I am the God of the living not the dead
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Good morning rivertree. It is a real joy and honor to be with you this morning. Hello to everyone watching online and everyone at the cove campus
if you have your bibles go ahead and open up to Matthew chapter 22 and we are going to start in verse 22.
lets go ahead and dive in right away
The same day Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection, and they asked him a question, saying, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies having no children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother.’ Now there were seven brothers among us. The first married and died, and having no offspring left his wife to his brother. So too the second and third, down to the seventh. After them all, the woman died. In the resurrection, therefore, of the seven, whose wife will she be? For they all had her.”
But Jesus answered them, “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God: ‘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.” And when the crowd heard it, they were astonished at his teaching.
We’ve been in this section of scriputre for the last few weeks and we have seen religous and politcal groups trying to trap Jesus at the temple
They are doing there best to discredit him and disqualify him
Last week we saw a very political question about who to pay taxes to.
After Jesus answers his oppents it seems as if they rush off in fustration
and as they leave another group comes.
It’s the Sadducess and their question stems from the fact they belive this life is all there is and there is no life after death
this was a group of people who only belived the first 4 books(the books of moses were relevent. And since they didn’t see any evidence in life after death in those books of the Bible
they felt like this was all there was to live for. And if this life is it you might as well make the most of it.
In some ways they were the sophisticaded of the soceity
They were the well read
They loved Greek culuture
They worked with Rome
and they loved pleasure
and in many ways this makes sense. If you don’t believe there is anything after death you would build your life on the things of the world. They thought if they followed the law of Moses they could have all they needed and all they wanted in this life
and since they didn’t belive in life after death anyone who belived in the resurection of the body was absurd
There arguement was the hope isn’t in the after life. It’s in our children and our people
They wanted to leave a legacy but they didn’t beleive they would live forever
They are pretty much antisupernatural reductionist
and as I describe them you might notice something. Something our world has in common with the world of Jesus’ time
I could be describe so many people in the states today.
There are many people who think if you beleive in life after death, if you believe in miricales, if you believe even in God you are probably crazy.
and friends this is the kind of belief that will lead someone straight to hell
The sadducees did not believe in the afterflie, in judgement day, resurrection or anything like that.
and because they didn’t belive in any of that it allowed them to live however they wanted to live. They could have it all because this life is all there is.
and that’s pretty logical. If there is nothing after this life you have to build your kingdom and your life for the here and now.
They might like the sadduccess look at the bible or some of religious books as a moral compass so they can live a good life but that’s about it.
and because this group of pepole think life after death is so ridicoulus and so silly they ask a reidcoulus question in an attempt to embarress and trap Jesus
let’s look at it again
The same day Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection, and they asked him a question, saying, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies having no children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother.’ Now there were seven brothers among us. The first married and died, and having no offspring left his wife to his brother. So too the second and third, down to the seventh. After them all, the woman died. In the resurrection, therefore, of the seven, whose wife will she be? For they all had her.”
WE’ve heard this kind of question before right? It’s one of those questions that we got when we took math in school that makes no sense at all.
it’s one of those (INSERT RIDDLE)
but instead of to impress it’s to humility the person they are asking
the point of the story coculd have easily been made if they just used 3 people but instead they use 8. This is an attempt to show how ridiculous the after life was to them and the prospect of resurection
they are qouting a truth found in deutormonmy 25
they took something that was a merciful provision found in the bible to protct a woman if her husband died before they could have children.
In most cultrals of that day if her husband died before children she was in a terrible sitioution. All you have to do is to go to the book of Ruth and see the story of Nomia to understand this
however, the way God laid it out was for proteciton for the most marginilized in society
and this question leads to a rebuke by Jesus.
Maybe your house is like my house. Someone plays the “what if game”
and from a very early time in my family my wife would say these words. We don’t play the what if Game
this is a hypothetical situaiton and it’s point is to make the after life look stupid and silly
it’s what that freshman in college tries to do to show the professor how smart he is. That never plays out well
yet by even asking this question what we learn is the peope who ask it are the ones who look silly
In the temple Jesus looks them square in the eyes and rebukes them.
While their question is confusion and could be on a standardized test
Jesus answer is plain and simply
he says
YOU ARE WRONG.
He refuses to play this outward game with them. He goes right for the heart.
and at the heart of all of this is the gospel
the 2 groups of relgious people we have studied the last 2 weeks are the sadducess and the pharisees
they hated each other but even more then that they hated the gospel.
the sadduceees did not belive in a judgement day so they didn’t belive in the justice of God
The pharisees thought you couldn’t satifsy God unless you had good works
and Jesus has know looked at both groups and said you are wrong.
