WHOSE WIFE SHALL SHE BE?
August 10, 2008 PM
Sermon Outline
MK 12:18-27
INTRO: As we near the last days of His earthly life, we see that the enemies of Jesus have begun to question Him for one purpose. According to Mk 12:13 they hoped "to catch him in his words". They were determined to rid themselves of this "pesky" nuisance, and they would like to have found some legitimate cause for their doing so. Thus, they came to Jesus with what they believed were questions which would cause Him to make some clearly antagonistic statement to their religious beliefs or their civil government. It is interesting to me that each distinctive group among the Jews had its question distinctive to the group. This evening it is the Sadducees who come to Jesus with a question that to you and me might seem outlandish ... but which to them probably seemed very logical.
- ENTER THE SADDUCEES!
- Who were they?
- a small, aristocratic, wealthy group among the Jews - harsh, arrogant
- were inclined to collaborate with Romans to keep their privileges
- many priests & and regularly the high priest were Sadducees
- What were their beliefs?
- Acts 23:8 - did not believe in angels, spirits, resurrection
- accepted only the Pentateuch - did not accept oral, written traditions
- notice Acts 4:1,2 - resurrection would be very objectionable to them!
- Who were they?
- THE QUESTION THEY ASKED JESUS?
- Mk 12:19-23 - "In the resurrection...whose wife shall she be of them?"
- now, remember, they did not believe in the resurrection
- and they think their question is a real "stumper"
- the question they pose, though, has a Biblical basis
- Deut 25:5,6 - The Levirate marriage
- the point of it was to keep family name and family property in tact
- when the first child was born to the widow of the first brother, it would be considered his child
- but in the question here no child was born of seven unions!
- I would imagine them to be smug and self confident in their question
- their reasoning, however, was entirely earthly in its scope
- we encounter problems when we reason from earth to realms beyond!
- yet, it is so common to project earthly thinking into spiritual realms
- Mk 12:19-23 - "In the resurrection...whose wife shall she be of them?"
- HOW DID JESUS ANSWER THIS QUESTION?
- They made two basic mistakes - Mk 12:24
- first, they obviously did not know the scriptures
- second, they did not understand God's power re: resurrection
- mistakes of a religious sort are easily made and perpetuated based on these two errors ... it is most certainly so in contemporary religious thought!
- They had no idea of the nature of the resurrection - Mk 12:25
- marriage and such (human relationships, activities) are not part of it
- in our risen state we will be "like" the angels in heaven
- I am often asked about "future recognition" in which I do believe - but some will ask about relatives who might not be in heaven ... the answer is here!
- And notice how He proved existence of spirits ... thus, resurrection
- Jesus still appeals to part of scriptures Sadducees accepted
- Ex 3:6 - "I am the God of..." - present tense
- Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were long physically dead - yet, God is their God ... if they were dead (in Sadducees understanding of death, no living spirit), then, by their logic God would be the God of nothing! nonsense
- so, if God is their God, they must still be "alive" - body dies, spirit lives on
- Mk 12:27 - the conclusion which logic demanded
- the continued existence of ones spirit, then, argued for the resurrection
- Our confidence? There will be a resurrection
- Jno 5:28,29 - clearly, Jesus taught this as a fact
- 1 Thes 4:13-18 - this was the confidence of the apostles
- 1 Cor 15:20-23 - Jesus' resurrection is the proof of our own resurrection
- notice that 1 Thes 4:16 refers to "the dead in Christ" - our hope for the day of resurrection is in our being in Christ ... are you?
- They made two basic mistakes - Mk 12:24
CLOSE: Well, Mt 22:33 tells us that the multitude hearing Jesus rebuff the Sadducees was "astonished at his doctrine". Do we know the scriptures well enough to avoid today's religious errors. Knowing the scriptures is still the way to answer our questions and dilemmas.
Cecil A. Hutson
10 August 2008