The “Sadducees” were the Congressmen and the Supreme Court justices of Jesus’ day, all rolled into one body called the “Sanhedrin.” They took offense at the controversial pronouncements of Jesus, twisted his words, relentlessly condemned the “hard sayings” that came from his mouth, even though they were true, and made one false accusation against him after another. They persuaded people in his own circle to turn on him and treacherously sell him out.

They took Jesus down with a sham, scam, and hoax of a trial that pretended to be about justice but was nothing but a jealous, greedy, and malicious lust for and abuse of power. They conducted this trial in secret, behind closed doors. Their case against him was so thin they had to suborn perjury, but their witnesses couldn’t keep their stories straight. They allowed no witnesses to testify on his behalf.

Even though they had no case against Christ, it didn’t matter – they still found a way to bend the rules and come up with a guilty verdict, removing an utterly innocent man permanently (or so they thought) from public life. (AFA)