When Jesus was on earth, He was generally kind and loving toward people. But there were
some people who were not recipients of his kindness, but of his anger. These people pretended
to be religious, but they were very unloving and unmerciful to other people.

He spoke harsh words to the Jewish religious leaders known as the Pharisees
(FAIR uh seez). These men were very careful to tithe, or give one-tenth of all their income
as an offering to God, but sometimes they would call attention to themselves so that people
could watch them put their money in the collection . They were very proud of the fact that they
were observing the law of Moses, but they were uncaring and even cruel to their neighbors
and even their families.

Jesus compared them to tombs that had been painted with whitewash and looked very
beautiful on the outside, but in reality they were like graves full of dead men's bones,
not beautiful at all.
These men would even kill the prophets that God had sent, if they didn't want to hear
the message they brought. When John the Baptist came preaching and telling them to
repent, they did not listen to him and they refused to be baptized.

The Scribes were a part of the Pharisee group. They copied the law by hand, and they
were regarded as important because they interpreted it and told people the meaning of
the Jewish law. They were very proud of themselves and wore long robes with broad
borders, or fringes on them to show their importance. They wanted to get the best seats
in the synagogues, the places of worship. They loved for people to call them "Rabbi",
or teacher, and they would pray long prayers out in public just for people to see them.
The common people looked up to the Pharisees and regarded them as very religious.

Now it was not a bad thing to be a Pharisee. It was a good thing. Jesus was condemning
these Pharisees because of their "hypocrisy" (hih POK ruh sih). They preached the truth,
but in their lives, they just pretended to obey God's law. They really did not respect or
care about others. We call such people "hypocrites" (HIP uh krits).

The Sadducees (SAJ uh seez) were Jewish religious leaders who were from the wealthy
families. This group did not believe that people would be resurrected, or raised from
the dead. They also did not believe that angels existed.
Memory Peg: To not believe in the resurrection or in angels could make them
"sad, you see" (Sadducee).

There was a Jewish ruling council called the Sanhedrin (san HE drin). It was composed
of a group of 71 men who were Pharisees and Sadducees. Not all the religious leaders
were proud and conceited. You may be familiar with three  good Pharisees who were
prominent in Bible times; Paul the apostle, Nicodemus, and Gamaliel (guh MAY lee uhl),
a wise man on the council.

Memory Verse
The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. Therefore whatever they tell you to
observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say
and do not do.                                                            Matthew 23:3 (NKJV)
 
  Listen to this story about the Pharisees and the Sadducees at:
  http://gardenofpraise.com/bibl45s.htm