Most of them were part of the priestly line, see The High Priest in the Bible.
They had control over the temple. They were liberal in their theology,
wanted to get rid of tradition and rejected the supernatural.
They were opposed to the Pharisees. They were tempting to live the good life.
They didn't accept the entire Old Testament, only the Tora
(Pentateuch or Five Books of Moses), that is the five books:
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.
It's believed that the High Priests; Annas and Caiaphas
(Luke 3:2, John 11:49, 18:13, Acts 4:6) were Sadducees.
at the destruction of the temple in 70 AD. Left is the Pharisaic Judaism.
Some of these Sadducees who don't believe in a resurrection from the dead
came to Jesus and asked him the following question:
The Mosaic Laws say that if a man dies childless, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother (Deu (5 Mos) 25:5–6),
see The Genealogy of Jesus and The Book of Ruth.
In this case it was seven brothers. The first married and died,
and having no offspring he left his wife to his brother.
So also the second and third brother, down to the seventh.
All seven brothers have had her as a wife. After all these brothers had died,
the woman died. If there is a resurrection, whose wife will she be among
the seven brothers? (Mat 22:23–28, Luke 20:27–33, Mark 12:18–23).
Jesus first answered these Sadducees that they were wrong, because
they knew neither the Scriptures nor the power of God (Mat 22:29, Mark 12:24).
That these Sadducees didn't know the power of God means
that they had a small view of God. They had a great view of themselves.
They had exalted their intellect above the authority of God's Word.
What they couldn't understand, they didn't accept.
They only accepted what they could comprehend.
If they didn't understand something from the Scriptures,
they thought it couldn't happen, see the article
Why does God not help me believe in Him?
The Biblical Creation and the Fall of Man is an example of God's greatness.
Jesus then said that at the resurrection to Gods' Heaven
no one marries or is given in marriage, but is like the angels in Heaven
(Mat 22:30, Luke 20:34–36, Mark 12:25),
see the resurrected bodies described in The Resurrection of Jesus.
Marriage is for this life. Therefore, a widow can remarry. We won't become angels, we will be like angels. Jesus made the point that angels don't reproduce.
In Gods Heaven with our eternal and immortal bodies, our bodies won't wear out,
so there will be no need for procreation, see The Rapture.
See also time 0:36–1:58 in Bible Q&A • Episode 56.
Jesus then said that God is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
He isn't the God of the dead, but the God of the living.
(Mat 22:31–32, Luke 20:37–38, Mark 12:26–27).
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob lived at that time in Paradise
see The Rich Man and Lazarus.
They were taken to God's Heaven when Jesus died for us, see The Atonement.
When Moses approached the burning bush, God spoke to him
and said that he is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Exo (2 Mos) 3:6).
It's a present tense statement. The Sadducees believed that when a person dies, that person ceases to exist. If there is no resurrection, Jesus should have said
that God was the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to be grammatically correct.
But he didn't say that. It's only the earthly body that ceases to exist.
The souls and spirits of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob haven't ceased,
they are still there, see Body, Soul, and Spirit in The Danger with Gnosticism. Jesus used the book of Exodus to prove that the Sadducees were wrong,
a book they claimed to believe.
Note also that it was the pre-incarnated Jesus Christ who spoke at the burning bush, see Jesus – I AM.
See also Some stories in the Gospels at the end of The Four Gospels.
