#1 Their devotion and admiration of God was so great that they would dedicate their lives to adhering to His commands even though they believed Him to be an impersonal God they would never meet. They would also never know if they had served Him well or not. They would use their existence trying to serve Him with no reward or knowledge of His approval. I guess that would be kinda noble.
#2 They were using the Law to put themselves in places of power to be revered and feared by common people. Note that the Sadducees thought only priests should be able to read and teach the word of God. Essentially, they would use the Law of God to manipulate people.
I'm leaning more towards option #2. I'm sure their may be other options out their, but their altercations with Jesus makes it apparently obvious what their real motives were. They wanted the seat of glory for themselves. They wouldn't even allow the Son to receive more glory than themselves.
How does this impact me? Well I got to thinking about the multitudes of people who get up on Sunday morning for services to check it off their "how to keep yourself holy" list. Or when I read the Bible to check it off my list. Or when I read it and don't let it impact my life. And the various other things we do to make ourselves feel holy or to appease God. If I truly believe that I have this great Salvation and Jesus came to give us life, then why am I tempted to do so many things out of an obligatory response instead of an overflow of my love for my God and Savior? If I believe that my sin is the death of me, then why do I run back to it? It's that nasty old flesh that's why! I'm tempted to try to earn grace through my works of righteousness once I have received it, and tempted to pick up my sin that I was compelled to leave behind when I gained my Salvation. Now isn't that dumber than dumb? If grace is grace then it's grace. And if sin is the death of me then why return to it?
I don't want to be like the Sadducees or the Pharisees, but I have the same sin nature attached to me that they did. Praise God that I also have the Holy Spirit to keep me on the path of Grace. Though I may wander from time to time He is a kind, merciful, and compassionate God to gently lead me back. He is also loving enough to use more forceful methods to lead me back if I don't respond to His gentleness. Thank you God for saving me and sustaining me.
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