When a popular, but not so dignified preacher gave a chapel message at a prestigious university he offended a lot of people. He was straightforward and blunt. He called sin, sin and told the people they were lost without Christ. He presented the plan of salvation to them.
He was not very tactful, and he offended many people with his blunt message. After the chapel message a distinguished professor counseled him. You gave a good message, but you need to change it to be more tactful. He told him if you search the scriptures, you will find that Jesus was the most tactful non-condemning person that ever lived. He suggested he be more tactful like Jesus.
The speaker asked him, if Jesus was the most tactful person who ever lived, how did he manage to get himself crucified?
There were times that Jesus was very non-condemning. When the woman was caught in adultery Jesus said the one who is without sin should cast the first stone. When no one came forward Jesus said, neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more.
When Jesus confronted the false religion of the Sadducees and Pharisees, he became condemning. For Jesus his time had come. The last week of Jesus life horrified the established religious leaders. The Pharisees were offended by the triumphant entry on Sunday. They were angered by the cleansing of the temple on Monday. On this Tuesday he was very untactful as he approached the final 72 hours before his crucifixion.
And Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection. And they asked him a question, saying, 19 “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. 20 There were seven brothers; the first took a wife, and when he died left no offspring. 21 And the second took her, and died, leaving no offspring. And the third likewise. 22 And the seven left no offspring. Last of all the woman also died. 23 In the resurrection, when they rise again, whose wife will she be? For the seven had her as wife.”
24 Jesus said to them, “Is this not the reason you are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God? 25 For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 26 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’? 27 He is not God of the dead, but of the living. You are quite wrong.” (Mark 12:18-27)
This account tells us of the encounter between Jesus and the Sadducees. These were the sophisticated aristocracy class questioning Jesus. Whither their prestigious clout they controlled the temple revenue and had political power. They particularly would have been outraged at Jesus turning over the moneychanger tables at the temple court the day before.
The Sadducees denied the resurrection (Mark 12:18)
Theologically the Sadducees were like the modern-day materialists. For them what you see in this life is what you get. They only accepted the first 5 books of Moses and not the Psalms or the prophets. They believed there is no resurrection and no afterlife. They did not believe in angels. When Jesus mentions angels in verse 25 it is to confront their beliefs.
Other groups had tried to trap Jesus and now these intellectual Sadducees will try. They will try to trap him using their tried-and-true arguments they use to refute the resurrection. Their plan was to make the resurrection of the dead look so ridiculous that Jesus would lose credibility. Their existence as the revered religious leaders depended on discrediting Jesus.
The Sadducees used an argument that had probably already stumped the Pharisees. It was a hypothetical illustration about seven men who died. After each man died a brother would marry the widow. All seven men married the woman without leaving any children. At the resurrection whose wife will she be?
The Sadducees were probably delighted that they had cornered Jesus with a question that would make him look weak. Even the Pharisees probably took delight in this question because they would finally be able to discredit Jesus, they may have thought.
The Sadducees based their question on Deuteronomy 25:5-10 talking about the kinsman redeemer. They would keep that individual’s name carrying on. The children would be an heir to the one that passed away. The story of Ruth and Boaz involves this principle.
The Sadducees thought they had Jesus between a rock and a hard place. Surely, he must either contradict the Scriptures or hedge on the resurrection of believers. How would Jesus respond? Would he have a tactful reply?
He tells them they are badly mistaken, and they do not really know the Scriptures, or the power of God or the character of God. By the time Jesus finished answering the question everyone knew the Sadducees were badly mistaken. Jesus responded in a way that would get himself crucified.
Jesus clarifies details about the resurrection of the dead. In the process we get a little glimpse of what heaven will be like. In heaven we will be like the angels, or at least like them in terms of not being married in heaven. For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. (Mark 12:15) We won’t be in a marriage relationship in heaven.
The Sadducees did not understand the scriptures. (Mark 12:24)
What should we understand about the scriptures? The Sadducees were mistaken here. As far as the resurrection of the dead there are some clear statements in Old Testament Scriptures.
Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise.
You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy!
For your dew is a dew of light,
and the earth will give birth to the dead. (Isaiah 26:19)
And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. (Daniel 12:2)
Remember the Sadducees only accepted the Pentateuch, the first 5 books of the Bible. So, Jesus meets them on their turf using Exodus 3:6.
And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. (Exodus 3:6)
This argument for the resurrection is based on the tense of the verb. The scripture says, I am the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, not I was. The Sadducees did not know this even though they were the ones that spent exorbitant amount of time in Scripture, that they really didn’t believe anyway.
If you take a Holy Land tour, don’t be surprised if you have a guide that knows the Scripture backward and forward and yet does not believe them. You could go on a university campus and find a PhD student in New Testament that does not really know the Scriptures, like the Sadducees did not.
We know God inspired the Scriptures. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, (2 Timothy 3:16) Because of our faith in God we approach the Scripture with something more than cold intellectualism. We have a heart of faith – allowing the Holy Spirit to guide illumine and transform our life.
To know the Scriptures means more than to study the Bible as a textbook. It means live with the Bible as our guidebook for life. Knowing the Scriptures means applying and living by the Scriptures.
The Sadducees did not know the power of God. (Mark 12:24)
The Sadducees failed to see that God can and will raise the dead. God is all powerful. Their view of God was too low. We must have a high view of God and his power that effects our life and our faith. If you really know the power of God, you will have no question about could God do this thing you are asking him for. Could God make those who have died and are the dust of the earth wake up to everlasting life? Yes.
God goes beyond the laws of science. God is supernatural. He is all present. God is all powerful. God said let there be light and there was light. He created the universe out of nothing. The Sadducees did not know the power of God. Don’t be mistaken about the power of God. Nothing is too difficult for God.
The Sadducees did not understand the character of God.
Death is not permanent. For the believer in Christ there awaits after death a glorious resurrection from the dead. As for Abraham, Isaac and Jacob they are not dead. They are alive in the presence of God. The character of God is that of a living God. He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. The Sadducees did not know this.
The Sadducees had no true relationship with God. That is why they did not understand the character of God. We have hope of eternal life based on who God is. He is the God of the living who desires that no one perish.
God has a plan. That plan is life, and life eternal. That is what God is about. If you have not come to Jesus as your savior, then God wants you too. That is his character. He is the living saving God. He wants you to give your life to Christ. He wants the relationship with him broken by your sin to be restored.
With the full picture of revelation of scripture, we see God’s plan for the resurrection of the dead. When a Christian dies they are immediately in the presence of God. At the return of Christ graves will be disturbed and miraculously bodies are transformed to a glorified state. In the Great white throne judgement, some are condemned to everlasting destruction and some to eternity in heaven.
When Lazarus died Jesus said he will rise again.
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26)
She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.” (John 11:27)
Jesus was about to be crucified in a matter of hours when he told the Sadducees they were badly mistaken. It was partly because of the way he answered the Sadducees. But it was also God’s plan. Jesus would die on the cross the just for the unjust to bring us to God (I Peter 3:18).
