Mark 12:13-34

Big Idea:

God’s truth is under attack but will win.

Intro:

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Hello Church Online! Thanks for joining us.

If you call The River Church your home church, you’ve likely heard me reference my struggle to keep my man-card in good standing. Sure, I like my fair share of sports, action movies, and grilled meat (manly stuff), but...

I also know more about Yankee Candle than yardwork.

I’ve spent more time in Hallmark than Home Depot.

And so, my man-card is always on the verge of being revoked. At best, it’s on probation. But maybe that’ll change this year because I’ve spent a lot of time in both the yard and Home Depot.

I’ve been trying to keep the grass in front of our condo alive. I’m gonna be honest… I know nothing about yard work. But... by God’s grace, I planted some seed in Spring and it sprouted! Unfortunately, it started to die in the summer.

The past couple weeks I started watering it more and it looked like it was coming back to life. I’m claiming that resurrection power over my yard! It was looking green and I was proud of myself! But then, the grass started looking a little funny. And I discovered this week, it’s all crabgrass.

I didn’t even know what that was. Maybe you don’t either. Crabgrass starts off look like grass but it’s not. Unlike grass, it thrives in unhealthy environments, like areas without water. It grows fast too! And by the time you notice it, it’s too late - it’s taken over the entire lawn. And at that point, it’s kept the real grass from growing back.

I pulled a couple of the big clumps of crabgrass out and it ripped out huge chunks of the lawn. It basically destroyed all the work I had done in the Spring. But from my research, the only way to get my healthy grass back is to get rid of the crabgrass and replace it with healthy grass seed. I told Janelle I may need to rip it all out and start over and she said, “Why remove the weeds if it’s just gonna come back? Just leave it alone.”

And I tell you this story because, as I was deciding the next steps for my lawn, I realized there was a spiritual parallel to today’s passage out of the Book of Mark. Currently, we’re in chapter 12, Jesus has entered Jerusalem, about to go to the cross, but before He does, He is confronted by the Jewish community leaders...

Mark 12:13–14 ESV

And they sent to him some of the Pharisees and some of the Herodians, to trap him in his talk. And they came and said to him, “Teacher, we know that you are true and do not care about anyone’s opinion. For you are not swayed by appearances, but truly teach the way of God. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? Should we pay them, or should we not?”

Exegesis:

Although the leaders appear friendly towards Jesus, Mark makes clear their intentions were to trap Jesus. They wanted Jesus to say something that would create controversy and discredit Him. And humanely speaking, they had a pretty good plan.

They started by asking a question involving money. Money is a sensitive issue. Most don’t want to give it away… and especially not to taxes. So, the potential for controversy is high.

It’s even higher considering the two groups who are working together to trap Jesus. In a sense, the Pharisees were the religious leaders who favored not giving money to Caesar - the pagan Roman emperor. On the other hand, the Herodians politically benefited from the Roman occupation of Israel and supported the tax. And the trap was this: By working together, Jesus was likely to get in trouble either religiously or politically…

Because no good Jewish person willingly supported giving money to the pagan emperor.

At the same time, Rome was trying to get paid. And you didn’t play with mafia’s money.

Again, it’s a good plan.

But say [or type in the comments], “Not today Satan.”

Bro, you can’t trap Jesus. Look at verse 15, “But, knowing their hypocrisy, He said to the ‘Why put me to the test?”

Hard hearts make us do stupid things. You gotta think that after all these guys have seen Jesus do - even if they didn’t believe Jesus was the Savior or God in the flesh - common sense would tell you you can’t trap this guy. He’s just too good.

It makes me think of a drill we did at football practice on Thursday. Towards the end, the head coach put a bunch of blocking bags on the ground and told the kids (7th graders - with pads and helmets on) they could tee-off on a coach of their choice holding a block bag. Initially, this was a little intimidating because these boys are starting to go thru “changes” and their getting big. Well, I lucked out because no one chose me… until after practice.

