A Challenge About the Resurrection. Mark 12:18-27.
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 a wife.”
Jesus said to them, “Is this not the reason you are wrong, because you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God? “For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. “And as for the dead being raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’?”He is not God of the dead, but of the living. You are quite wrong.”
Dear Ambassadors of the King of Kings,
It seems that all the different parties in the land are taking each a turn to test Jesus with the best from their stable. The Sadducees take their turn.
Riddle (v. 18-23). It is possible that the Sadducees had used this particular puzzle to great effect in previous arguments with the Pharisees and other parties. Their intention was to demonstrate the absurdity of the resurrection, in reality, hence this riddle. No doubt they thought they had Jesus on this one.
Reply (v. 24). Jesus responded that there were two reasons why the Sadducees were wrong, and the two were related. They were ignorant of The Power of God. Knowledge of the power of God is what faith is about. We put our trust in God because we have faith in his ability to save and supply. We pray because we believe he is able to do what we ask. The Prophecy of Scripture. The word of God and faith go together. As Paul says, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). Ignorance of the word leads to a lack of faith.
Reality (v. 25-27). Jesus tells them first of the power of God. Spirits (v. 25). The resurrection is the work of God, who will transform the bodies we now have into spiritual bodies(1 Corinthians 15:44,50,51) so that we will not need to marry, even as other spiritual beings, the angels, do not need to marry. Scripture (v. 26-27). The Sadducees only recognized the five books of Moses as authoritative scripture. They rejected the authority of the rest of the Old Testament. Jesus quotes from the law of Moses (Exodus 3:15), not because he agrees with the Sadducees in their rejection of the rest of the Old Testament, but to show them that even what they acknowledged, they did not understand. God claimed to be the God of the patriarchs, who had died long before Moses.
If the patriarchs would not be raised from the dead, God would be the God of the dead, but he is God of the living, implying that the patriarchs would live again. Are you limited in your faith? It may be time to examine your relationship with scripture. Many people do not interact with the word of God, except when they hear their pastor preach. How would such expect their faith to grow?
Your Loving Pastor Chris.