ACC ~ Matthew 22 v23

THE SAME DAY THE SADDUCEES CAME

INCOMPLETE WORK ON MATTHEW: On what day? On the day when the Pharisees returned, the Sadducees acquiesced. The Sadducees then returned, and in turn the Pharisees withdrew. So it was one opponent and then another through many days of struggle. They accosted him frequently so that one or the other might be able to best him, or if they were not able to put him down squarely, they might instead subvert others’ judgment of him. So they frequented his company. Among the more numerous enemy is found the stronger warrior. While they were not able to put him down simply by words, they all surrounded him. They could not overcome him by strength; they sought to turn everyone against him, with the multitude following. HOMILY 42. [1]

[1] PG 56:868.

DISTINGUISHING PHARISEES AND SADDUCEES

JEROME: There were two heresies among the Jews: one of the Pharisees and the other of the Sadducees. The Pharisees preferred tradition and the observance of the law, which two things they referred to as “divine service.” They preferred them over justice. The Sadducees, however, were thought to be just and punished themselves because they were not. Hence the two parties were thought by the people to be quite different. The Sadducees denied everything about the resurrection. As we find in the Acts of the Apostles, they were opposed to the believers and confessors of the resurrection of the body and soul. [1] These are the two houses about which Isaiah clearly teaches [2] that because they had climbed high they would surely be knocked down on the ground. COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 3.22.23. [3]

[1] Acts 23:8.

[2] Cf. Is 8:14.

[3] CCL 77:204-5.

THEY SAY THERE IS NO RESURRECTION

INCOMPLETE WORK ON MATTHEW: He introduced the heresy of the Sadducees, who said that there was no resurrection of the dead. Of all the propositions to be justly made, he demolished this one. For in everything and in every act, whether corporal or spiritual, the power of action is the hope of future reward. For he who plows does so in order to reap. He who fights does so in order to win. For when it becomes so difficult in this world to serve the sanctity of justice, who would be content to put out such effort against themselves every single day, unless he aspired to the hope of the resurrection? Take away the hope of the resurrection and the entire practice of religion is undermined. For didn’t the Sadducees believe that there was marriage after death? There is not. For how could they believe that there was marriage after death when they denied the resurrection? But in defense of their own error they thought that they themselves had found an even more acute reason, speaking this way among themselves: For so it is not possible that she who was the wife of seven men could be the wife of only one or the common wife of all. Thus they thought it not possible that there is a resurrection of the dead. HOMILY 42. [1]

[1] PG 56:869.