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The Pharisees and Sadducees (who demanded signs in this chapter) were two of the five major political parties during the time of Jesus. There were also the Herodians, the Zealots, and the Essenes.
The Herodians were loyal defenders of the status quo. They supported Roman policy and feared being overrun by the Roman military. They were resistant to any sort of change, and eventually joined forces with other parties in the plot to eliminate Jesus.
The Zealots were revolutionary nationalists who looked for every opportunity to overthrow the Roman government. They sided with the Pharisees on religious law, and opposed the Sadducees and Herodians in most political matters.
The Essenes were detached purists. They lived in societies that held common property and believed in celibacy, pacifism, opposition to slavery, and caring for the sick/elderly. They paid more attention to ceremonial purity than even the Pharisees, and established many cultural practices and rituals.
The Sadducees were the urban elitists. They represented aristocrats, priests, merchants, and other elite individuals in Judea. They denied the supernatural (resurrection, angels, etc.) as well as everlasting punishment and focused on free will and the responsibility of people to make wise choices according to the law. They held only to the Law of Moses.
Finally, there were the Pharisees – the religious legalists. They were basically a more socialized version of the Essenes. They differed from the Sadducees in that they believed in the resurrection, but understood the coming kingdom as a literal fulfillment to the promise to David – that a king would reign over Israel forever.
How did Jesus handle these political institutions in His time? Was He involved or disinterested? Did He endorse certain people/parties, or not? While it is impossible to know exactly where He stood, it is clear how He dealt with and reacted to politically charged situations. First, He was keenly aware of exactly what these institutions stood for, and what they ultimately wanted. Almost everything these institutions stood for was leading people in the opposite direction from Jesus – and that’s interesting to me. Of course, there were exceptions.
Jesus himself chose two Zealots to be His disciples. Eventually, they would learn that their worldview was not a proper understanding of what God’s kingdom would accomplish. Jesus always directed their preconceived ideas back to the reality of God’s plan. His will would trump all politics. The Pharisees and Sadducees’ demand for a test would be thrust back as a lack of spiritual discernment. Jesus knew their hearts.
For believers today, we must wrestle with our allegiance. We can uncover someone’s allegiance in many different ways. Most commonly, we can view their social media posts and look at where they spend their time and money. Is it for a political party or candidate? Is it for sports? Is it for themselves? Do those preconceived ideas make us “demand for a sign?” Are we putting our need to be “right” above the commandments of Christ? Are we using Jesus’ name as an endorsement for our political or social ideas?
All of these questions bring pause. What have we pledged our allegiance to over Jesus? More importantly, if Jesus asked us to leave them behind, would we?