Two Realities You Must Know ....

The Sadducees were religious aristocrats who descended from the Aaronic priesthood. They were the keepers of the temple, guardians of Hebrew Scriptures and the negotiators with Rome to keep temple worship for the Jewish people. They were purists who rejected the verbal traditions that the Pharisees added and considered equal to that of Scripture. They handled the holy instruments of the Temple and worked in the shadow of the Most Holy Place. They were considered the professionals, custodians and insiders within the power structure of the Jewish faith. And, very importantly, they rejected the idea that a Messiah would be resurrected because they did not see it specifically stated in the Torah (the only portion of scripture that they recognized). As a result of them rejecting the idea of the resurrection and their desire to discredit Jesus (who proactively taught that the resurrection would occur), they concocted a theological riddle intended to stump Jesus. Let’s look at this passage below to see what Jesus was specifically asked: 

"And Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection. And they asked him a question, saying,  “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies and leaves a wife, but leaves no child, the man must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. There were seven brothers; the first took a wife, and when he died left no offspring.  And the second took her, and died, leaving no offspring. And the third likewise.  And the seven left no offspring. Last of all the woman also died.  In the resurrection, when they rise again, whose wife will she be? For the seven had her as wife" (Mark 12:18-23).

To accurately understand this passage and the implications of the question posed to Jesus, we must understand how widows were cared for during Old Testament times. Briefly stated, if a man perished, the burden of care for his widow was placed upon his brother. Specifically,  the deceased husband's brother was to marry her (Deuteronomy 25:5). Thus, the Sadducees reasoned that Jesus would not be able to answer the question of who would be the woman's husband in the hereafter and subsequently prove that no resurrection of the saints exists.  However, by His response, it was obvious that Jesus’ primary point was not about their being no marriage in heaven; rather, it was that the Sadducees rejected the resurrection out of ignorance of the scriptures. Simply stated, the very people whose supposed strengths were knowing the scriptures and the power of God did not truly know the God they read about. Why?Because they read the Scriptures from inside a paradigm limited by human reasoning. What a sad indictment of the religious leaders of this day! However, this problem did not end with the Sadducees. Sadly, many of us living today also read scripture through this same paradigm and limit God's power within our minds.   But, the good news is this: we can choose a different path and not follow this faulty way of thinking by embracing the two realities that today's short passage presents.  The first reality is...

You must know the Scriptures

So, why do the resurrected not marry? The reason is that those being resurrected for eternity do not need to carry their name on through childbirth because they will live forever. Furthermore, this passage shows us that Jesus used the very Scriptures that the Sadducees knew and considered to be authoritative against them by referencing the resurrection from the burning bush passage (Exodus 3:3-6, 14). Now, it should be recognized that this passage does not explicitly state anything about a resurrection. However, it is inferred that God's saints will live forever in Exodus 3:6 when He spoke the following phrase to Moses: "I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob". Notice the tense being used here. Although Abraham, Isaac and Jacob have perished from this Earth, He referred to them in the present tense which proves they are still living. Furthermore, the phrase "I am" (YAHWEH), God's proper name, means existing in eternity past (before creation), in the present and in eternity future.  Hence, Jesus proves the Sadducees wrong by stating the following: "He is not God of the dead, but of the living. You are quite wrong" (Mark 12:27). Sadly, because the Sadducees did not know the God who wrote the Scriptures,  they imposed human limitations on Him which, in turn, placed human limitations on His Holy Word. Brothers and sisters, we must not make this same error. Biblical Knowledge is not understanding Holy Scripture in and of itself; rather, it is the bridge to knowing God. We must not miss this essential truth!

So, how can we avoid simply "knowing" the scriptures as the Sadducees did and not limiting God and His power in the process? To do so, we must move from simply having an intellectual understanding of God and His word to deeply knowing and growing in our relationship with Him: Here are four simple ways to do just that: 1) read your Bible daily with the goal of progressively knowing Him more deeply 2) talk (pray) daily to the God you are learning about, 3) share with your family and friends something you are learning about Him, and 4) volunteer to serve with the goal toward teaching SO THAT you know Him more! Brothers and sisters, if you are not doing so already, will you commit to engaging in these four practices from this day forward?.... 

To listen to her watch this entire sermon, click here.