The God of the bible is Just. Complelty in other words you can be sure he will not put up with evil and sin
he can’t be satisfied by anybody but Jesus when it comes to his justice.
You can’t live up, I can’t live up but Jesus has lived up to meet teh requirements for the justice of God
The justice of God can leave some in a confjusion place. They think doesn’t God love everyone. Doesn’t God accept everyone? Doesn’t God lvoe everyone
and here is the thing. Of course he loves. In fact the God of the Bible is more loving then anyone we could imagine and he is much more loving then any so called God the adducees believed in
and how do we know that?
HIs word tells us.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
The God of the bible is a God of love and the God of love sent the son of Love who died the death of love
He suffered and died on the cross.
Why to deal with all the sin and brokeness our world faces
To follow Jesus probably means that we need to get used to nobody liking us as Keller says
in other words once we understand the gospel. That God is complelty just and is a God of complete mercy everybody else is going to think we are not very smart at all
It’s why the sadducees, the phariesees, the heridions and just about every other religious group of that day and since then hates Jesus.
Because he is not in the middle
he’s something totatlly different and we can be sure of this also if Jesus was misunderstood so will we be
it’s that moment where our Christian ethic begins to impact our friends, our nieghbors and our co-workers. They notice something is radically different about us.
The way we live, the way we interact and the way we love and it should make them ask why
some of them will ask and when you tell them becasue you believ the Bible. You belive in God, you beleive Jesus really cam and lived a perfect life, he died on a cross to save us from sin
that he actaully rose from the grave and lives today and you’ve given your life to him
when you tell them it’s because you believe in a heaven and a hell and every person will spend eternity someowhere
some people will walk away, some will hate you, some will think you have lost your mind
but this is nothing new look at what Paul said in
For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
and it is right. That a jewish man born in the middle east 2,000 died on a cross and is God.
of course it’s foolish
but for those of us are being saved it’s not foolish at all
it’s the power of GOD!
and it’s the power of God and Gods word that Jesus says the saducees didn’t not know
that would have been infurating. You have built your life on beleiveing you know Gods word. you’ve gathered as much as you can and lived a certain moral way because you thought you understood Gods word
but they ddin’t know it and the parts of Gods word they had totally misapplied
friends a quick side note we can pick up here. Is if we want to hear from God, if we want to know God we must know the Word. It’s how he speaks.
and what a joy it is to read scripture and enjoy the nearness of God through his word. The very fact you and I have access to a bible in our hands, on these screens, even on our phones in a langouge we can read and understand is a miricale in itself
and maybe something for tomorrow is to take some time and enjoy God through his word. You don’t have to read much to know what he wants for you life, to expirence his nearness and his love
His word is living and active and HE still speaks today through his word
yet the saducess miss something
what they didn’t realize is the WORD of God in flesh was standing before them.
Jesus starts by correcting their mistake.
He says if you think heaven is about marraige you’ve missed it.
but maybe some of you read this and are discourged. You read it and you think does that mean in heaven we’ll all just be friends?
that doesn’t sound awesome. It almost sounds boring. but here is what Jesus is saying to this gorup
when he says you don’t know the power of God he is saying your problem is you have no idea just the magnitude of transfromtion God is going to bring to us in heaven
when Jesus says there won’t be marraige in heaven he deosn’t mean our love will be less intesne
the power of God will mean in heaven in teh resurrection our love we have with one anotehr and with the lord is going to be better then anytihng we could ever expiernce on earth
our relatiosnhips will be better not worse
it’s where islam and mornimism miss it.
there will be no more weddings in heaven. Because our bidgroom is Jesus and he is how in heaven we will be closer to everyone else and the Father
No more widowed pople, no more divorced people, no more single people
the bridegroom has laid down his life for the church.
the best of our Christian marraiges on earth just point to this reality
and when you realize this it impacts how you live your life here on earth
the fact that Jesus loves you so much he paid the pentatly for our sin allows us to live know not like the sadduceees making kingdoms for ourselves. NO it allows us to know there is a better home, a better coutnry in store for us
We are reminded of this in “hall of faith” Hebrews 11:13-16
These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.
and
Then the word points them back to the book of exodus. He doesn’t go to the prophets, he doesn’t God to Isaiah or daniel
he goes all the way back to something they would belivee in . They had just qouted moses so Jesus says I’ll go ahead and go to moses also
He goes to the place it starts for moses. When Moses first encoruters God
God has appared to Moses and look at what God says
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.
What a beatiful verse.
