DEAD WRONG

DON'T BE DEAD WRONG ABOUT LIFE AFTER DEATH.

Nearly every culture has possessed some type of belief in the afterlife. A nineteenth-century professor at Yale University named James Dwight Dana summed up this hope of abiding life when he said

I do not believe that God would create man and then desert him at the grave.

The Egyptian’s Book of the Dead is full of tales of life after death. The tomb of Pharaoh Cheops (kee-ops), who died some 5,000 years ago, contained a solar boat that was designed to carry him through the heavens in eternity.

Ancient Greeks were often buried with a coin in their mouths to pay their fare to cross the River Styx into the land of the dead.

Some Native Americans were buried with their bows, arrows and ponies, so they would be ready to hunt when they arrived at the happy hunting ground.

The ancient Vikings believed in a place called Valhalla where they believed they would fight all day. The dead would be raised and the wounded healed every evening. Then they would feast and drink the night away, then go out to fight again.

The Muslims look forward to their version of heaven where every sensual, physical pleasure can be indulged throughout eternity.

In our own era, nearly all non-Christian cults and religions hold to some view of life after death.

Even some who have refused to believe on Jesus for salvation have felt the pull of eternity. Benjamin Franklin, who was, as far as we know, not a believer, had the following words placed on his tombstone.

The body of Benjamin Franklin, printer, Like the cover of an old book, Its contents worn out, An stript of its lettering and gilding Lies here, food for worms! Yet the work itself shall not be lost, For it will, as he believed, appear once more in a new and more beautiful edition, corrected and amended by its Author!

The ancient Jews were no exception. They also believed in life after death. Their Talmud, which contained their written and oral traditions, was filled with references to life after death.

In today’s text Jesus clarifies some of life’s eternal questions. He teaches us how not to be DEAD WRONG ABOUT LIFE AFTER DEATH.

Let me set our timeline. It is Tuesday of Passion week. It is less than 72 hours until Christ crucifixion on Friday. Jesus has already endured an onslaught of question from the Pharisees and Herodians. Now another group of religious Jews called the Sadducees thought they would give it a try to expose Jesus as a fraud by questioning concerning the afterlife.

THE ANTAGONISTS

Mark 12:18 ESV

And Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection. And they asked him a question, saying,

The Sadducees were a minority sect among the Jews. They may have been few, but they were the most powerful and influential of all the Jewish sects. The Sadducees controlled all the buying and selling that went on at the Temple. Thus, they were angry with Jesus because He had interrupted their business enterprises when He cleansed the Temple, Mark 11:12-19.

The Sadducees also controlled the priesthood. All the high priests and chief priests were Sadducees. They also formed a majority of the Sanhedrin, or the Jewish Supreme Court. They were aristocratic and wealthy. They were friendly to Rome. Most of all, they, along with the Pharisees and the Herodians, hated Jesus.

They were disliked by the common Jew. They were often aloof, thinking they were better than everyone else. They were rude, insensitive, and very harsh in the judgments they handed down. They cared nothing for the common man.

They were also disliked because of their theology. They only accepted the Pentateuch, or the five books of Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy as authoritative . They believed that one could not base doctrine on what the prophets or the other Old Testament writers said. The doctrine that caused them the most trouble with the people was their denial of all things supernatural.

They believed in the existence of God, but they rejected everything else that was of a supernatural nature. They did not believe in demons, angels, the devil, or in miracles. They did not believe in Heaven or Hell. They did not believe in a future judgment. They did not believe in life after death, nor did they believe in the resurrection of the dead.

They were the extreme fundamentalists of the day. They refused to accept the authority of anything they could not support by a literal reading of the Law of Moses.

Yet, because they did not believe in life after death, a resurrection or a future judgment, they tended to live for the moment. They lived their lives for power and profit. Their philosophy could be described as one of “Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die.”

By the way, this is the same mentality that grips modern man. People in our day have rejected the Bible as the standard and rule of life. Because they have done that, they have no hope of life after death, and they have no hope of resurrection. They have no fear of a future judgment. Man doesn’t believe in the existence of evil or Hell. Man does not believe that he will face God in judgment, so he lives as he pleases (Romans 1:18-31).

But, there is a God. His Word is still the final authority. There will be a resurrection. Man will live somewhere forever. Man will face God in judgment. There is a Hell. Jesus is the only hope of salvation, John 14:6; Acts 4:12. The only hope the lost soul has of salvation is to come to Jesus Christ by faith and believe the Gospel! Have you done that?

