THE TRUTH OF THE RESURRECTION (Mark 12:18-27)
INTRODUCTION:
Paul in his letter to the Colossians writes in the beginning of chapter 2, “For I want you to know how great a struggle I have on your behalf and for those who are at Laodicea, and for all those who have not personally seen my face, that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” (Colossians 2:1–3, NASB95)[1] Jesus Christ possessed the finest human intelligence ever to grace this earth, not even the wisdom of Solomon could compare with the wisdom and knowledge of Jesus. He was and is the Creator and Sustainer of the universe. We have seen that wisdom and knowledge displayed in the parables He told, in His preaching and teaching that always left the crowds astonished. He spoke with authority because He knew what He was talking about, unlike the rabbis of His day. Some of the greatest displays of His wisdom and knowledge are in the exchanges that He has with His enemies. Already we have seen His wisdom when He was approached by the chief priests, scribes, and elders and they questioned Him concerning His authority. He left them silent and humiliated. This was the first group the Sanhedrin had sent; next they sent a group Pharisees and Herodians who were sure that they could trap Him in a question concerning taxes to Caesar. Either He would turn the people away from Him, or He would get Himself in trouble with the Romans. It is not wise to cross swords with Jesus intellectually. He had the greatest knowledge of Scripture of anyone who ever lived, after all He was the author. He was the greatest rabbi, the greatest interpreter of Scripture ever! But Jesus’ enemies were slow learners as we will see again today as the Sanhedrin sends another delegation to Jesus to again trap or at least make Him look like a fool in front of the people. This time the Sanhedrin sent a group of Sadducees. Let’s pray and then get into our passage of Scripture for this morning.
--PRAY--
SCRIPTURE:
Turn in your Bibles this morning to Mark 12:18-27, our passage for today. If you are able please stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word and follow along as I read.
Mark 12:18-27,
“Some Sadducees (who say that there is no resurrection) came to Jesus, and began questioning Him, saying, ‘Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves behind a wife and leaves no child, his brother should marry the wife and raise up children to his brother. There were seven brothers; and the first took a wife, and died leaving no children. The second one married her, and died leaving behind no children; and the third likewise; and so all seven left no children. Last of all the woman died also. In the resurrection, when they rise again, which one’s wife will she be? For all seven had married her.’ Jesus said to them, ‘Is this not the reason you are mistaken, that you do not understand the Scriptures or 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. But regarding the fact that the dead rise again, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the burning 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 the God of the dead, but of the living; you are greatly mistaken.’ ” (Mark 12:18–27, NASB95)[2]
A SADDUCEE (Mark 12:18-23)
Our passage begins by introducing us to the next delegation that came to Jesus. The Sadducees, who or what is a Sadducee? The Sadducees were one of the four major sects in first century Israel, the other three were the Pharisees, the Essenes, (who lived in communal villages, it was most likely the Essenes who preserved the Dead-Sea Scrolls), and the Zealots (political revolutionaries dedicated to the overthrow of Roman rule).
Of the four, the Sadducees and the Pharisees were the most influential. Although there were fewer Sadducees than Pharisees, they had considerable influence. The Sadducees included many of the aristocratic, wealthy, and influential leaders in Israel, including the high priests, the chief priests and they held most of the seats in the Sanhedrin. Holding all the positions of authority over the temple made up for the lack of their numbers. They held themselves in the highest respect and considered everyone else beneath them. The Jewish historian Josephus wrote concerning them, “The Sadducees…are even among themselves, rather boorish in their behavior, and in their intercourse with their peers are as rude as aliens.”[3] In other words, they did not like anybody very much but considered themselves superior to all. But it was their theology that made them distinct, and this it what is important to our passage of Scripture this morning. The Sadducees rejected the supernatural, apart from God Himself. Acts 23:8 tells us that they denied the existence of angels and spirits. They also did not believe in life after death, they did not believe the soul lived on after you died, they were annihilationists which simply means that once you died that was it, there was nothing else, no judgment, no rewards, no penalties. Also, they taught that there was no resurrection. The Sadducees believed and held in primacy the Mosaic law, set forth in the books of Moses, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. They were convinced that the rest of the Old Testament was subordinate to the writings of Moses and merely a commentary on it. They argued that nowhere in the first five books is the resurrection taught and therefore any writing—even the rest of the Old Testament—that appeared to teach the resurrection must be understood in a different way. They constantly opposed those who taught the resurrection, not only the Pharisees, but also the apostolic preachers. Because they believed in no after life, they lived the present life as if there were no tomorrow. They had no interest in salvation through a Messiah since they did not believe there were any penalties or rewards. They followed the Mosaic law even more strictly and carefully than the Pharisees. They cruelly oppressed the common people, took advantage of their positions of power and influence to indulge themselves at the expense of the people.
