Mark 12:18-44

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Mark 12:18–44 CSB

Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him and questioned him: “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies, leaving a wife behind but no child, that man should take the wife and raise up offspring for his brother. There were seven brothers. The first married a woman, and dying, left no offspring. The second also took her, and he died, leaving no offspring. And the third likewise. None of the seven left offspring. Last of all, the woman died too. In the resurrection, when they rise, whose wife will she be, since the seven had married her?” Jesus spoke to them, “Isn’t this the reason why you’re mistaken: you don’t know the Scriptures or 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—haven’t you read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the burning bush, how God said to him: I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob? He is not the God of the dead but of the living. You are badly mistaken.” One of the scribes approached. When he heard them debating and saw that Jesus answered them well, he asked him, “Which command is the most important of all?” Jesus answered, “The most important is Listen, Israel! The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is, Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other command greater than these.” Then the scribe said to him, “You are right, teacher. You have correctly said that he is one, and there is no one else except him. And to love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself, is far more important than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices.” When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And no one dared to question him any longer. While Jesus was teaching in the temple, he asked, “How can the scribes say that the Messiah is the son of David? David himself says by the Holy Spirit: The Lord declared to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.’ David himself calls him ‘Lord.’ How, then, can he be his son?” And the large crowd was listening to him with delight. He also said in his teaching, “Beware of the scribes, who want to go around in long robes and who want greetings in the marketplaces, the best seats in the synagogues, and the places of honor at banquets. They devour widows’ houses and say long prayers just for show. These will receive harsher judgment.” Sitting across from the temple treasury, he watched how the crowd dropped money into the treasury. Many rich people were putting in large sums. Then a poor widow came and dropped in two tiny coins worth very little. Summoning his disciples, he said to them, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. For they all gave out of their surplus, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had—all she had to live on.”

Mark 12:18–44 — “Knowing the Scriptures and the Power of God”

Overview

Temple week is a gauntlet of tests. Jesus meets four moments: Sadducees on the resurrection (vv18–27), a scribe on the greatest command (vv28–34), Jesus’ question about David’s Lord (vv35–37), and His warning about the scribes with the widow’s offering as a living contrast (vv38–44). The lens is Jesus’ verdict in v24: error comes when we know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God.

Big Idea

Jesus has a harsh rebuke for these sadducees who came to trap Him about the resurrection… they don’t know the scriptures nor the power of God - things they claimed to know.

I. 12:18–27 — “You don’t know the Scriptures or the power of God”

Who: Sadducees (deny resurrection, Acts 23:8).

Trap: An exaggerated levirate case (Deut 25:5–10) to make resurrection look absurd.

Jesus’ diagnosis (v24): Two blind spots—Bible ignorance and small-God theology.

“You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God.”

In this passage Jesus exposes religion without truth and without power.

I’ve seen people pursue both of these failures

on the one hand knowing about God by learning the scriptures, but not knowing the God in those scriptures, nor his power

And on the other hand, people who think that seeing God do wonders in their life is a substitute for the theological grounding of scripture that keeps us close to and growing in the knowledge of the character, the purposes, and the ways of God.

Jesus shows them the power of God from the scriptures (vv26–27): Exodus 3:6—God is (present tense) the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He is not God of the dead but of the living. God’s power is so much greater than death = resurrection hope.

They didn’t know the scriptures, so they didn’t know the power of God.

- here’s the thing.. the sadducees thought they were super clever, had their rhetorical proofs, their safety in numbers,

this is a warning to us! Don’t drift into a theology that makes us feel comfortable and safe… Jesus points us back to scripture.

the Author, who wants to be known, shows us where to find Him.

Don’t lose your hope in the power and promises of God because small-minded people who don’t know scripture nor the power of God have misunderstood (wilfully or ignorantly) who He is and what He does.

The second encounter, with a scribe.

II. 12:28–34 — “The first of all the commandments”

Mark 12:18–44 CSB

Then the scribe said to him, “You are right, teacher. You have correctly said that he is one, and there is no one else except him. And to love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself, is far more important than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices.” When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”

Scribe’s question: “Which commandment is most important?”

Jesus’ answer (not restricted to one): Deut 6:4–5 (Shema) + Lev 19:18.

Love God with all (heart, soul, mind, strength).

Love your neighbour as yourself.

The scribe answers as if he’s an authority over Jesus.. says essentially, “good answer.. Heart-obedience > ritual compliance”.

But Jesus doesn’t sit under this guy’s authority, He tells him “you are not far from the kingdom of God”.

might sound encouraging, but it’s actually devastating!

You can see it, you can taste it! But you don’t have it.

why did Jesus say the guy was close? He knew the scriptures (got that half of the Sadducee rebuke)… but didn’t know God nor His power.. otherwise he’d have recognised Jesus and His gospel. - “You are not far from the kingdom.” But Proximity isn’t possession, Agreement isn’t arrival.. we saw this last week.. “Wonder isn’t worship”… this scribe identified it.. Love God and neighbour is more important than burnt offerings and sacrifices.

Don’t stand on the outside with all the right answers.. come know God and His power to defeat sin, satan, and death.

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God gave the law to mark His people “mine”… So that they could know what’s important to God, to represent Him to the world, and have a relationship with Him.

but instead of this, the leaders like the sadducees and scribes abstracted God

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“And no one dared to question him any longer.”

so Jesus asks His own questions…

III. 12:35–37 — David’s Son and David’s Lord

Question from Jesus: How can the scribes say the Messiah is David’s son and yet David’s Lord?

Psalm 110:1: “The LORD said to my Lord…” — David calls his descendant ‘Lord”.

Implication: Messiah is greater than David—truly human (David’s son) and truly sovereign (David’s Lord).

Jesus is pointing to Himself, and also making a point about the scribes: The crowd loves it; the leaders are silenced.

Then He lets the scribes really have it… “Beware of the scribes, who want to go around in long robes and who want greetings in the marketplaces, the best seats in the synagogues, and the places of honour at banquets. They devour widows’ houses and say long prayers just for show. These will receive harsher judgment.”

Warning (vv38–40): Beware scribes who perform religion—status robes, best seats, devour widows’ houses, and hide greed and a lust for power under long prayers. Greater condemnation waits them.. they traded glory from God forever for fleeting honour in the streets.

Observation (vv41–44): Jesus sits opposite the treasury. Many give out of surplus; a poor widow gives two leptas—“all she had to live on.”

Tension & teaching:

Juxtaposition matters: after “devouring widows’ houses”, we meet a widow giving her last coin. This is not fundraising hype; it’s a commendation of her trust and an indictment of exploitative religion.

Discipleship lens: In God’s economy, measure is dependance on God, not the amount of money you give.

its not a measure of money at all, but “do you know God and His power?”

So,

know God who has revealed Himself in scripture, in Jesus, by His Holy Spirit, in creation, and in the gospel.

don’t delay close to the kingdom… put all of your hope in Jesus, all of your trust in the one who is trustworthy, know His resurrection power in your life.

PRAY

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