#50 A Smart Answer to a Dumb Question
Series: Mark
Chuck Sligh
August 15, 2021
NOTE: A PowerPoint presentation is available for this sermon by request at chuckcsligh@gmail.com. Please mention the title of the sermon and the Bible text to help me find the sermon in my archives.
TEXT: Mark 12:18-27 – “Then come unto him the Sadducees, which say there is no resurrection; and they asked him, saying, 19 Master, Moses wrote unto us, If a man's brother die, and leave his wife behind him, and leave no children, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother. 20 Now there were seven brethren: and the first took a wife, and dying left no seed. 21 And the second took her, and died, neither left he any seed: and the third likewise. 22 And the seven had her, and left no seed: last of all the woman died also. 23 In the resurrection therefore, when they shall rise, whose wife shall she be of them? for the seven had her to wife. 24 And Jesus answering said unto them, Do ye not therefore err, because ye know not the scriptures, neither the power of God? 25 For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as the angels which are in heaven. 26 And as touching the dead, that they rise: have ye not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? 27 He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living: ye therefore do greatly err.”
INTRODUCTION
We have all heard dumb questions before. Here are my 5 favorite dumb questions I’ve read online:
• Smurfs, as you know, are little blue creatures. So, if a Smurf starts to choke, what color it will it become?
• If an orange is orange, why isn’t a lime called a green or a lemon called a yellow?
• If corn oil is made from corn and vegetable oil is made from vegetables, what is baby oil made from?
• What was the first person to milk a cow trying to do?
• If you throw your cat outside while driving, will it be called kitty litter?
In today’s text, a group of religious leaders we have not encountered yet in Mark comes to Jesus with a dumb question meant to mock a cherished belief, and instead gets a straightforward answer that made THEM look bad instead of Jesus.
To get our bearings straight, note that Jesus is in Jerusalem and the cross is only days away. The religious gang are hounding Jesus continually, trying to trip Him up and trick Him into saying something that will discredit Him with the people or get Him in trouble with the authorities. They want Him out of the way once and for all.
They tried 3 counterattacks: First with a question about Jesus’ authority and Jesus proved that His authority came from God, and through a parable, hinted at His own deity. Then they asked a question about paying taxes to Caesar, but instead of getting Him in trouble, Jesus deftly answered their question in such a way that He both supported the legitimacy of government on the one hand, and limited it on the other. His answers caused amazement among the people, and frustration among His enemies.
Let’s pick up from there as we look at the religious gang’s third counterattack on Jesus:
I. FIRST, IN VERSES 18-23, WE SEE A DUMB QUESTION.
Verse 18 says, “Then came unto him the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection; and they asked him, saying,…”
This is the first and only time in the book of Mark we meet the Sadducees. They only accepted the first 5 books of the Old Testament (known as the Pentateuch) as scripture and authoritative, unlike the Pharisees who accepted all of what we call the Old Testament. Some commonly held beliefs only hinted at in the Pentateuch but fleshed out in more detail in the later books of the Old Testament, were rejected by the Sadducees—such as the resurrection of the dead, future judgments, the afterlife, and the reality of angels and demons. The Sadducees were generally from the aristocratic class of Jewish society and were influential in the Sanhedrim, the Jewish governing body.
Now let’s read verses 19-23: “Master, Moses wrote to us, ‘If a man’s brother dies, and leaves his wife behind him, and leaves no children, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up offspring for his brother.’ 20 Now there were seven brethren: and the first took a wife, and dying, left no offspring. 21 And the second took her, and died, neither left he any offspring: and the third likewise. 22 And the seven had her, and left no offspring: last of all the woman died also. 23 In the resurrection therefore, when they shall rise, whose wife shall she be of them, for the seven had married her?”
This was a dumb question based on “levirate marriage” found in the Law of Moses in Deuteronomy 25:5-10 that stipulated that if a husband died without leaving a male heir, his brother, or if there was no brother, the nearest male relative, was to marry his widow. The firstborn son from this union was given the name of the dead brother and was considered his child, not the brother’s or male relative’s child. Either partner could back out, but that rarely happened because it served 2 important societal purposes: it prevented the ending of the deceased’s family line and it kept the dead brother’s inheritance intact.
The Sadducees took this law and concocted a convoluted, ridiculous story that extrapolated the idea of levirate marriage to a worst-case scenario: seven brothers marrying the same woman and each of them kicking the bucket. Now if I had been the fifth or sixth brother, I think I would’ve gotten wise and backed out!
Illus. – It reminds me of the real-life serial murderer Nannie Doss who was arrested in 1954 in Tulsa, Oklahoma for killing her fourth husband. Investigators discovered she had poisoned three of them and shot one. When asked why she shot that one, Nannie said, “Because he wouldn’t eat the soup.”
