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During the time before Yeshua was born, and for sometime after, there was a dispute as to who the true High Priest was. In 6 BC, Annas the Sadducee became the High Priest. Or was he?
The Sadducees were a heretical sect that did not believe in an afterlife. They were more like Atheists than Jews.
Zacharias, father of John the Baptist, as high priest
Unfortunately Zacharias had no son to succeed him. On a certain Day, Zacharias went into the Temple and did not come out for such a long time that the people outside marvelled. This is recorded in Luke 1:21. But for what reason could the people not enter the Temple to check on him? Perhaps the old man died in there! Shouldn't they have at least peeked in the door to see what was taking him so long? The most obvious reason was they were not allowed to enter. Only one person could enter the Temple on this particular Day. And this Day could only have been the Day of Atonement. This is why no one could go into the Temple to check on him, because they were afraid they would die!
If the High Priest was not worthy, he would die when he went in to offer incense on the Day of Atonement. According to tradition, a rope was tied around the ankle of the High Priest when he went in on this Day. If he died, they pulled out his body. Many High Priests are said to have died this way!
"There was an incident involving a certain Sadducee who was appointed as High Priest, who prepared the incense outside and then brought it into the Holy of Holies... The Sages said: Not even a few days passed until he died and was laid out in the garbage dump, and worms were coming out of his nose in punishment for his actions. And some say that he was struck as soon as he emerged from the Holy of Holies, as Rabbi Ḥiyya taught: A type of sound was heard in the Temple courtyard, as an angel came and struck him in the face. And his fellow priests came in to remove him from there and they found the likeness of a footprint of a calf between his shoulders. That is the mark left by an angel striking, as it is stated with regard to angels: “And their feet were straight feet, and the sole of their feet was like the sole of a calf’s foot”
Talmud Yoma 19:b
Was this "certain Saduccee" Annas' own father?
So you can imagine Annas' fear when it was his turn to have the rope around his ankle! What better way to prove who the true High Priest is, than to let Zacharias go instead! So on this Day of Atonement, Zacharias proved to all the people he was the true High Priest. When he lived, of course, this infuriated the Saduccees. It proved they were not accepted by Yahweh. But since Zacharias had no successor, they simply waited for the old man to die. Until John the Baptist was born.
The Sadducees were a heretical sect that did not believe in an afterlife. They were more like Atheists than Jews.
- Sadducees rejected entirely the supernatural, refuting belief in angels, demons, heaven, hell, and resurrection. To their way of thinking “souls die with the bodies.” The End.
Zacharias, father of John the Baptist, as high priest
Unfortunately Zacharias had no son to succeed him. On a certain Day, Zacharias went into the Temple and did not come out for such a long time that the people outside marvelled. This is recorded in Luke 1:21. But for what reason could the people not enter the Temple to check on him? Perhaps the old man died in there! Shouldn't they have at least peeked in the door to see what was taking him so long? The most obvious reason was they were not allowed to enter. Only one person could enter the Temple on this particular Day. And this Day could only have been the Day of Atonement. This is why no one could go into the Temple to check on him, because they were afraid they would die!
If the High Priest was not worthy, he would die when he went in to offer incense on the Day of Atonement. According to tradition, a rope was tied around the ankle of the High Priest when he went in on this Day. If he died, they pulled out his body. Many High Priests are said to have died this way!
"There was an incident involving a certain Sadducee who was appointed as High Priest, who prepared the incense outside and then brought it into the Holy of Holies... The Sages said: Not even a few days passed until he died and was laid out in the garbage dump, and worms were coming out of his nose in punishment for his actions. And some say that he was struck as soon as he emerged from the Holy of Holies, as Rabbi Ḥiyya taught: A type of sound was heard in the Temple courtyard, as an angel came and struck him in the face. And his fellow priests came in to remove him from there and they found the likeness of a footprint of a calf between his shoulders. That is the mark left by an angel striking, as it is stated with regard to angels: “And their feet were straight feet, and the sole of their feet was like the sole of a calf’s foot”
Talmud Yoma 19:b
Was this "certain Saduccee" Annas' own father?
So you can imagine Annas' fear when it was his turn to have the rope around his ankle! What better way to prove who the true High Priest is, than to let Zacharias go instead! So on this Day of Atonement, Zacharias proved to all the people he was the true High Priest. When he lived, of course, this infuriated the Saduccees. It proved they were not accepted by Yahweh. But since Zacharias had no successor, they simply waited for the old man to die. Until John the Baptist was born.
