By Randall L. Broad
Read: Numbers 4-5:31; Mark
12:18-37; Psalm 48:1-14; Proverbs 10:26
Today’s in the Gospel of Mark we
find a revealing encounter between Jesus and some teachers of the law.
In the first part the exchange
takes place between Jesus and the Sadducees who came to him with a question.
18Then the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him with a
question. 19“Teacher,” they said, “Moses wrote for us that if a
man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the
widow and raise up offspring for his brother. 20Now there were seven
brothers. The first one married and died without leaving any children. 21The
second one married the widow, but he also died, leaving no child. It was the
same with the third. 22In fact, none of the seven left any children.
Last of all, the woman died too. 23At the resurrection whose wife
will she be, since the seven were married to her?”
24Jesus replied, “Are you not in error because you do not know the
Scriptures or the power of God? 25When the dead rise, they will
neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven.
26Now about the dead rising—have you not read in the Book of Moses,
in the account of the burning bush, how God said to him, ‘I am the God of
Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? 27He is not the
God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken!”
Mark 12:18-27
The Sadducees who were the ruling
faction in the Temple were clearly testing Jesus on this day–they didn’t even
believe in resurrection (v. 18) but they knew he did. So they asked his
interpretation of a complicated Jewish law and added element to the question
that would force Him to say something they could dispute or use to prove Him
wrong (vv. 19-23). As was their practice they wanted Jesus to respond in a way
that was revolutionary or seditious. But as he always does throughout the
gospels, he deflects their question back to God, ignoring their traditional
interpretation of the law, and relies upon His knowledge of the Kingdom. By the
time of Jesus, the Sadducees were the supreme authority in the Jewish community
and they adhered to a strict interpretation of the Torah. Their order held
sacred the piousness of the law and they maintained power through the politics
of their religion which had become entrenched in the Temple and the office of
the High Priest. In the Book of Acts, Stephen would criticize them for this arrogance
and they would murder him for it.
51“You
stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just
like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit! 52Was there
ever a prophet your ancestors did not persecute? They even killed those who
predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and
murdered him— 53you who have received the law that was given through
angels but have not obeyed it.”
Acts 7:51-53
The Sadducees were unable to see
beyond the law and their own piousness; they believed their legal understanding
to be greater than all others. In an effort to prove this superiority over
Jesus they ask Him an implausible question. The premise was that she was
married to all seven brothers and she had fulfilled the law while she lived yet
at the resurrection whose wife will she
be? Their question goes into the realm of the spiritual where the Sadducees
had no experience or understanding; even the Pharisees who did believe in
resurrection could understand the idea only in theory. So Jesus answers their
question with another that is often difficult to understand because of the use
of the double negative. But what Jesus is really saying is you are in error
because you do not know either the
Scriptures or the power of God (v. 24).
Jesus understanding of
resurrection came from both Scripture and the power of God (v. 24). His answer
to their question reveals something to us about heaven; when we are resurrected
there will be no marriage but rather all will be like the angels in heaven (v. 25). It also includes a reference
to scripture–to rebuke the Sadducees disbelief in resurrection. He uses the
Book of Moses and the words of His Father at the burning bush: ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac,
and the God of Jacob’ (v. 26). The
Sadducees were fully aware all three Patriarchs had gone to be with the
ancestors long before Moses stood at the burning bush, yet all three were
important in the covenant of God the Sadducees believed they represented. Jesus
implies that if the Sadducees are correct and there was no resurrection than
all three were eternally dead. But Jesus in His understanding of scripture and
knowledge of the power of God knows this is wrong; He is not the God of the dead, but of the living (vv. 27).
Both of these arguments admonish the
Sadducees practices and beliefs.
The narrative continues as one of
the teachers of the law understands the answer Jesus gives and so he follows
the first question with another.
28One of the teachers of the law came and heard them
debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of
all the commandments, which is the most important?”
29“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this:
‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30Love the Lord
your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and
with all your strength.’ 31The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor
as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
32“Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are
right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. 33To
love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your
strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all
burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
34When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said
to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And from then on no one
dared ask him any more questions.
Mark 12:28-34
The teacher of the Law follows up
with the question what is the greatest commandment–Jesus gives him two. The
first is to love God and the second is to love your neighbor (vv. 29-31). So the
teacher of the law compliments Jesus on his answer (v. 32) because both
understood the command to love God and your neighbor was the most important commandment
found in the Old Testament. We know of the two only Jesus had a pure heart, a
good conscience, and sincere faith–only He has ever been able to love so
completely as to fulfill these commandments. Far too often the religious
leaders of their day and ours do not practice those two types of love. We know
the scribe was a learned man, but was his love for God in his heart or his mind?
And what about his neighbor–was his love toward humanity a love for people or
for the law? Jesus recognizes how much the man understood, but still
tells him he is “not far” from the
Kingdom–implying that something is still missing.
The thing that was missing for the
Sadducees and the teachers of the law was their love for people and for God. Their
love was strictly for the law, there was nothing spiritual about it. Yet there
is great power in God's spiritual love. In His love you will find more than
understanding which you can obtain from knowing the law as the scribe did.
God’s love gives us spiritual strength that surpasses anything you could hope
for in or of the world. The apostle Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 1:5 … [Love] comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Notice
at the end of the passage even the teacher of the law has to admit To love
him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your
strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all
burnt offerings and sacrifices (v. 33). The key to this part of the narrative is the phrase more important
than all burnt offerings and sacrifices; in other words God’s love and our
relationship with him are more important than any ritual sacrifice or law.
And
now that Jesus has gotten them to admit this from then on no one dared ask
him any more questions (v.34).
Walk with the Lord …
Ephesians 1:17-23
(RLB250305)
© Copyright 2020: Randall L. Broad
Disclaimer: This commentary is written by Randall L. Broad. It is in no way affiliated with or represents any denomination, university, church, or pastor. Any errors or omissions are purely my responsibility.
