Mark 12:18-27
(A Bible Study Led by Dr. Larry Reynolds)
January 17, 2013
1.
The
most basic, fundamental question in all of life has been asked in many
different ways by many different people, but to my knowledge no-one has phrased
it better than did the Old Testament character named Job. In the 14th chapter of the book that bears
his name, Job muses about the brevity of our lives in this world and the
finality of death. In Job 14:14 he asks "If
a man dies, shall he live again?" That single
question cuts to the very heart of our identity, of who we are. Basically, Job is asking:
·
Are
we nothing more than sophisticated insects that live for a while in this world,
then die, never more to exist?
·
Or,
are we eternal beings? Is there
something God-like about us? Do we have
a destiny beyond our brief time in this world?
2. Truth is, whether a person lives 10 minutes
or 100 years, when we view that person's life-span in the scope of eternity,
the amount of time any of us spend in this world is relatively very short. James
put it well when he compared our earthly existence to a morning mist that is
present for a short time and then is gone.
James 4:14 says, “Yet you do not know what your life will be
like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that
appears for a little while and then vanishes away.”
3. And the question of what happens to us when
our lives in this world come to an end has understandably been of intense
interest to humans since the beginning of human history.
·
Do
we just cease to be, entering the blackness of eternity as only a memory in the
minds of a few people?
·
Or
do we experience some kind of life after life this life?
4. That is an extremely important question, not
just in terms of what happens to us after death but also has tremendous implications
for this life as well.
·
If
really, sincerely believe this life is all there is to our existence and there
is nothing beyond this life, then we have no real basis for any kind of ethical
or value system.
·
If
this world is all there is, if there's nothing beyond this life, if there is no
accountability to a higher power, if no judgment, if no life after this life,
then we have no logical basis for moral decision making.
·
If
this world is all there is it makes perfect sense just to do whatever we desire,
with no regard for others.
However, if
there is indeed life beyond this life, if we really are destined to live for
all eternity, we have every reason to develop a strong sense of ethics and
values.
5. In our journey through Mark's Gospel have
come to passage with deals with the issue of the after-life. Mark 12:18-27 contains the third in a series
of four trick questions asked of Jesus by the religious authorities in
Jerusalem who were attempting to discredit Him.
These questions were asked on Tuesday of the week of the Lord’s crucifixion
and resurrection.
·
Mark
11:28 – “By what authority are You doing these things…”
·
Mark
12:14 – “Is it lawful to pay a poll-tax to Caesar, or not?”
·
Mark
12:18-27 – A question about the resurrection of the dead
·
Mark
12:28-34 – A question about which commandment is greatest
There are three main parts to Mark
12:18-27
·
Verse
18 identifies the questioners
·
Verses
19-23 contain their question
·
Verses
24-27 contain the response of Jesus
The Questioners (v.18)
Verse 18 – The
questioners – “Sadducees” - This was an aristocratic,
priestly sect of Judaism that controlled the High Priesthood and the Sanhedrin.
They were the wealthy, politically powerful “in” group. They were very
conservative and accepted only the writings of Moses (i.e. Genesis through
Deuteronomy) as authoritative (i.e. rejected the Oral Tradition).[1] If a teaching was not in the first five books
of the Old Testament (the Pentateuch), they rejected it. Thus, they rejected belief in the
resurrection, in the existence of angels, and future judgment. While the Pharisees fought with the Herodians
over political issues, they fought with the Sadducees over theological
issues. Paul used the division between
the Sadducees and the Pharisees to his advantage in Acts 23 (see Acts 23:6). This is the only place in Mark’s gospel that
the Sadducees are mentioned.
The Question (vv.19-23)
Verses 19-23 - This Jewish law came to be known by “Levirate
marriage.” The term was from Latin for “a husband’s brother.” Inheritance
rights were very important in Israel because God had given the Promised Land to
the tribes by lot. Therefore, if a man died with no male heir, his brother was
expected to marry the widow and father a child by the widow; the child then
became the heir of all of the dead brother’s property.[2] (See Deut. 25:5-6) That is why the Sadducees emphasized that
each brother had no offspring with the woman.
Once the deceased brother had a male heir, the family inheritance was
intact and there was no need for further marriage.
The Response of Jesus (vv.24-27)
Verse 24 is the heart of
Jesus’ response to their silly question.
In that verses Jesus issues a stinging indictment of the Sadducees. He bluntly tells them that their question
reveals that they neither understand the Scripture (which He explains to them
in vv. 26-27) nor the power of God.
“…power of God…” - One reason
Sadducees rejected the concept of the resurrection is because they arbitrarily
rejected the possibility of the supernatural...while they believed in God, in
their thinking they greatly restricted what God could do...they limited the
realm of the possible to only those things they had experienced...since they
had not experienced a resurrection they did not believe in a resurrection...
