A. This group is the "third" of the leadership of the nation in Jesus' day.
1. Mark has already addressed the "groups" of the "leaders" that made up "the Chief Priests, the Scribes, and the Elders" (11:27), and those called "Pharisees and Herodians" (12:13).
2. He turns now to the "Sadducees".
a. Of this group Mark has little to say: this reference is his only one in which the Sadducees have a part.
b. Of this group Mark "categorizes" them with one descriptive phrase: they "say that there is no resurrection".
1) This, also, is not a big theme of Mark based upon his lack of direct mention except in the two references in this paragraph.
2) However, "resurrection" is a "mainstay" of all of the promises of God and is simply assumed by Mark as he works through his message details.
a) As the logic of Paul declares, "what does it profit me? If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die" (1 Corinthians 15:32).
b) The denial of "resurrection" is, perhaps, the most destructive lie ever produced by the "father of lies" because it erases every issue critical to a "good life".
(1) No reason to evaluate behavior for the purpose of making decisions of 'morality'.
(2) No reason to restrain oneself from any 'immediate pleasure'.
(3) No reason for the reality of the deep-seated "fear of death" that dominates men without exception.
(4) No reason to compete with others as a "Sadducee" for the extremely fleeting pleasures of this life.
(5) No reason to seek to avoid death.
(6) No reason to look forward to anything in this life.
(7) And, no reason to be guided by the thought of "God".
3) Mark quite possibly gave the "Sadducees" such short mention because it is the most stupid ideology on the planet (so what does that say about the significance of those who promote such nonsense?).
B. Mark's use of the "Sadducees" is to point out the extreme stupidity of being a "thief", being a "murderer", and being a "hypocrite" as the leader of a religion in which the contradictions between "doctrine" and "practice" are so abundant and obvious that no one with any sense at all would be a follower of "Judaism" in the first century.
1. This is Mark's goal: to persuade his readers that the teachings of "Jesus of Nazareth" are far superior to any of the "philosophies" of religion among men.
2. Once unshackled from the smothering presence of evil men and their evil teaching, "Jesus of Nazareth" can be considered as a true "Teacher" Who teaches the way of a real God in truth without pandering to anyone (12:14).
C. Even the "example" that the Sadducees put forward is so "over the top" that it reveals the extreme arrogance of its proponents.
1. There did not need to be more than one "brother" who took his deceased brother's wife to raise up seed to his brother to create the "problem" that the Sadducees wanted to present.
2. That these opponents of Truth used a seven-fold action of "brothers" simply reveals their total disdain for the "religion" which they used to obtain their own status and privileges "of the moment".
