreheads and left forearms when they prayed were larger than those worn by other Jews. The tassels on their prayer shawls were also longer than average. They would wash their hands and bathe several times a day to remove all impurities. Such men fasted at least twice a week and prayed many times a day, often in public so all could observe their piety. Jesus calls these men "sons of hell, blind guides, blind fools, blind men, hypocrites, snakes, and a brood of vipers" and that they appear clean on the outside but are dirty on the inside, full of greed and self-indulgence. He says that on the outside, they appear to be righteous people but on the inside they are full of hypocrisy and wickedness. Read Matthew, chapter 23 to understand how the teachings of the scribes had perverted the Word of God into just traditions of men, and what will happen to those who do this. It is no wonder that the Scribes, Pharisees and Sadducees despised Jesus and worked together with the Herodians to have Him killed. He not only exposed them for what they really were, but His Words of Truth endangered their very existence.
From the Greek word enkrateia, which is from kratos, which means "strength," and also "power." The various powers bestowed by God upon man are capable of abuse. The right use of these various powers by man demands the controlling power of the will of man under the operation of the Spirit of God. Another way of saying this is that man's will bows to the Will of God, being guided by His revealed Word at all times and in all ways. For example, the righteousness from God to man--all that He commands be done to be made right by Him--must be responded to by man in one of two ways. Man can exercise this self-control--this strength or power--to come into and stay within the guidelines of God's Will, or man may demonstrate akrates--no power, no strength, without self-control--being totally "self." And in 2 Peter 1:6, where self-control is an attribute to be added to the Christian's life, it follows the adding of knowledge to one's life, suggesting that the knowledge that is constantly being added must then be put into practice in the Christian's life. When a Christian has the knowledge of God's Will, yet fails to live God's Will, that person is not exercising the strength or power given to him by God within the guidelines of the Will of God. That person then becomes akrates--becomes powerless, sapped of strength, weak and ineffective, possessing negative strength and is incontinent. "Incontinent" is from the Greek word akrasia, denoting lack of power, lack of self-control, incontinency. Just to add a "bit" to these definitions (pun intended), in the sign language for the deaf, the sign for "control" (one adds the sign "self" to the sign "control" to get "self-control") is the same as the sign to indicate reins on a horse, and is also the same sign as the word "discipline." Many believe "discipline" to mean only punishment. "Discipline" is also a "firm hand on the reins" to guide one in a given course. And this is what God does with us. He uses the "reins" of the guidance of His Word on our "bit" of self-control so that we are always walking in the Way home to Him. If we would turn off of the Way, His Word guides us back onto the right Way. When we refuse the "bit" of self-control, taking the "bit between our teeth" so to speak, then the controlling power of our will is no longer under the operation, or guidance, of the Holy Spirit, Who works in us through the inspired Word of God. We are then unrestrained, running out of control, off of the path, or Way, home to God, and back into a world filled people who are akrates--powerless in their sin and suffering and death. To have true self-control is literally to abdicate the control of self by self, and let God control all. It is to put one's self-control--one's strength and power--in the One Who has ALL power. It is to be IN Christ--and STAY there! James 4:10 says, "Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up." 1 Peter 5:6 says, "Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time." The one who has self-control willingly lets God's mighty hand "take the reins" so that HE guides the power and strength of a person in HIS right Ways.
From the Greek word douleuo. It means "to minister to, to attend to, to become a servant of, to enslave, to bring to bondage." To serve God and Christ is to willingly be enslaved, or bound, into the work and worship of Those Who set us free from the bondage of, or service to, sin and death and Satan. To serve as a doulos, a willing servant bound by love and not by chains, is used of a person serving God (and carries with it the impossibility of serving mammon, or "riches, worldly things," at the same time). In Matthew 20:26-28, Christ states that we are to follow His example of servitude. He took on the very nature of a servant, humbled Himself and became obedient to death--even death on a cross! (Philippians 2:6-8). Ephesians 6:5-8 says we are to be like slaves to Christ: "Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the Will of God from your heart. Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free." Matthew 6:24 states that no one can serve two masters: [Jesus said,] "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money."
(See also Christian, Church / Assembly, Disciple, Kingdom of Heaven, Money [Mammon], Obey / Obedience / Obedient.)
From the Greek word hamartia. It means, "a missing of the mark." It brings to mind an arrow missing the target--missing the mark, or goal. This "missing the mark" of God's righteousness is what separates us from Him. Isaiah 59:2 says, "But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear." Sin is a process leading to death. James 1:14-15 says, "...but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death." Of dying in sin, Jesus said, "I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am the One I claim to be, you will indeed die in your sins," (John 8:24).
Sin is also said to be the state of being "unclean" because sin is a stain upon us. Nothing unclean can come before God. Only those who are purified by the blood of His Son can be His children. 1 Peter 1:22-23 says, "Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the Truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart. For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God." God's children are not to be unclean anymore. They are to be "clothed" with Christ. Romans 13:14 says, "Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature."
"Sin" and "Sinner" are also translated "debt" and "debtor," and "offend" and "offender." Man is in debt to God by his sin. Man cannot pay the debt to be bought OUT of sin. Christ had to pay the debt for us to satisfy God's justice. 1 Corinthians 6:19 and 20 says of those who are children of God, "You are not your own. You were bought with a price...." Regarding man as an offender, Isaiah 59:12 says, "For our offenses are many in Your sight, and our sins testify against us. Our offenses are ever with us, and we acknowledge our iniquities." And then in Isaiah 44:22, we see that God has mercy on those who offend Him: "I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you."
Sin is also likened to darkness. Jesus is the light that can take away this darkness. Matthew 4:16 says, "...the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned." 1 Peter 2:9-10 says of the children of God, "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him Who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy."
(See also Atone / Atonement / Atoning, Christian, Church, Disciple, Holy / Holiness, Money [Mammon], Reconcile / Reconciliation, Redeem / Redemption / Redeemer.)
To bear, to carry, to provide with nourishment, to keep going, to prolong, to hold up as in to support or prop. It carries with it the idea that without the one who does the sustaining, NOTHING would hold together--NOTHING would be sustained. Hebrews 1:1-4 says, "In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, Whom He appointed heir of all things, and through Whom He made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful Word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. So He became as much superior to the angels as the Name He has inherited is superior to theirs."
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