They were not unlike people in
our world today who reject the possibility of a life after this life because such
a possibility does not fit into their narrow understanding of our universe...it
is the height of human arrogance to reject arbitrarily the concept of a
resurrection just because we don't understand it...
Even in realm of our current
understanding we are forced to admit things are possible today which were
deemed impossible just a few years ago. For example, on February 14, 1946, a machine
known by the acronym ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer) was
unveiled. That remarkable machine is
widely considered to be the first computer.
It weighed nearly 30 tons, was 8’ x 3’ x 100’ in size, had more than
17,000 vacuum tubes, 70,000 resistors, and 10,000 capacitors. But none of the very smart people who
developed that machine could ever imagine that we would be carrying phones in
our pockets or notebooks in our hands that would have many times more computing
power than that gigantic machine. No-one
at that time would have thought possible such advances in computer technology.
And in much same way, while our
current understanding of life after this life limited and hazy, to say that
such a thing as the resurrection is not possible is to place unreasonable
limits on the power of God. It is
foolish to reject something merely because we do not understand it. It is God's power which makes possible the
resurrection. To me, it makes perfect sense to believe that. The Bible says it well in 1 Cor. 6:14 –
“Now God has not only raised the
Lord, but will also raise us up through His power.”
Verse 25
The Sadducees wrongly assumed that
marriages would be resumed after the resurrection. In resurrection-life people will neither marry (contract a
marriage) nor be given in marriage (have
a marriage arranged by parents). Rather, like
the angels in heaven they will be immortal beings in God’s presence.[3]
Precisely how we will be like the
angels Jesus does not say. But the point
is that relationships in heaven will be different than relationships in this
life. That fact made the question of the
Sadducees irrelevant.
Verses 26-27
In these verses Jesus shows the
Sadducees that the resurrection of the dead is indeed taught in Scripture. He pointed them directly to the heart of the
Mosaic law, to the law upon which they claimed to base their beliefs, and
showed them where it taught the resurrection. Jesus quoted to them Exodus 3:6
where God told Moses, "I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac,
and the God of Jacob." ...then Jesus bluntly told them "He
is not the God of the dead, but of the living; you are greatly mistaken."
The logic of Jesus is obvious and
powerful. He emphasized God did not say
He was the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but He is their God. One writer
summarized the argument this way: "It
is ridiculous for God to say that he is the God of men who have no
existence. Therefore, because God says,
"I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob," they must be living, and
thus the resurrection is a reality. Or
put another way: if Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob are nothing more than dust, God cannot now, at this moment, be their
God. God is not the God of that which
has ceased to be." [Hughes, p.109]
The seed of the resurrection can
certainly be seen in the earliest parts of the Scripture. As the Scripture develops, the seed begins to
take root and sprout. And it blossoms
forth fully for all to see in the resurrection of Jesus. Then the Apostle Paul, in I. Cor.15, that
great chapter about the resurrection, looks back on the resurrection of Jesus
and points out it is the promise, the guarantee of our own resurrection.
All of that is to say that the
resurrection of the dead is a basic, fundamental biblical teaching. You cannot read the Bible and fail to see
that.
Aristides was an Athenian
philosopher who lived in the early 2nd century. He is mentioned in the writings of two
prominent early church fathers, Eusebius, known as the father of church
history, and Jerome, who translated the Bible into Latin. Aristides became a Christian and wrote of defense
of Christianity for Hadrian, the Roman Emperor.
Around 125 AD Aristides wrote to one of his friends, trying to explain
the extraordinary success of the new religion, Christianity. In his letter he
said, “If any righteous man among the Christians passes from this world,
they rejoice and offer thanks to God, and they accompany his body with songs
and thanksgiving as if he were setting out from one place to another nearby.”
[Today in the Word, April 10, 1993]
And that message of hope in the
face of death is the very heart of the gospel.
Jesus came to our world to defeat the power of death over us. That’s why Paul could write in Romans 14:8, “…if
we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore
whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.”
The good news of the gospel is that
death is not the end. After death, there
awaits for us a wonderful life. How do
we know? Because the Scripture promises
it and the power of God makes it possible!
[1]
Utley, R. J. D. (2000). Vol. Volume 2:
The Gospel according to Peter: Mark and I
& II Peter. Study Guide Commentary Series (143). Marshall, Texas: Bible
Lessons International.
[2]
Utley, R. J. D. (2000). Vol. Volume 2:
The Gospel according to Peter: Mark and I
& II Peter. Study Guide Commentary Series (145). Marshall, Texas: Bible
Lessons International.
[3]
Walvoord, J. F., Zuck, R. B., & Dallas Theological Seminary. (1985). The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An
Exposition of the Scriptures (Mk 12:25). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