What were the Sadducees up to?—Clearly the story was a mockery of the belief in the resurrection, which they believed was a superstition. If Jesus sided with the Sadducees, He would alienate the common people and the Pharisees who believed in the resurrection of the dead and the afterlife. If He sided with the Pharisees, He would alienate the smaller but more powerful Sadducees.
II. IN VERSES 24-27, WE SEE A SMART ANSWER TO THEIR DUMB QUESTION.
Verse 24 – “Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Are you not therefore in error, because you know not the scriptures, neither the power of God?”
Jesus immediately puts these haughty mischief-makers in their place. He demonstrates His authority again by presuming to say that this powerful religious sect of the Jews was in error and knew neither God’s Word nor His power. People must have shuddered when Jesus put the Sadducees down this way!
Jesus then goes on to made 2 points:
• Verse 25 – “For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as the angels which are in heaven.”
The Sadducees incorrectly assumed that if there WERE a resurrection, the same human relationships would continue in heaven as on earth. If that were so, they felt they had Jesus over a barrel. “Gotcha, Jesus. Take that, dude!”
But Jesus said that in the afterlife people would neither marry nor be given by someone else in marriage, as in a marriage arranged by parents. Marriage is necessary in our present world of death for the perpetuation of the human race, but angels—whose existence the Sadducees denied—do not die.
While in this life, we are, as the Psalmist put it, “a little lower than the angels,” but in the next, our existence will be more akin to that of angels, who cannot die. We will not actually BECOME angels (that’s a myth found nowhere in the Bible), but regarding our existence, it will be more analogous to that of angels than our human existence with the mark of death ever on it.
Furthermore, it will be more glorious than we can even imagine compared to our existence on earth. Life in heaven will be life in an entirely different dimension! In 1 Corinthians 15:42-44 Paul says, “So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown in perishable; it is raised imperishable: 43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: 44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.”
We’ll have real, tangible bodies, yet they’ll be “spiritual” bodies in that they will never perish or be sick or experience pain. We cannot imagine how wonderful it will be any more than a baby in the womb can imagine a Beethoven piano concerto or the Grand Canyon at sunset.
In answering the Sadducees, Jesus confirmed the doctrines of the resurrection, the reality of an afterlife and the existence of angels all in one fell swoop.
Then He makes His second point in verses 26-27 – “And as touching the dead, that they rise: have ye not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spoke unto him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? 27 He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living: ye therefore do greatly err.”
Jesus was pointing out that the Sadducees were incorrect in claiming that the idea of a resurrection was not in the Pentateuch. He refers to the burning bush story from Exodus 3:1-6, in the Pentateuch. In that passage, God identified Himself to Moses, saying, “I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” How this answers the question of the resurrection seems a little obscure to our Western minds, but I read pages of dense text by Bible scholars proving it was a strong and convincing argument to the Jews.
Let me give just a layman’s summary of it as best explained by R. Kent Hughes: “It is ridiculous for God to say that he is the God of men who have no existence. Therefore, because God says, “I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,” they must be living, and thus the resurrection is a reality. Or put another way: 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 that which has ceased to be.”
That hit the Sadducees square in the nose: “Look, you foolish Sadducees! There it is right in Book 2 of the of the 5 books you claim to accept.” Jesus had begun His monologue by saying the Sadducees were in error; He ends even more pointedly: “You therefore GREATLY err.”
Mark does not tell us how THE SADDUCEES reacted, but it couldn’t have gone down very well. Jesus had reinforced doctrines they denied, but He did so with an air of authority that would have rankled them. I’m sure they went back to the Sanhedrin just as chagrined as the previous emissaries from the Sanhedrin had, which we looked at the last two weeks.
Nor does Mark tell us the reaction of THE PEOPLE, but Matthew does tell us in his telling of the story. – Matthew 22:33 says, “And when the multitude heard this, they were astonished at his teaching.”
CONCLUSION
Round 3 of Jesus’ 3 great skirmishes with the Jewish Sanhedrin religious gang ends in another knockout by Jesus, with Jesus’ enemies being diminished by His answers, and Jesus’s credibility with the people only increasing. We’re on the sidelines cheering Jesus, but what does this passage teach us that we should take home with us today?
• First is a question about marital relationships in heaven.
The Sadducees’ question was a dumb one meant to trip Jesus up, but it brings up a legitimate question: What WILL our relationships be with our spouses? You obviously feel a special bond with your spouse. As you serve the Lord together, that bond becomes stronger. Will we lose those bonds in heaven?
This question isn’t dealt with in depth in the Bible, but there’s every reason to believe from various strains of Scripture that we will maintain some kind of relationship with our loved ones, but it will be different because it will not be tainted by sin. Imagine how nice your spouse will be without a sin nature! Imagine how much nicer YOU’LL be without a sin nature!