THEIR ARGUMENT

Mark 12:19–23 ESV

“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.”

These men come to Jesus and call Him “Master”. The word means “teacher” and it was designed to flatter Jesus and cause Him to let down His guard. It didn’t work!

These men appeal to “Moses”. He was the great lawgiver. He was the spokesman for God. He was universally respected by all the Jews. They knew of Christ’s respect for the Scriptures, so they approach with what they see as a problem from the Word of God.

These men have constructed a puzzle that they feel Jesus cannot solve. Their aim is to embarrass Him in front of the people who have gathered in the Temple.

They begin to tell Jesus a story based on the Old Testament law of levirate (lev-er-it) marriage taught in Deut. 25:5-10. This law made provision for the preservation of families and inheritances. If a man died, with no living children, his next of kin would marry his widow and raise up a child in the name of the deceased.

This law was what brought about the union between Judah and Tamar, Gen. 38, which ensured Jesus would be born of the tribe of Judah. It also made possible the marriage of Ruth and Boaz, Ruth 4, which further ensured Jesus would be born of the tribe of Judah. This was a very important law to the nation of Israel. It guaranteed that a family’s inheritance would stay in the family.

Based on this law, the Sadducees come to Jesus with a tale of a man and a woman. The man died without leaving an heir. The man had seven brothers. When he died, the next brother took the wife, but he died before producing an heir. Each of the brothers married the woman in turn and each died before producing an heir. Finally, the woman herself died.

Their question is, who will she belong to in the resurrection of the dead? The Jews, who believed in the resurrection, believed that life in eternity would be a continuation of life here on earth. They believed that a man would have the same family in Heaven that he had here.

Of course, the Sadducees didn’t even believe in a resurrection, they were just trying to embarrass Jesus. They were probably trying to mock His believe in the resurrection as well. These fellows thought they had created a puzzle, a Gordian Knot, that Jesus could not solve. They thought their question revealed the absolute absurdity of the resurrection. They thought they had Jesus trapped. In their eyes, whether He answered or not they believed they could claim the victory over Him. Whatever their intention, their question was absurd and Jesus proved that by His answer.

THE ANSWER

Mark 12:24–27 ESV

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.”

Jesus wasn’t as easy to defeat as they figured. In His answer, He put them in their place and He answered some very important questions regarding eternity.

Jesus began His response (v. 24) by accusing these men of being in error. The word “err” means “to stray, to go aside from the right way.” It sometimes carried the idea of “living in a dream world”.

Jesus looks at these religious hypocrites and He says, “You men have no idea what you are talking about. You are living in a dream world. You are dead wrong!” Jesus went on to say that their wrong thinking came from two specific areas.

They were ignorant of God’s Word

These men read the Scriptures, and they believed what they read, but they were ignorant of the message in the Word. If they had just taken the time to read the whole Word and believe it, they would not have been confused about the resurrection.

Job 19:25–27 ESV

For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!

Isaiah 26:19 ESV

Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise. You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy! For your dew is a dew of light, and the earth will give birth to the dead.

Daniel 12:2 ESV

And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.

The truth of the resurrection is printed all over the Old Testament. These men were like so many in our day. They knew just enough Bible to be dangerous. They ran around saying, “The Bible says this, and the Bible says that”, but they were wrong about what they believed it said.

The same thing is true today. Have you ever heard any of the following?

Adam and Eve ate an apple in the Garden of Eden. The Lord helps those who help themselves. Cleanliness is next to godliness. Mary rode a donkey to Bethlehem when she was expecting Jesus. There were three wise men.

Most people believe these things to be true, but they are misinterpretations of what the Bible says, or they are old wives tales that cannot be found in the Word of God. Reading the Bible will destroy a lot of what people say they believe. Let me just remind you that we have a duty to study the Word of God,

2 Timothy 2:15 ESV

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.

They were ignorant of God’s Power

These men believed that God created the universe out of nothing. They believed that God formed Adam out of the dust of the earth and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. They believed God could do all that, but they did not believe that He had the power to raise the dead.

Let me take just a minute to remind you that the God we serve is an all-powerful God. There is nothing beyond the realm of possibility with Him.