By appearance, I’m the smallest of the coaches. So, after practice, all the smaller players asked if they could try and light me up. What they didn’t consider is - although I’m shorter - I weigh almost 200lbs. Most of these kids are 110lbs at best. What’s that mean? Common sense… you ain’t knocking me over!

These guys took running starts at me - some like 30 yards at full speed. Thump. Nothing. “Sorry, it ain’t happening.” And that’s like Jesus here… You ain’t knocking Him over. You can’t trap Him.

Verse 15 goes onto say...

Mark 12:15–17 ESV

But, knowing their hypocrisy, he said to them, “Why put me to the test? Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.” And they brought one. And he said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said to him, “Caesar’s.” Jesus said to them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they marveled at him.

Jesus, who is the “way, TRUTH, and the life” (Jn 14:6) answers the trap-question perfectly. In one answer, He satisfies both the political and religious crowds. So much so they marvel at Him!

So, let’s ask about this first passage, “What’s the point for us today?”

Well, verse 14 says, “[Jesus], we know that you are true and do not care about anyone’s opinion. For you are not swayed by appearances, but truly teach the way of God.”

Although not spoken genuinely, this statement is true nonetheless. Jesus IS the speaker of TRUTH. Again, Jn 14:6 says that Jesus is the truth! And in this passage, Jesus is under attack. What’s the point? I believe it’s this...

In this world, God’s truth is always under attack.

That’s because Satan (the devil - yes, he’s real and active) is the temporary ruler of this world. He hates truth and is the father of lies.

John 8:44 ESV

You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

And he uses his influence over the world to attack truth. The Bible says...

1 Peter 5:8 NLT

Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.

Put differently, the devil is a RELENTLESS lion actively seeking to attack and destroy. And one of his favorite targets is God’s truth, because he knows THAT TRUTH sets people free to live for God. And he hates that! He’ll do anything to stop it. We see that at work in the next passage...

Mark 12:18–23 ESV

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.”

So a new group of leaders join the attack. First it was the Pharisees and Herodians; but now, the Sadducees. What’s helpful for us to know is these groups didn’t like each other. Yet, the are collaboratively attacking Jesus. That’s like republicans, democrats, and independents working together. The idea seems crazy. But again, Satan will do whatever it takes (even influencing opposing groups) to attack Jesus - to attack the truth of God.

I think we STILL see that in our society, right? You ever wonder why it seems as if only biblical Christianity is attacked? Why - in the age of tolerance - the Christian faith is the only thing not tolerated? I believe it’s because what’s ultimately happening is Satan is STILL attacking God’s truth.

Which gives us a moment to pause and ask a question:

Are you experiencing opposition in your life?

Do you feel like you’re being attacked?

You know… sometimes we experience hard times because it’s our fault. We make bad decisions and we reap what we sow. But OTHER TIMES, we must realize the attacks are spiritually based. If you are a faithful follower of Jesus, who lives by, and shares, the truth of God - Satan will attack you!

I love our church. I’m excited about what God is doing in and thru our church. I want to invite more and more people into what God is doing here in Glastonbury. But… you’ve probably heard me say this before… being part of a church like ours - one that is committed to daily being guided by the truth of God’s word - it puts a target on your back.

You see, the devil don’t care if you go into a church building every Sunday.

The devil don’t go if you “believe in God.”

The devil doesn’t care if you give money or do nice things.

But he does care if you belong to a church family that is transformed by God’s truth.

And he really cares if you shares that truth with others!

And, honestly, that’s what we’re about at this church. We love God’s truth and live by it. And - we bring joy to others. Meaning… we share that truth with our community!

What’s that mean? It means if you go to this church, expect the devil to attack your life.

That’s the truth… but that’s not the end. I got good news to share in just a moment… but first, back to our passage...

This new group (the Sadducees) join the “trap party” (not - beatbox, but the party to trap Jesus) and they didn’t believe in the resurrection. They were very academic, intellectual, upper class people. “They only believed in science.”