Sexual intimacy is a blessing on earth, but being unnecessary in heaven and overshadowed by heavenly joys immeasurably more pleasurable than sex, we won’t miss it or long for it or need it, or be bothered by the associated tensions that sexual intimacy sometimes entails.
Besides there being no need for marriage or giving in marriage in heaven, I think our main focus will be our relationship with Jesus.
Illus. – I love a wedding, don’t you? I love it when you look at the groom’s face and then the bride’s glowing face. There’s always that moment when they lock eyes as if to say, “Finally, we’re here. We’ve waited a long time for this.” In that moment they only have eyes for one another.
When you get to Heaven, believe me, the first thing you’ll be looking for won’t be your spouse who’s gone on before you. No, you’ll be looking for JESUS, the Author and Finisher of your faith, your blessed Friend and Redeemer, your Savior who gave His life for you.
And though we’ll have the blessing of wonderful sinless relationships with those we loved on earth, our relationship with the God will be so powerful that our earthly relationships will seem insignificant in comparison. As Eugene Petersen says: “Marriage is a preoccupation here, but not there. Those who are included in the resurrection of the dead will no longer be concerned with marriage. They’ll have better things to think about, if you can believe it. All ecstasies and intimacies then will be with God.”
• Second, is the broader issue of our ignorance of what heaven will be like.
As the Sadducees had a wrong idea of what it will be like in heaven, so do many today. Many people think we’ll float around on fluffy clouds playing harps for eternity. That may be better than hell, but not by much!
What will heaven be like?—Well, this is a big question. I would suggest reading Randy Alcorn’s wonderful book titled Heaven, which has 476 pages on the glories of heaven, but let me give you some basic details:
First, we won’t spend most of our time in “heaven.” – At the end of the age God will create a New Heaven and a New Earth and rule on the New Earth from Jerusalem.
In this New Universe, our lives will no doubt be filled with concentrated times of intense worship around the throne of God, but those times of worship will be punctuated by many of the things very familiar to us in this life. There will be mountains and hills and plains, and flowers and rivers and streams, and forests and jungles and perhaps even deserts —who knows? There will be animals, though those that threatened us on earth, like lions and tigers and bears and snakes and such, will be tame. We will enjoy many physical things we have on earth—so there will be food and drink and feasts and parties—without the sins of excess.
There will be all the things we associate with culture, although it will not be mixed with the stain of sin. So we know there will be music for sure, and although not specifically stated in Scripture, there is no reason to believe there will not also be art and literature and drama and who knows?—maybe even cinematography. Think about a place where those things in this life are not tainted by sin but redound always to the glory of God!
We’ll also work in heaven. There’ll be things to do, projects to accomplish, tasks to keep us occupied. Just as work was required in the Garden of Eden, it will be a part of our lives there too, but, as in the Garden of Eden, it will be joyous and fulfilling work, not like some work on earth that is toilsome and boring. I also believe that we will be in a constant pursuit of knowledge just as we are on this earth. We’ll live on the New Earth, but why wouldn’t we take trips to the far reaches of the universe just to see and enjoy it, or to learn about it or do research on it. I can’t prove it, but why not?
What will our bodies be like in the New Heaven and New Earth? Again, details are sketchy, but the Bible offers tantalizing clues. The Gospels tell us that Jesus received a new body when He resurrected, and it was an interesting body. He could eat food and drink, but He also appear and disappear at will. He had the scars of his crucifixion, but experienced no pain when Thomas touched the scars in his hands.
Will our resurrected bodies have the same properties and abilities? The Bible isn’t clear, but there are a couple of hints that seem to indicate they might.
First, in 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 we read these exciting details: “Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep [that is, “remain dead”], but we shall all be changed, 52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.”
Twice here Paul said that at the resurrection, we shall be “changed.” This is what happened to Jesus when He received His resurrection body. His body was similar and recognizable, but it was dramatically changed in multiple ways.
And then in 1 John 3:2 the Apostle John says, “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.”
John says, “we shall be “LIKE HIM.’ Surely that refers to our immortality and sinlessness in heaven, but does it also mean our bodies will have the same qualities and powers that Jesus’ resurrected has? I’m not dogmatic about it, but I personally believe so.
• One last thought: Are you ready to go there?
There are only two destinations for every person on earth when they pass from this earth: heaven or hell. Listen, you don’t want to miss going to heaven and go to hell!
If you’re not sure where you stand with God, I beg of you to explore what God says in His Word about how to have eternal life and be with Him forever in the New Universe. Let’s get together and talk about it; I’ll be glad to answer your questions. There is not a more important discussion you can have on this earth. Get the issue of eternity settled in your heart once and for all.
