The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and tried to catch him out by asking him to show them a sign from heaven. [Matthew 16:1 (NTE)]

If I mentioned the Rotary or Kiwanis clubs, used the acronyms AARP, NRA, or PETA, or referred to the #MeToo or BLM movements, today’s readers would understand my references but they’d be unfamiliar to a reader 2,000 years from now. That’s the difficulty we sometimes encounter when reading the New Testament. While the authors knew who they were talking about, the 21^st century American often doesn’t.

1^st century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus lists at least four main sects of Judaism—the Pharisees, Sadducees, Zealots, and Essenes. Although no group constituted a majority, each group claimed to possess the only truth. Since politics and religion were almost the same thing in the Palestine of Jesus’ day, we’ll get a better grasp of the hornet’s nest into which Jesus stepped when He began preaching if we know a little about the various religious and political groups He encountered.

The Pharisees are the group we know best. Having originated about 150 BC, they were comprised of people from all walks of life. Josephus reported that “the Pharisees have the multitude on their side.” Popular with the people and considered the highest religious authorities, these powerful men were influential in the local synagogues. They believed that God transmitted both the written law (the Torah) and an oral law to Moses on Mt. Sinai. Believing both the written and oral laws of divine origin and equal importance, they demanded strict observance of both. Their leaders were called rabbis or teachers and often attracted followers or disciples. Jesus frequently censured the Pharisees and clashed with them about things like fasting, hand washing, their concept of the Sabbath, and temple contributions. While we tend to see them as legalistic hypocrites, not all Pharisees were phonies or opposed to Jesus; some even became His followers. Moreover, their emphasis on following Jewish rituals and traditions outside of the Temple kept Judaism alive after the Temple’s destruction in 70 AD.

The Sadducees were another religious group in Jesus’ day. Composed mostly of priests, they existed from about the 2^nd century BC until the Temple’s destruction. Their political responsibilities included administering the Jews in Judea, collecting taxes in the temple, and regulating relations with the Roman Empire. Because they were backed by the rich and elite, the Sadducees tended to side with whomever was in power. Because they profited from Temple business, unlike the Pharisees, they weren’t popular. Josephus reported that “the Sadducees are able to persuade none but the rich, and have not the populace obsequious (obedient) to them.” It was the Sadducees Jesus criticized when he cleared the Temple’s outer courts of its market and money changers.

Believing solely in the authority of the written Torah, the Sadducees rejected the Pharisees’ oral traditions. Their difference can be seen in the way the two groups interpreted the law of “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth….” [Exodus 21:24] Inflexible in their literal interpretation of the Torah, the Sadducees would demand the loss of an eye (tooth, hand, or foot) as punishment for causing such a loss to another person. With their oral tradition, the Pharisees interpreted the law figuratively and would only demand that an equal monetary compensation be given to the injured party. While both the Pharisees and Sadducees believed in mankind’s free will, the Pharisees differed in their belief that God had foreknowledge of man’s destiny. Pharisees believed in the existence of angels and spirits, that spirits could communicate with man, and in the resurrection of the dead during the Messianic age; the Sadducees did not.

What both groups did agree on was that Jesus was a threat to their positions and they joined forces against their common enemy. Sadly, each group was so sure they possessed the only truth, it never occurred to them that they could be wrong! They were so intent focusing on the Law that they missed the fulfillment of the Messianic prophecies when He was right in front of them!

“Well, well!” replied Jesus. “You’re a teacher of Israel, and yet you don’t know about all this? I’m telling you the solemn truth: we’re talking about things we know about. We’re giving evidence about things we’ve seen. But you won’t admit our evidence. … And this is the condemnation: that light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light, because what they were doing was evil.” [John 1:10-11,19 (NTE)]

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Having carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I also have decided to write an accurate account for you, most honorable Theophilus, so you can be certain of the truth of everything you were taught. [Luke 1:3-4 (NLT)]

Both Matthew and Luke tell the story of the Roman centurion so confident in Jesus’ power to heal his servant from afar that he told Jesus just to say the word. Although their versions differ, that does not necessarily mean they are faulty or false. Let’s see if we can reconcile their differences.

In Matthew’s version, the centurion personally sought Jesus’ help but Luke says he sent some Jewish elders on his behalf. From a 1^st century viewpoint, however, there is no discrepancy. When an intermediary acted or spoke for someone, it was as if he’d done it himself, just as the Secretary of State or press secretary can speak for the president. Both versions say the centurion sought Jesus’ help and Luke merely explained that he did this through his representatives. While today’s Bibles use quotation marks, they were unknown to Scripture’s writers so the centurion’s words are not necessarily a direct quote. While Luke’s account is more detailed, both can be true.

The central point of both versions is Jesus’ amazement at the centurion’s faith in His authority and His words, “I tell you the truth, I haven’t seen faith like this in all Israel!”  While both gospels repeat the centurion’s words about his unworthiness and Jesus’ ability to heal, Luke says Jesus started to the centurion’s before being stopped by those words but Matthew never said He started out. Matthew, however, does report that Jesus said He’d come and, since he never said Jesus didn’t start walking, both versions can be correct, especially since they both mention a crowd following Jesus. Again, in spite of their differences, neither version really contradicts the other.

While Matthew repeats Jesus’ words that many Jews would be excluded from the Kingdom, Luke doesn’t. Luke, on the other hand, gives us details about the centurion when Matthew doesn’t. That, however, doesn’t mean that one account is incorrect—just that the authors chose what to include. An explanation for their choices can be found in the identity of the writers. Although the gospels were written for all Christians, with his emphasis on prophetic fulfillment, frequent references to Hebrew Scripture, and focus on Jesus’ work within Galilee among the Jews, Matthew’s gospel is geared toward Jews. Any account of this encounter directed toward a Jewish audience would surely pass along Jesus’ warning to them.

The Gentile Luke addressed his gospel to Theophilus, another Gentile (possibly a new covert). His account was written for a larger predominately Gentile audience to spread the truth that the Messiah came for all nations. Rather than repeating Jesus’ warning to the Jews, He chose to elaborate about the centurion’s good character and explain why Jews would speak on his behalf.

Finally, if the gospel of Matthew was written by Matthew the disciple (as the early church held and a growing number of Biblical scholars believe), his would be a first-hand account told from his viewpoint. Luke, however, consulted several eyewitnesses, maybe even the centurion or those who spoke on his behalf, so his perception would vary from Matthew’s.

By carefully reading both accounts of this encounter, we get a fuller picture of the event, just as we did yesterday by reading all of the reports about that Chicago plane accident. When we come across what appear to be contradictory stories in the Bible, a closer examination will show that they are complementary. 19^th century theologian Charles Hodge said, “The best evidence of the Bible’s being the word of God is to be found between its covers. It proves itself.” Indeed, it does.

For when we brought you the Good News, it was not only with words but also with power, for the Holy Spirit gave you full assurance that what we said was true. [1 Thessalonians 1:5a (NLT)]

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