A QUESTION (Mark 12:18-23)
This is the new delegation that came to Jesus on the Wednesday of Passion Week. Being mean-spirited, superior, and self-righteous, they would take care of this preacher from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, nothing and no one good ever came from there. Where the others failed they would make Jesus look like a fool from a nowhere town out in the country.
The Sadducees begin by addressing Jesus as “Teacher,” a term of respect, but it was used by them so that when they humiliated Him, He would look like a foolish teacher. They thought they were about to destroy His credibility as a revered rabbi. Next they mention a command of Moses given in the law. “Moses wrote for us that IF A MAN’S BROTHER DIES and leaves behind a wife AND LEAVES NO CHILD, HIS BROTHER SHOULD MARRY THE WIFE AND RAISE UP CHILDREN TO HIS BROTHER.” (Mark 12:19, NASB95)[4] The Sadducees begin to set the stage for their trick question, and it centers on the custom of Levirate marriage. If a man died leaving a widow but no children, the man’s brother was to marry the widow and raise up children for his deceased brother. This custom was written by Moses in Deuteronomy 25:5-6, the purpose of the Levirate marriage was to keep the family from dying out, so that the widow would not marry a stranger and the husband’s inheritance would not go to another man or tribe. This even extended beyond the brother to the nearest kinsman. The best illustration of this is in the book of Ruth, where Boaz marries Ruth so that the land belonging to her deceased husband does not pass out of the family but would be inherited by Ruth and Boaz’s first son in the name of Ruth’s deceased husband.
The Sadducees having stated the Levirate promise now put forth a hypothetical situation: “There were seven brothers; and the first took a wife, and died leaving no children. The second one married her, and died leaving behind no children; and the third likewise; and so all seven left no children. Last of all the woman died also. In the resurrection, when they rise again, which one’s wife will she be? For all seven had married her.” (Mark 12:20–23, NASB95)[5] We can surmise that this hypothetical situation was one that the Sadducees had used with success in their debates with the resurrection-believing Pharisees. They now waited for Jesus’ response in smug, self-satisfied confidence. Little did they know that they had come up against the supreme mind in all of history, and they would end up looking like the fools that they had hoped Jesus would look like.
A RESPONSE (Mark 12:24-27)
Jesus did not fumble over how to reply and then fail to come up with a coherent answer as the Sadducees expected. Jesus asked them a counter question that served to condemn them for their ignorance. Mark writes, “Jesus said to them, ‘Is this not the reason you are mistaken, that you do not understand the Scriptures or the power of God?’ ” (Mark 12:24, NASB95)[6] Jesus basically flipped the tables on them. They had asked a question hoping to reveal the incompetence and ignorance of Jesus, discrediting Him in the eyes of the people. Yet Jesus’ question not only exposed them as fools but also unqualified to be teachers themselves, since they demonstrated lack of understanding of both the Scriptures and the power of God. The word translated “mistaken” is a Greek verb that means “to wander” or “to go astray.” Due to their ignorance of Scripture, the Sadducees had wandered from the truth into error. The grammatical structure of the phrase “Is this not the reason you are mistaken” shows that they neither had the ability, nor the willingness to understand the Scriptures. Jesus condemned them in two areas, they were ignorant of God’s Word, and they were ignorant of God’s power.