In fact, the only Scriptures they accepted as truth were the first 5 books of Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

And their question underhandedly mocked both the resurrection and Jesus (who believed in the resurrection - like most other Jews). And they ask a ridiculous question based on a Jewish practice that said if a man died without an heir, his brother or nearest relative (if unmarried) should marry the widow. And their first child should be given the name of the brother. And the goal was to preserve family inheritances.

They ask, “What if there are 7 brothers, who one by one die, but also participated in the Jewish practice of marrying the widow to preserve the family line? In the resurrection, who will she be married to?” [Gotta em - hahaha - high fives]

And the assumption was that it’s ridiculous for all of them to rise from the dead (if there was such thing as a resurrection) and the woman be married to all 7 men. That is… unless heaven was holding their auditions for “Seeking Sister Wives” or rather “Seeking… Brother-Husbands?” But in the mind of these very scholarly men, the concept of an actual resurrection would lead to one woman being married to 7 men, which wouldn’t make sense. That’d be a big biblical problem if it truly worked out that way...

But the REAL problem is revealed by what Jesus next...

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.”

What’s the REAL problem? The problem is they neither knew the Scriptures nor the power of God.

The problem wasn’t the resurrection.

The problem wasn’t the Sadducees weren’t smart enough to comprehend truth.

The problem wasn’t they didn’t believe God was real.

The real problem can be summed up this way: They believed a bunch of half-truths. Believe it or not... that’s a dangerous thing! In fact, I’m convinced “half-truths” are one Satan’s greatest weapons.

Let me briefly explain how this works...

I believe it was Pastor and scholar, Tim Keller, who I read mention that “All truth is God’s truth.” Therefore, all truth has a God-given ability to connect with our minds, be received, and make sense, even if it’s not directly used to honor God. I agree with him.

Satan knows this and how to use truth, even though there is no truth in Him. What he does is takes God’s truth and either denies it (he lies that the truth doesn’t exist) or he twists it (he takes partial truth, crafts it in ways that still makes sense, but uses it for purposes God didn’t intend).

And it can destroy your life, in the same way crabgrass can destroy your lawn. Crabgrass is not grass. It looks and grows like grass, but it’s not. It’s there to destroy your lawn. But by the time you realize it, it’s too late. It’s taken over everything.

That’s what happened to the Sadduccees. They knew God’s truth; but then, Satan influenced them to only accept some of it. And he began to take that partial truth and twist it into a lie. Which is why Jesus says, “You neither know the Scriptures nor the power of God.”

And the same thing still happens today. A lot of people (smart people) get tricked into building lives upon half-truths.

Maybe they appreciate the Bible, but they don’t believe all of it - only the parts they like.

Or they believe in a god… but not the power of God… not a God who personally, actively, and sovereignly rules over all creation. A God who can and does do the impossible.

But let me tell you… living like that doesn’t work. This entire universe only works (and makes sense) when the truth and power of God is involved!

I heard this joke the other day on how the world doesn’t make sense. Like how everything is made up of molecules. The table is molecules. I’m made of molecules. The space between me and the table is made up of molecules. That doesn’t make sense!

Because what’s holding together or differentiating molecules from one another. Why aren’t we just morphing and transitioning into other molecules as we encounter them? Do the molecules that make up my body just know that, “Hey - I’m George! I got to stay with the other George bubbles.” It doesn’t make sense!

I agree! Especially if my worldview ignores the Scriptures or the power of God. Everything doesn’t make sense. And our secular explanations containing half-truths don’t help, even though something about them makes sense.

For example - the idea of darwinian evolution. There are VERY SMART people who embrace this. I believe because it carries enough truth to allow our minds to receive it.

But let’s really think about it… everything we see... being started from random, undefined power. By chance, chaos evolved into complexity. If we’re honest… THAT doesn’t make sense!

If I had a box of legos, how long would I have to wait (even if I repetitively shook the box) for - by chance - the pieces to form into the picture on the front of the box. It’d never happen. And we think all of this just happened? That doesn’t make sense!

