No sooner were the Pharisees silenced than the Sadducees came forward with their artful questions. The two parties stood in bitter opposition to each other. The Pharisees were rigid adherents to tradition. They were exact in outward ceremonies, diligent in washings, fastings, and long prayers, and ostentatious in almsgiving. But Christ declared that they made void the law of God by teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. As a class they were bigoted and hypocritical; yet among them were persons of genuine piety, who accepted Christ's teachings and became His disciples. The Sadducees rejected the traditions of the Pharisees. They professed to believe the greater portion of the Scriptures, and to regard them as the rule of action; but practically they were skeptics and materialists.

Ikke så snart var farisæerne blevet bragt til tavshed, før saddukæerne kom frem med deres snedige spørgsmål. Disse to partier stod i skarp modsætning til hinanden. Farisæerne holdt sig strengt til overleveringerne. De overholdt nøjagtigt de ydre ceremonier, var flittige med tvætninger, faste og lange bønner og gav almisser, så alle måtte lægge mærke til det. Men Kristus sagde, at de satte Guds lov ud af kraft ved at føre lærdomme, som kun er menneskebud. Som helhed var de fanatiske og hykleriske; dog fandtes der oprigtigt fromme mennesker iblandt dem, der tog mod Kristi lære og blev hans disciple. Saddukæerne forkastede farisæernes overleveringer. De hævdede at tro på størsteparten af Skrifterne og at betragte dem som rettesnor for deres handlinger; men i virkeligheden var de tvivlere og materialister.