The Sadducees failed to see or understand that the Scriptures do teach the reality of the resurrection, even in the first five books as Jesus will demonstrate. Thus, it follows logically that they also failed to comprehend the resurrection, life-giving power of God, which is declared in Scripture. If God who spoke the universe and all that is in it and all that live in it into existence, then God surely has the power to raise the dead in the life to come. But like all those who promote false religion, they were spiritually dead and blinded to the truth.
Jesus then went onto answer their question and in doing so He shows them that it was not the reality of the resurrection that was absurd, instead it was the Sadducee’s hypothetical question. Having rebuked their ignorance, Jesus now began to correct their theology. Jesus said, “For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.” (Mark 12:25, NASB95)[7] Notice the first words, He said, “For when they rise from the dead.” He did not say, “If they rise from the dead.” This is an affirmation of the resurrection. He also said that those who rise “are like angels in heaven.” Here, again, Jesus contradicted Sadducee doctrine; they did not believe in angels, but Jesus affirmed that they exist. In this verse Jesus described the exalted state of the resurrected, a state that transcends marriage and the absurd question of multiple marriages. The Jewish belief at that time was that families simply took up their living where they left off on earth. Jesus said that was far too earthbound a vision.
The truth of Jesus’ words is wonderful, and He knows what it will be like because He is God. Unfortunately, we earthlings have found a lot in Jesus’ words to trouble us. The questions that are asked: If there is no marriage in heaven, and we are like angels, will we have wings? Will we recognize each other? Will we be neutered or sexless? And a statement that I have heard from a happily married couple, “If there is no marriage, I don’t want to go!”
If you or someone you know have asked any of these questions there is a truth that you must understand that is implied in Jesus’ response to the Sadducees, that truth is that our bodies will be resurrected. Every part of us is who we are, body, soul, and spirit. What I am saying is our bodies are a part of who we are. In the next two verses Jesus will say that God is the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob and when He says that He is saying that He is God of the whole person—body, soul, and spirit. The whole person will be resurrected. Our bodies, to use Paul’s words from 1st Corinthians 15:42, will be raised imperishable. Eternal life will be experienced by the whole person. You, not just your soul which does not die, will be resurrected.
What are the implications of this? This means that your individuality will be preserved for eternity. Abraham will have everything about him that was Abrahamic. Isaac also will have everything that properly belongs to him, Jacob will have everything that makes him God’s Israel. These great men will have lost nothing. Rather they will have grown and developed gloriously. They will be Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at their very best when the trumpet sounds calling us home.
A second implication is that we will be more recognizable and more loveable in heaven than we ever were before. Jesus clearly stated that there will be no marriage in heaven and no concern about past husbands and wives, but what that does not suggest even remotely is a reduction in love. We will be ourselves at our ultimate best, and we will be more loveable and more capable of loving than ever before. Finally, and most importantly, is that in heaven there will be no more death. The original purpose of marriage was to populate the earth, after Adam’s fall this continued to be the case so that mankind would go on living, those being born replacing those who have died. That will no longer be the case in heaven, those who are resurrected with an imperishable body will live eternally, they will be like angels who do not die. No longer will we need to produce offspring to replace us because we will live forever.
When I get to heaven I look forward to catching up with many who have gone before me. We will recognize them because they will have the same body, just resurrected and glorified. That means everything that was theirs will be perfected. Their bodies will be glorious, grown to their eternal potential. Their personalities will be at their fullest—their wit, their charm, their tenacity, their love. They will be noble, beautiful, regal—they will be like Jesus!
