July 27
Mark 12:18-27
Have you heard about the Sadducees? They're so sad you see... okay, bad joke. The Sadducees were a religious group that only followed the Law of Moses. They didn't believe in things such as angels, demons, and ressurection. "The Saducees say that there is no resurrection, and that there are neither angels nor spirits." (Acts 23:8a NIV) They were also kinda clueless guys who thought they were really smart. They wanted to make the idea of resurrection seem stupid, so they came to Jesus with a hypothetical situation based on the law of marriage in Deuteronomy. However, He quickly put them in their place. "Jesus replied, 'Your mistake is that you don't know the scriptures, and you don't know the power of God.'" (vs. 24 NLT) They didn't understand that life after resurrection is not like life on Earth. We won't have the same bodies, and the things that matter here will not matter in heaven. They also didn't know their scriptures well enough to know that Moses did believe in life after death. Jesus refers to God talking to Moses in the burning bush and saying "I am the God of Abraham. Isaac, and Jacob." He doesn't say he was the God of them. "So he is the God of the living, not the dead. You have made a serious error." (vs. 27 NIV) The only way to not be like the sad sad Sadducees is to know the power of God and to know the Word of God.
Principle: It is essential to know both the Scriptures and the power of God in order to be free from error.
Application:
1. How much time and effort do I give daily to know the Scriptures?
2. In what way am I depending on God's power and claiming His promises in the Scriptures?
3. What does the Scripture say about the resurrection and the life hereafter?
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This is a very helpful passage in the study of how to interpret scripture because we get an example of how Jesus did it. For Jesus the tense of a verb was enough to answer the "trick question." "It's simple," he said. "The verb is present tense so Abraham, etc. are clearly alive which proves the reality of resurrection." Paul said that all scripture is inspired "God breathed." Every word is important. Even the tenses of the verbs. Lord, may I study your word carefully.
ReplyDeleteSarah - even before I got to the end of your commentary I was asking myself if I was like the Sadducees. It is so easy to think we are so smart or to focus on one piece that appeals to us (like the salad bar Christianity that John referenced several lessons back) and ignore the rest. I like the two basics that Jesus reminds us of here - know the scriptures and know the power of God.
ReplyDeleteSome of my family like to throw those "trick" questions at me. This is always frustrating because I never seem to be able to direct the conversation back to the truth of God's word. Now I can refer back (in a loving way of course!) to Mark 12:24. What a great study
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