What do we know about the Pharisees and the Sadducees? Newman wants to characterize these two groups and gather information from Josephus and rabbinic literature. However, to understand what Jesus meant when he said, “Beware the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees,” Newman argues that the New Testament must be the primary source. He uses the biblical text as an exhortation to the contemporary church.

The term “midrash” is frequently used in discussions in New Testament scholarship and research in the Gospels in particular. Unfortunately, there is no unified understanding of its meaning. It can refer to a rabinnic method of interpretation of Scripture. Sometimes it is used as a reference to a creative historiography where there is very little connection to real history.