After the Triumphal Entry, the journey was no longer about miles, but about days. Once He entered the city, the cross was less than a week away. Though no long distances were covered each day, still Jesus walked toward the hill known as Golgotha. It was on this part of the journey that He encountered the Sadducees who questioned Him about a resurrection issue which was strange since they did not even believe in the resurrection. While the Sadducees were a smaller slice of the religious hierarchy than the Pharisees, they were like them in in that they, to, were professional keepers of the status quo.
As professional keeper of the status quo, they stood squarely in opposition to Jesus. This rabbi who would later be spoken of as the One who was the same yesterday, today, and forever was about radical change. No one recognized this any more than the keepers of the status quo. They were threatened by Jesus. He represented losing control. Everything He had been teaching called for a change from the way things were. For the Sadducees there was security and power in making sure that everything continued to be done as it had always been done.
Keepers of the status quo populate the pews and the pulpits of the contemporary church. For them the status quo is not so much about retaining rituals and traditions, but about embracing a mode of operation that causes the church to look like and be like a business in the secular world. The modern day keeper of the status quo maintain that the best model for the church to follow comes from the secular world around it and not from the Word, or its author, the Holy Spirit. Depending on the Word or the Holy Spirit speaks of taking risks of faith that keepers of the status quo will never tolerate. And so, the church goes on doing things like it has always done which takes it farther and farther from being a spiritual community centered on the Christ.
As professional keeper of the status quo, they stood squarely in opposition to Jesus. This rabbi who would later be spoken of as the One who was the same yesterday, today, and forever was about radical change. No one recognized this any more than the keepers of the status quo. They were threatened by Jesus. He represented losing control. Everything He had been teaching called for a change from the way things were. For the Sadducees there was security and power in making sure that everything continued to be done as it had always been done.
Keepers of the status quo populate the pews and the pulpits of the contemporary church. For them the status quo is not so much about retaining rituals and traditions, but about embracing a mode of operation that causes the church to look like and be like a business in the secular world. The modern day keeper of the status quo maintain that the best model for the church to follow comes from the secular world around it and not from the Word, or its author, the Holy Spirit. Depending on the Word or the Holy Spirit speaks of taking risks of faith that keepers of the status quo will never tolerate. And so, the church goes on doing things like it has always done which takes it farther and farther from being a spiritual community centered on the Christ.
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