Wednesday, April
5, 2017
That same day Jesus was approached by some Sadducees—religious leaders
who say there is no resurrection from the dead. They posed this question: “Teacher,
Moses said, ‘If a man dies without children, his brother should marry the widow
and have a child who will carry on the brother’s name.’ Well, suppose
there were seven brothers. The oldest
one married and then died without children, so his brother married the widow. But
the second brother also died, and the third brother married her. This continued with all seven of them. Last
of all, the woman also died. So tell us, whose wife will she be in the
resurrection? For all seven were married
to her.” Jesus replied, “Your
mistake is that you don’t know the Scriptures, and you don’t know the power of
God. For when the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in
marriage. In this respect they will be
like the angels in heaven. “But now, as
to whether there will be a resurrection of the dead—haven’t you ever read about
this in the Scriptures? Long after
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had died, God said, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God
of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ So he is the God of the living, not the
dead.” When the crowds heard him, they
were astounded at his teaching. Matthew
22:23-32(NLT)
It was dicey to be a Biblical scholar when Jesus was in town. He was a nuisance ever since that first time in
the Temple when he was just a little kid teaching the teachers. And this time was no different; just when the
Sadducees came up with a sure-fire question to silence this radical, he gives
them an answer that says: hang it on your ear, boys…you don’t know
diddly about Scripture or what God is really like!
And the crowd goes wild! How can
a Sadducee get a break?
I have a strong suspicion that this answer of Jesus’ stuns people less
today than the Sadducees’ question... for two reasons:
First – these days there is a whole
lot of opinion about the Bible than Biblical
knowledge. And when your opinion gets in
the way of truth, it’s difficult to see just how skilled Jesus’ answer was to
the Sadducees’ question. We may think
the question is the key, but it’s Jesus’ answer that gives us understanding
about the love of God and His purpose for humanity.
Secondly – our modern culture hardly
raises an eyebrow over such a childish scenario. After all, the question may be a pretty good
riddle, but the whole premise sounds preposterous in today’s Western culture; I
mean, marrying your dead brother’s widow – it just sounds too weird.
But it was plausible in the culture of first-century Eastern lands. And so the near-plausibility demands a
response from one who would teach the teachers.
And respond? Jesus most certainly
did that.
I can picture Jesus lifting his eyes to look squarely at the committee
and inform them that they knew nothing about Scripture or the power of God – the
two most important things a Sadducee, a keeper of the Law, was supposed
to excel at…and Jesus was telling them they hadn’t even passed kindergarten
stage.
And then he showed them why:
their question was wrong; goofy wrong!
They were talking about laws for the dead and trying to connect it with
a God of consummate life!
Talk about missing the mark!
Which brings us to the main point about talking with Jesus: If you’re upset, dejected, or even angry at
God, it’s ok to bring those questions.
If you’re confused about what to do next in your life, ask all your questions. But if you’ve got a little Sadducee in you,
and you just want to lay out a premise to trap God into signing-off on how
brilliant you are and how much He ought to be thankful He’s got such a
wonderful saint on His side…you are bringing a pea-shooter to an elephant hunt! In that battle of wits against the Almighty you
are entirely unarmed!
For You Today
Keep it in perspective; when
approaching God, humility counts!
NOTES
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