Why does Jesus go here?
remember the saducees are arguing theres no life after death. There is no resurection. They want to make a fool of Jesus
that’s the context and Jesus goes here and in one verse of scripture he proves that they are the ones who are wrong
who shows them the covenant relsationship God has with his people and this along proves there is life after death where we can be with God
Do you see what God says here in exodus 3? He says I AM the God Abraham, The God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob
this in the present text
God doesn’t say I was the God
He says I am the GOD
showing moses,showing the saducees and showing us that God wanted Moses to know that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob where still alive.
Yes they had died but to God they were still in relationship with him. They were living with him.
this is amazing. Even though they have been dead for centuries he says these words
Tim Keller said this about what God is saying here
When God appears to Moses in the book of Exodus, he says, “I want an intimate, personal, covenant relationship with you and the people.
God is showing the depth of the relatinoship by uses some possessive prepostions and pronouns
we do this. When I intorduce Elizabeth who I am married to I normally say this is “my wife” Elizabeth
she might tell someone let me check with “my husband”
I might say about Anna or ellie they are my daughters.
They would say I am their dad
we only do that, we only use taht kind of possive langue when there is a deep, voluntary self giving relationship.
when there is a level of intamiciy that allows us to say that
and God does this with his pepole
He says I am Abrahams God and Isaacs God
later in scripture God says when we are in this kind of relationship here’s how we will talk about each other
You are my people
I am your God
so what Jesus does is he doesn’t God into some long theogical arguemnt about the existence of the afterlife. He doesn’t look at them and say just you wait I’ll show you a few resurections before this is over
no what he says is when God enters into a relationship with someone with that kind of love relationship
just think of the implications
Here’s one of the implications about a God who wants to be in covenant with us.
That kind of relationship can never go into past tense
This is meanginful. When I really love someone whether it’s my kids, my wife or even a friend the worst thing that can happen in my relstionships with them is if they go into a past tense
no body once to say I had daughter, or I had a wife or I had a friend
because when you are really in relationship with someone you don’t want it to end.
death brings finiality on earth. We are limited. Our life on earth does come to an end
so when those relatioships end it’s hard right?
some of you in this room know the pain of loising a parent. you can’t call them, you can’t see them, you can’t text them. It’s hard
that’s why we don’t want people to die. because in some ways our relationship changes.
When I think about my dad or talk about him I say “my dad would have”
just this past week I did something different might suprise some of you. I want to watch wrestling at the VBC. Some of you are instantly judging me, and that’s ok I get it.
but I went and at the very end a wreslter named sting and ric flair ended up in the ring and they are real old so if you know who they are you know how strange this was
but instantly i was taking back to being on a trip with my dad and watching wrestling with them and I thought to my self in that moment He “would have” loved this
all past tense
but here is something amazing about God
He loves you. He is committed to you. He has a possive reltionship with you because he has giving his life for you
He has given you himself and if you’ve given yourself to him heres what that means. he is what the truth of Gods coventatial nnature means for His people
so profound, yet so simple.
He can never be the God of the dead. God won’t say I was teh God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
the reaosn God talks about his relationship in the present tense with Abe, Isaac, and Jacob in the present tense is becasue when God puts his love on you
you enter into a relationship with the living God! and that relationship can’t go into the past tense
God won’t lose what is precious to him. We can but he won’t
IF we could we would stop all the people we love from dying. From going away
Why because we love them
God’s love isn’t less then ours, Gods love is not less intense, Gods love can’t be less.
If we have a hard time having our allowing our relatiosnships go into the past tense, how could God?
Here is what Jesus is saying
Because he loves you, you and I can be sure that his love is eternall, his love is real, his love is solid, and it’s permant
what an apolgetic, what an arguement for the resurection
instead of trying to just convice people about the after life with logic and reason he does something so different and yet so amazing.
He says if you have a relatinoship with God you will know there is life after death. When you are in a relatinship with God and your heart feels truly loved for the frist time ever you know something.
you know there is nothing that will stop this kind of love
you will know this deep in your soul, deep in your heart but you will also know this deep in your head
that’s the power of God Jesus is talking about. If God is all powerful that power extends to his love.
that’s what we will enjoy for all of eternity. Why? because he is the God of the living
Saint Teresa of Avila says, in one of my favorite quotes, “The first moment in the arms of Jesus is going to make a thousand years of misery on earth look like one night in a bad hotel.
in other words once you know what Jesus is saying here you can face anyting earth.
and why can he say this? it’s because of who he is
John 11:25-26
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
God, let us be atonished by the truth that you love us
let’s pray
Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”