Know the Scriptures, Know the Power of God
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Last week we looked at the biblical view of taxes. In that we saw that we should pay our taxes and that ultimately government is here for our good, but chiefly we should give to God what bears his image which is ourselves.
The questioning that came about taxes was from the Pharisees and the Herodians, two of the top religious and political groups of the time. This week though we have another group coming to question Jesus, the Sadducees. This is the only time in the book of Mark that this group comes up and it is plain to see from this run in that they have some strange beliefs for anybody's standards.
Not much is known about this group but what we see in the Bible and from historians they were a group that only recognized the first 5 books of the Old Testament, where everyone else recognized all of them, and they were a bit of a stuck up group. They might have started as a political faction according to some but their origin is unknown. The big thing that we see here in Mark is that they do not believe in the resurrection which we will get to.
Through tonight I want you to think about what you know about the Bible and what you know about the power of God. As we see in this passage, Jesus condemns them for a lack of knowledge in regards to these two things. Would he condemn you too? Let’s read this passage and see what this odd group has to say to Jesus and more importantly what Jesus has to say to them.
And Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection. And they asked him a question, saying, “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. There were seven brothers; the first took a wife, and when he died left no offspring. And the second took her, and died, leaving no offspring. And the third likewise. And the seven left no offspring. Last of all the woman also died. In the resurrection, when they rise again, whose wife will she be? For the seven had her as wife.”
Jesus said to them, “Is this not the reason you are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God? For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 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’? He is not God of the dead, but of the living. You are quite wrong.”
So this group called the Sadducees comes to Jesus and we get a glimpse into what they believe before we see the event. This glimpse tells us that they do not believe in the resurrection. After that helpful insight they proceed to ask Jesus a question about the resurrection. This question comes from some of the stories that they had in their time. The background for this is found in the law where if a man did not have children with his wife before he dies, his brother was to raise up offspring on his brothers behalf with his wife. Their story went that 7 brothers died before she had any children and then she died. So she was in their eyes never truly married to any of them, so the question is posed. In the resurrection who will have her as a wife?
Jesus responds with saying that they do not know the scriptures or the power of God. He knew that the did not even believe in a resurrection in the first place so they were trying to trap him. In the resurrection there will not be marriage, just like the angels do not marry. He then confronts their beliefs about the resurrection saying that God is the God of the living and he says that he is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He is not the God of dead people but of living people, they have passed from life to life and will be raised at the second coming of Christ.
Tonight I want to look at their question and see what the resurrection that they are talking about is and where they are going wrong. I then want to look at the response that Jesus gives about their knowledge and how we should not be caught in the same problem, and I want to finish with the answer that Jesus gives which will give us further insight into the resurrection.
Let’s pray then we can begin with looking at their question.
The Question
The Question
“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. There were seven brothers; the first took a wife, and when he died left no offspring. And the second took her, and died, leaving no offspring. And the third likewise. And the seven left no offspring. Last of all the woman also died. In the resurrection, when they rise again, whose wife will she be? For the seven had her as wife.”
This group does not believe in the resurrection. The resurrection is where in the second coming of Jesus our bodies are reunited with our souls and resurrected. There are lots of scriptures that point to this being what will happen. When we die our bodies are dead but our souls live on, it is this resurrection that reunites our souls and bodies. This is a very exciting end times event that we still await today. This is also the even that these guys did not believe would happen.
Even though they did not believe in the resurrection they begin to ask a question about it. Their question is whose wife will the woman in this hypothetical story be? In the story 7 had here as a wife but she did not have children with any of them.
They are very wrong in this question as we will see Jesus get to here in a moment. Their question cannot be answered because they are so wrong. They lack the foundational knowledge of what they are talking about.
The Response
The Response
Jesus said to them, “Is this not the reason you are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God?
Before Jesus gets to an answer of sorts where he deals with the issues that they have wrong we see his response to them. He says that they do not know the scriptures or the power of God.
I see that this same thing is a major problem today. We all rely on the knowledge of others. This is not only when it comes to biblical things but truthfully it is everything. The problem when it comes to the Bible is that there are so many false teachers. If you do not know the scriptures or the power of God then you have no way to not be led astray!
We should all strive to know the scriptures and know them well. Through doing this we will be blessed.
Knowledge of the scriptures provides encouragement to us when we face difficulties in life. Because of our knowledge we can know what the Bible says about whatever it is that we are facing and that will help us deal with that issue and to know what will become of it. Knowledge of the scriptures helps us to be firm in our beliefs, so many have shifting beliefs and they are tossed back and forth betwen beliefs like a small boat facing big waves. Knowing what the Bible says helps us not to be tossed around by all of these different beliefs but rather to be firm and know what we believe. Even more than that, to know what we believe is true.
Just like the guys in the story, they had wrong belief because they did not know the scriptures. If you do not know the scriptures guys like them can seem smart and trick you.
So how can you better know the scriptures? First by reading them. To know the scriptures you must read them, even a surface level reading can purge out many false ideas and protect you from false teachers. The next thing you can do is even easier, it is come to church and hear the Bible being taught. While you listen though you should be verifying that what you hear is true. This will build your knowledge and further solidify it. My final tip for you to build your knowledge is to study the Bible. When you read that can be more of a surface level task but when you study you are going a bit deeper. Studying involves looking intently at a passage of scripture and seeing what it means. When you do this you look at the context of the passage, you might read some cross references, and you will ask questions of the text and seek to answer those questions using the text.
The second part is to know the power of God. We can know the power of God by seeing what he has done in the Bible, seeing what he has done in the lives of people throughout church history, seeing what he has done in the lives of people around us, and seeing what he has done in our own lives. I see the power of God through the parting of the Red Sea in the book of Exodus and I see the power of God in how he guided me here to Cordell. Through seeing this power I have come to know his power. Through knowing this power I know what he is capable of and that he has everything in control.
We are called to know the scriptures and to know the power of God. Jesus rebuked the Sadducees for not knowing these things, don’t let this rebuke be true of you too.
The Answer
The Answer
For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 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’? He is not God of the dead, but of the living. You are quite wrong.”
Finally we have the answer that Jesus gives to them. This answer gives us some insight into what it will be like after Christ returns.
He first says that there is no marriage in this time. Marriage is a good thing but it is something that is confined to this life. When we get to heaven we will know the people that we know in this life and we will know our spouses. We will also be more capable of love than ever before. Marriage though is not needed just like the angels don’t marry we will not marry.
The second part of his response is directed towards their beliefs in regards to the resurrection. Like we talked about at the first this group only uses the first 5 books of the Bible for some reason so that is where Jesus goes for his response. He says that God is not the God of the dead but of the living. These men, the patriarchs of Israel, are no longer walking on this earth, but they have passed from life to life. If this was not so then his promises to them would have been finite promises. Rather his promises to them still stood after their earthly bodies died because they would be raised back to life. He is not the God of the dead but of the living. For those who have put their faith in Jesus, when they die it is just the body. Their body passes from life to life.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Jesus runs into many conflicts during his ministry. What is true of this conflict is honestly true of many of the conflicts that he is involved in. The people opposing him do not know the scriptures or the power of God. Do not let this be you.
This conflict dealt with some end times issues as well and the chief question about this I have for you is; is your soul ready for death? This is only a good event for those that have put their faith in Jesus. If you have not put your faith in Jesus then you do not have the joys of life after death to look forward to.
For those of you that have put your faith in Jesus and know that you know that you are saved, let the end times stimulate you to go and share this good news. The end is closer than every day, we need to start living like this is true.