Jeremiah 32:17–27 ESV

‘Ah, Lord God! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you. You show steadfast love to thousands, but you repay the guilt of fathers to their children after them, O great and mighty God, whose name is the Lord of hosts, great in counsel and mighty in deed, whose eyes are open to all the ways of the children of man, rewarding each one according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds. You have shown signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, and to this day in Israel and among all mankind, and have made a name for yourself, as at this day. You brought your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and wonders, with a strong hand and outstretched arm, and with great terror. And you gave them this land, which you swore to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey. And they entered and took possession of it. But they did not obey your voice or walk in your law. They did nothing of all you commanded them to do. Therefore you have made all this disaster come upon them. Behold, the siege mounds have come up to the city to take it, and because of sword and famine and pestilence the city is given into the hands of the Chaldeans who are fighting against it. What you spoke has come to pass, and behold, you see it. Yet you, O Lord God, have said to me, “Buy the field for money and get witnesses”—though the city is given into the hands of the Chaldeans.’ ” The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me?

Jesus refers to the nature of heavenly relationships.

While the relationship of marriage is a wonderful and divinely ordained institution, it is an absolutely earthly institution. Marriage was designed for companionship, Gen. 2:18, continuation of the species, Gen. 1:22, and for the fulfillment of physical needs, 1 Cor. 7:2. When we get to Heaven, we will be like the angels, only in the sense that we will be spiritual beings that will have no need for the physical necessities of this earthly life. In heaven, like the angels, we will be deathless, sinless, sexless, glorified and eternal. But, unlike the angels, we will be like Jesus, 1 John 3:2. Life will be different when we get there.

There will be no need for reproduction and childbirth because there will be no death. There will be no exclusive physical relationships because in Heaven everyone will be perfectly and intimately related to everyone else, including God.

The Sadducees came to Jesus talking about Moses, so Jesus turns to Moses to answer their question (vv. 26-27a). Jesus points them to Exodus 3-4 when Moses had his encounter with God at the burning bush. Four times in the passage, God says,

Mark 12:26–27 ESV

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.”

The Lord then refers to Exodus 3:6 and 15 to prove that there is a resurrection. . .

1. God is the God of the living, not of the dead. 2. God is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the time that God speaks to Moses (cf. Exod. 3:6). 3. Therefore, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are “alive” at the time God speaks to Moses (follows from # 1 and # 2). 4. However, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had died long before. 5. Therefore, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob must have been resurrected in the meantime (follows from # 3 and # 4). 6. Therefore, there is a resurrection (follows from # 5)

The resurrection is a reality because Jesus Himself conquered death when He rose from the dead. He became the promise of resurrection to all those who receive Him as their Savior, 1 Cor. 15:20-23. Because Jesus rose from the dead, those who have their faith in Him for salvation have “passed from death unto life”,

John 5:24 ESV

Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

When Jesus saves a soul, He raises that person from spiritual death, Eph. 2:1. He makes them alive in Himself. He gives them His life. That is why salvation is referred to as “the new birth”, John 3:3, 7. When a person receives Jesus, they become a partaker of “everlasting life”, John 3:16; 6:47 and “abundant life”, both here and here after, John 10:10.

Everybody who dies will experience a resurrection, John 5:29. Some will get up again and receive everlasting life. Others will get up again to face God in judgment. Which is true for you will be determined by what you do with Jesus Christ,

1 John 5:12 ESV

Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

Much of the nature of our existence in Heaven will remain a mystery until we arrive there. But, there are some things we can know for sure. Let me share a few with you.

You will still be known as you in Heaven.

You will retain your individuality there. Your physical appearance will say that you are you. You will simply be a better, perfected, and glorified you. Moses and Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration were recognized and known. Those who die in Jesus lose nothing of themselves, but they become a better, glorified self. You will know your loved ones in Heaven. As one man said, “I know you here and I will not be a bigger fool there than I am here.”

There will be no marriages in Heaven, but love will be perfected there.

We will love one another fully, perfectly and without jealousy. I do, however, believe that we will remember our earthly relationships in Heaven. We will simply view them through glorified eyes.

There will be no death in Heaven.

Those who go there will live forever,

Revelation 21:4 ESV

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

We will receive a new body in Heaven

1 Corinthians 15:42–57 ESV

So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven. I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

With that in mind, we should face the deaths of our loves with confidence. If they knew Jesus, they are more alive today than they ever were. If we know Jesus, we will meet again in Heaven. Jesus is coming, and when He does, He will bring the departed saints with Him. He will raise and glorify their bodies and gather us all together and take us all home to Heaven, 1 Thes. 4:13-18.

Jesus concludes His words by saying “you are quite wrong” The word “wrong”, as I said earlier, means “to stray; to go aside from the right way”. The word for wrong here means they were guilty of “leading themselves astray”. They were blind to the truth that was right before them and they chose the wrong path over the right path.