So, Jesus first corrected the Sadducees ignorance of God’s power, as the Almighty Creator, just as He created all things, He can resurrect all who are His. Jesus now goes ahead and corrects the Sadducees ignorance of the Scriptures. Jesus did this by going to the first five books of the Bible, the books which the Sadducees claimed the resurrection could not be found. Jesus quoted from Exodus 3:6 as proof that the resurrection is found in the books of Moses. Mark records the rest of Jesus’ response, “But regarding the fact that the dead rise again, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the burning 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 the God of the dead, but of the living; you are greatly mistaken.” (Mark 12:26–27, NASB95)[8]
Jesus’ logic should be obvious to us. It would be ridiculous for God to say that He is the God of men who have no existence. Because God says, “I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob,” they must be living, and if this is so, then the resurrection is a reality. In other words, if Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are nothing more than dust, God cannot now, at this moment, be their God. God is not the God of what has ceased to be. Take that you Sadducees! It is right out of book two of the five books you claim to accept.
This was a powerful argument, and it is easy for us to appreciate it with our western approach to logic. But I want you to see that Jesus’ words convey something that is even more compelling to those Israelites who were listening to what Jesus was saying. These three patriarchs—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—enjoyed a special covenant relationship with God that was so dynamic, so profound, that it demanded a continued living relationship with God after death. God does not make an everlasting covenant (promise) with insects that last an hour.
The author of Hebrews tells us that these patriarchs knew that the covenant promises transcended earthly life and were eternal. Hebrews 11:9-10 says of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, “By faith he [Abraham] lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise; for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.” (Hebrews 11:9–10, NASB95)[9] Verse 13 says, “All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.” (Hebrews 11:13, NASB95)[10] Verse 16 adds, “But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them.” (Hebrews 11:16, NASB95)[11] The eternal God does not covenant with creatures that live only 70 years and then are snuffed out of existence.
Jesus’ words were powerfully compelling to His Jewish listeners, and His concluding thrust, “He is not the God of the dead, but of the living; you are greatly mistaken,” must have caused a murmur in the crowd. If God is the God of the living, and since God said, long after the death of the patriarchs, that He is their God, then they must be alive, and resurrection is coming! If the Sadducees had understood the nature of the miracle-working God revealed in the Old Testament, they would never have doubted His power to raise the dead.
The Sadducees truly did not know Scripture or the power of God. What about you? Do you know the reality and relationship that the patriarchs experienced? If you do, then you expect resurrection! Knowing Christ, acknowledging before Him that you are a sinner, helpless to do anything to change who you are, but believing that He died on the cross for you, to pay the penalty required for your sin, and putting your faith in Him, Jesus Christ will forgive your sin and save from God’s wrath against sin. You will enter into a living relationship with the God of the universe, a relationship that is so real, so dynamic, so all-consuming, so right, so energizing, and so holy that it cannot and will not ever end. Resurrection is the promise for all those who have this living relationship with Jesus Christ. Not only is that true, but the very nature of God demands resurrection. The grave could not hold Jesus, and those who are in Him will one day certainly burst forth from the grave in their own resurrected, glorified, imperishable bodies.
CONCLUSION:
The Sadducees had come to Jesus in smugness, self-righteousness, and they thought they would destroy Him, make Him look foolish in the eyes of the people by stumping Him with their intellect, by giving Him an unsolvable scenario. They did not realize, just as the other two delegations had not realized, that they were pitting their finite minds against the infinite mind of the Son of God, the very one who had created intellect, the One in whom is hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. These men had no chance because of who they were against and because they were ignorant of the Scriptures and the power of God.
What about you? Are you willing to reject the God who knows everything about you and take your chances on what the future holds? Or are you willing to accept God’s mercy and grace through the Lord Jesus Christ and enter into a relationship with the God of the universe? Jesus said of God the Father, “He is not the God of the dead, but of the living.” God has an eternal relationship with the living. Is He your God? Do not be greatly mistaken like the Sadducees, because they did not believe in the resurrection, they were sad-you-sees. If God is your God, then you are alive! God is going to make you all He intended you to be! How our hearts should burn with this truth. What I have told you today is not even the half of it, we have such a wonderful, stupendous future to look forward to. I hope it grabs your soul. We have such a glorious future that of all people we should be characterized from all others by our hope and our zeal.
[1]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[2]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[3]Josephus, Jewish War, II, 8.14.
[4]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[5]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[6]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[7]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[8]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[9]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[10]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[11]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.