Mark 12:18-27
Well today is another unique day for us. It is the 5th Sunday of October, so we have all of our kids in here with us today. I’m also really excited for our Trunk or Treat tonight! We’ll be praying that the Lord brings families that need the hope of Jesus. Going to be a really fun night.
It is Tuesday of Holy Week, and Jesus is in Jerusalem being bombarded by the prominent religious leaders. The goal is to trap Jesus and discredit Him, effectively turning the crowds away from Him. In round 1, the Sanhedrin come to Jesus and challenge His authority. He turns the question back on them, silencing their attempt, and sending them on their way. Round 2, it’s the Pharisees and Herodians turn. They hate each other, but both want to be rid of Jesus, so they band together to ask Jesus a question about paying taxes to Caesar. “Is it lawful” they ask? Jesus silences them by proving submission to government and God is possible with the right perspective. As they are left marveling, a 3rd group shows up. Round 3. And this is where we are this morning.
Before we read, we need to understand the group that now approaches Jesus. The Sadducees were a small group of religious leaders that had great political influence in the Jewish community. They were sympathetic to Herod and in turn to Rome, and their beliefs were far different than the Pharisees.
Did not believe in the sovereignty of God, but in free will alone.
Did not believe in angels and demons
Only accepted the written Torah (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy - book of Moses) as Scripture
Did not believe in life after death. They believed that the soul died with the body.
This last one is the most important to our text this morning. Let’s read together and take a look at their attempt at discrediting the teaching of Jesus.
Big Idea: There will be a future resurrection for all who believe in Jesus.
Read Mark 12:18-23
This question is what is known as Reductio ad absurdum, which is Latin for “reduction to absurdity.” The definition of this form of argument is “an attempt either to disprove a statement by showing it inevitably leads to a ridiculous, absurd, or impractical conclusion.” This question most likely would have been one that the Sadducees had used many times before when arguing with the Pharisees, and they thought for sure it would lead him into a corner.
The foundation of the question comes from Deuteronomy 25:5-6. This is one of the books that they held up as authoritative and true. For the sake of the young ears that are with us this morning, I’m going to read the Message translation, but you will all get the idea:
“When brothers are living together and one of them dies without having had a son, the widow of the dead brother shall not marry a stranger from outside the family; her husband’s brother is to come to her and marry her and do the brother-in-law’s duty by her. The first son that she bears shall be named after her dead husband so his name won’t die out in Israel.”
So this was a common practice in Israel as laid out by Jewish law. Of course the Sadducees took this to an extreme to try and prove their point, but Jesus is ready for their attempt also.
Read Mark 12:24-27
You can almost hear Jesus growing a bit tired at this point. “You are wrong because you don’t know the Scriptures or the power of God. Have you not read in the book of Moses? The one authoritative work that you will actually accept? You are quite wrong.”
And he proves that they are wrong in 2 different ways.
You Don’t Know the Scriptures
You Don’t Know the Power of God
These Scriptures that you claim to believe and follow, you don’t even understand them! You preach what fits your beliefs, but your beliefs aren’t rooted in the truth! What a slap in the face this must have been! And, you haven’t experienced the power of God in your life. You don’t experientially know what He is capable of!
And then Jesus gives us a bit of insight into what life will be like in eternity with Jesus. First though, I want to look at the end of the passage. We see a truth that everything else revolves around.
1.. The Resurrection is Real (26-27)
We have to go back to the story of Moses and God speaking to Him in the burning bush. (Kids, can someone tell me what God told Moses?) So God is speaking to Moses, and He says “I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Let me ask you another question. Was Abraham alive before Moses? Was Isaac alive before Moses? Was Jacob alive before Moses? When God was talking to Moses, were all 3 of them already dead? Right, and God doesn’t say “I WAS the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” He says “I AM the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. I am presently their God.” The implication of course is that they are alive! Their bodies are dead but they are more alive than they have ever been, and they are currently in the presence of God.
So Jesus uses the book of Moses to prove the exact thing that they are trying to disprove from the book of Moses! “You Sadducees don’t know the Scriptures!”
We can be assured that this is true. We see evidence of life after death all throughout the Scriptures.
On the mount of Transfiguration, Moses and Elijah stand there with Jesus. They have been dead a long time, but yet there they stand.
Matthew 6:19-21 - Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Luke 23:42-43 - And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
2 Corinthians 5:8 - Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.
Philippians 1:21-23 - For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.
There are so many other passages in Scripture that speak to the reality of a future resurrection. Go to the book of Revelation and you’ll see so much about a future eternity, about a new heaven and a new Earth. Jesus tells us 2 specific truths about heaven in our passage this morning.
2.. We Will Not Be Married (25a)
While this is very clear from Jesus, it does raise some questions. One I think that has created much conversation is, will I know people in heaven that I had relationships with here? Will I know my wife? My kids? My parents? Obviously relationships will be very different then, but we have a clue from Jesus in Luke 16.
Luke 16:27-28 - Jesus tells the story of a rich man and Lazarus. They both died, and Lazarus went to heaven, and the rich man went to Hades. While there, the rich man has a conversation with Abraham, and here’s what he says: “And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house— for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’” The implication would be that this man in the afterlife knows about his father and his brothers.
3.. We Will Be “Like” Angels (25b)
This doesn’t mean that we will be floating around with wings and a harp like is sometimes depicted. What it does mean is that we will be eternal beings like the angels.
And while Jesus gives us these truths here in our text this morning, we see so much more throughout Scripture. I’m going to share just a few from a long list of passages, but before I do, I thought this quote would be appropriate:
“Present earthly experience is entirely insufficient to forecast divine heavenly realities: we can no more imagine heavenly existence than an infant in utero can imagine a Beethoven piano concerto or the Grand Canyon at sunset.”
Heaven is described as a glorious city - Rev. 21:11, 18
Heaven will shine with and be lit by God’s glory - Rev. 21:11, 23
Heaven has the throne of God at its center - Rev. 4:2
Heaven is beautiful - Psalm 50:2
Heaven is perfect - 1 Cor. 13:10
Heaven is joyful - Psalm 16:11
Heaven has no night - Rev. 21:25
Heaven is filled with singing - Isaiah 44:23, Rev. 14:3
Bodies?
They will be recognizable - 1 Cor. 13:12
They will be glorified like Christ’s - 1 John 3:2
They will be eternal - 2 Cor. 5:1-5
They will not have pain - Rev. 21:4
They will not hunger or thirst - Rev. 7:16
They will not sin - Rev. 21:27
We have so much to look forward to. We have so much to get excited about. Jesus assures us that our future resurrection is real, that we will one day dwell in the house of the Lord, forever.
