Mark 12:18-27 “Then the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him with a question. 19 "Teacher," they said, "Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and have children for his brother. 20 Now there were seven brothers. The first one married and died without leaving any children. 21 The second one married the widow, but he also died, leaving no child. It was the same with the third. 22 In fact, none of the seven left any children. Last of all, the woman died too. 23 At the resurrection whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?"
24 Jesus replied, "Are you not in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God? 25 When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. 26 Now about the dead rising-have you not read in the book of Moses, in the account of the bush, how God said to him, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? 27 He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken!"
Are you sure you want to be a minister of the gospel!? The life of Jesus was filled with wonder, miracles, personal transformations and moving moments of compassion but it was also a life and ministry consistently faced with opposition, debate, demonic attempts to entrap and ensnare and encounters with the tensions created by human weakness and failings. At every turn there was a new problem to solve, a new snare to avoid, or a fresh doctrinal issue to set right.
Mark 12 is a consistent flow from one conflict or debate to another. The entire chapter is such a demonstration of the emotional stamina of Jesus that it is truly amazing. Jesus does not demonstrate insecurity, nor anger in His responses to the pressure of these traps and debates. Nor does He display any signs that these exchanges have worn Him out and left Him on edge. Instead, Jesus remains consistently focused and firmly rooted in His emotional makeup. The mouth is the window of the emotions and His is under perfect control! His responses consistently reflect His theological integrity, His wisdom, and His emotional composure!
In Mark 12:18-27 Jesus is confronted with another doctrinal issue that the Sadducees bring to Him. This time addressing the issue of marriage within the context of the possibility of resurrection these men present a theological question to Jesus through the means of creating a very complex fictional scenario that contains a difficult theological tension within it. The Sadducees do not believe in the resurrection and so from their perspective this question exposes the conflict between the laws about marrying your dead relative’s spouse so that you can raise up an heir for him and the dynamics that would be created if there is a resurrection.
Jesus wastes no time once again in His response. He immediately addresses the fact that these men are in error. He uses the context of His response to confront them on two distinct levels. Jesus states that the error of their thinking is because they “do not know the Scriptures or the power of God?” With this response to the Sadducees Jesus identifies two core areas of understanding that are necessary to comprehend the things of God and are often the source of error even today. These men who came to Jesus had an incomplete knowledge of the word of God and they also had an inaccurate understanding of the power of God. Oh, how this describes the state of so much of the church. We must know the word deeply and possess a right understanding of the power of God to properly interpret the things of God!
At its core the correction that Jesus brings to the Sadducees is one of the foundational truths of who God is. “He is not the God of the dead, but of the living.” Jesus is aware that the theology of the Sadducees does not support the doctrine of resurrection and so He is addressing this issue from the reality of God’s ongoing relationship with the founders of our faith, the patriarchs. Jesus redefines for them the nature of our eternal being and the reality of the resurrection. Jesus’ redefinition of the problem effectively silences another snare!
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