June 24th, 2012
MP3 Audio
Youtube video
Understanding the Power of God and His Word (Mark12:18-27)
A. The Sadducees' way of thinking (18-23)
Then the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him with a question. "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 have children for his brother. Now there were seven brothers. The first one married and died without leaving any children. The second one married the widow, but he also died, leaving no child. It was the same with the third. In fact, none of the seven left any children. Last of all, the woman died too. At the resurrection [23] whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?" (18-23)
1) The Sadducees
2) The faith of the Sadducees
B. Jesus' rebuttal (24-27)
Jesus replied, "Are you not in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God? When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. Now about the dead rising--have you not read in the book of Moses, in the account of the bush, how God said to him, `I am the God of Abraham, 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!" (24-27)
1) The Old Testament teaches about resurrection
2) God's power and wisdom are impossible for humans to understand perfectly
Summary The Bible does not detail everything there is to know about heaven or the resurrection of our bodies. This leads people to speculate based on our limited knowledge. How will the end happen? Who will enter heaven and who won't? These are the kinds of questions that people have thought about and for which people have come up with many different answers. What we cannot forget is that our imagination and our understanding are limited--we should not confuse the teachings of the Bible with our interpretation of the Bible. We need to be wary when people claim to have found the one true "Biblical" interpretation about a given issue. What we need to trust is the 66 books of the Bible and the power of God that is revealed through them.
For Discussion
1) What were the Sadducees' misconceptions?
2) What did Jesus mean when he said that God is the God of the living, not the dead?
A. The Sadducees' way of thinking (18-23)
Then the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him with a question. "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 have children for his brother. Now there were seven brothers. The first one married and died without leaving any children. The second one married the widow, but he also died, leaving no child. It was the same with the third. In fact, none of the seven left any children. Last of all, the woman died too. At the resurrection [23] whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?" (18-23)
1) The Sadducees
2) The faith of the Sadducees
B. Jesus' rebuttal (24-27)
Jesus replied, "Are you not in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God? When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. Now about the dead rising--have you not read in the book of Moses, in the account of the bush, how God said to him, `I am the God of Abraham, 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!" (24-27)
1) The Old Testament teaches about resurrection
2) God's power and wisdom are impossible for humans to understand perfectly
Summary The Bible does not detail everything there is to know about heaven or the resurrection of our bodies. This leads people to speculate based on our limited knowledge. How will the end happen? Who will enter heaven and who won't? These are the kinds of questions that people have thought about and for which people have come up with many different answers. What we cannot forget is that our imagination and our understanding are limited--we should not confuse the teachings of the Bible with our interpretation of the Bible. We need to be wary when people claim to have found the one true "Biblical" interpretation about a given issue. What we need to trust is the 66 books of the Bible and the power of God that is revealed through them.
For Discussion
1) What were the Sadducees' misconceptions?
2) What did Jesus mean when he said that God is the God of the living, not the dead?