The only time the world makes sense is when we consider the truth and power of God.

Only then do we have an answer for creation.

Only then do we have an answer for the purpose of life.

Only then does the resurrection make sense.

Here’s the application for us: When the world doesn’t make sense… the reason is likely because “we know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God.” We’ve let the crabgrass take over the yard.

But even if that’s true, the next passage gives us hope...

Mark 12:28 ESV

And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?”

This guy belonged to the groups attacking Jesus, but he was different. He realized, “Wait… Jesus got real answers!” And he decides to ask him a genuine question. It’s a question we can all relate to… It’s the question of, “What’s the most important thing in life?”

And Jesus replies...

Mark 12:29–31 ESV

Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Once more, Jesus - who is the truth - gives the perfect answer. It’s why the scribe replies...

Mark 12:32–33 ESV

And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

Or, in other words, “That’s the best answer I’ve ever heard. In fact, the world makes sense now.”

And look at our final verse for today...

Mark 12:34 ESV

And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions.

Jesus tells the scribe, “The door to the Kingdom of God has swung wide open for you! All you gotta do is walk in.” That’s cool, but for now, focus on the part after that, because that’s where the hope is...

We’ve talked about...

How the truth of God is under attack.

And how the devil has attacked us with half-truths that are both destroying and confusing us.

But I want us to see this: Jesus - the truth of God - wins.

The sense of verse 34 is Satan attacked Jesus but lost. That’s because the lies of the enemy cannot beat the truth of God.

Psalm 119:105 ESV

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

God’s word is a light. And John 1 says...

John 1:5 ESV

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

Satan can attack God’s truth all he wants, but he will not win. God’s word is light. And the light always overcomes the darkness in Jesus name.

There’s our hope - because if we are people committed to living by God’s truth, that means we win too!

Response:

As we close, let me give you some next steps to make sure at the end of the day, we stand victorious in God’s truth. And I’m gonna take these steps from the actions of the scribe in the last story…

He was humble. Even though he previously opposed Jesus, he wasn’t too proud to admit he was wrong and receive truth from Jesus. Today, some of us need to humble ourselves before Jesus.

He had the courage to ask questions. Jesus has the answers we need. We don’t have the answers because we don’t ask him. You may be asking, “How do I ask Jesus if I can’t see Him?” The answer is, “Read and know the Scriptures.” God’s word is alive and will supernaturally speak to you.

Jeremiah 33:3 ESV

Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.

That’s both a challenge and promise from God.

3. Be willing to change your mind (not matter the cost). This is connected to humility. Some of us have built our entire lives upon the devil’s lies or half-truths. And now we have a yard full of crabgrass. And the thought of ripping it all up and starting over is intimidating. But sometimes… that’s what needs to happen.

Because the TRUTH is… crabgrass reveals an unhealthy environment. And if you’ve been living according to the lies and half-truths of Satan, that’s not healthy. It’s time to rip it all up. Change your mind and start over.

That might cost you a friend.

That might cost you a job.

That might cost you a reputation.

But, the healthy eternal life it will be replaced with will be worth it.

And that’s what God wants for us. He wants us to live fruitful, healthy lives - full of truth. Lives that actually make sense. That have purpose. It’s why Jesus came and died on the cross for us. So we could be forgiven our sins and given a new life to live for Him, no matter where we started or what we’ve done.

Today, He says, “You are not far from the kingdom of God!” All you got to do is walk in… If you’d like to do that today, pray this with me...

Let’s pray...

Father, today we hear your truth. Your truth is telling us we need to change. It’s showing us the things in our lives that are unhealthy and need to be pulled up. Today, we turn from those things (those sins) and turned to you. We ask you to forgive us for the lies we’ve lived by. And we put our trust in You, Jesus - the truth of God. Help us by Your Holy Spirit to live for you. Help us to be lights in this world that overcome the darkness. In Jesus name, amen.

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