Mark 12:18-27 “Tuesday—God of the Living”
INTRODUCTION
For the past couple of weeks, the world has been enjoying the competition of the Winter Olympics. There have been some close competitions. A few major upsets, like the United States hockey team defeating Canada have occurred along with a few life changing disqualifications. All in all, the competition has been intense and the tension almost palpable.
A similar tension pervades our gospel story. For three days, Jesus has condemned the temple system and the religious leadership. He has done this by his triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Sunday, his overturning the tables of the temple money changers on Monday, and his parable about the wicked tenants, which was against the scribes and Pharisees. Now the religious leaders strike back. They try to trap him by asking if it is lawful to pay taxes to Caesar. Jesus cleverly evades the trap. The Sadducees take up the attack next, asking Jesus about the resurrection—an event in which they did not believe.
LOGIC VERSUS FAITH
The Sadducees were a powerful group of Jewish leaders. They controlled the Jewish court system. They didn’t have a lot of the legalistic hang-ups that the Pharisees did. They readily adopted the Greek and Roman customs. Skepticism was at the heart of their religion. They only believed that the first five books of the Bible were inspired. The wisdom literature and prophets were not. They did not believe in angels, or heaven, or hell, or an afterlife. They stressed logic and empiricism, while downplaying faith.
In many ways the Sadducees reflect some of our struggles. Faith was not their strong suite. Angels were a myth to them and not heavenly beings. They did not believe in the resurrection, so the only thing they had was their physical lives. This narrow perspective on life allowed them to focus on wealth, material possessions and comfort.
When we are truly honest with ourselves, we must confess that we have struggles with items of faith. Evolution sounds more sensible and can be backed up by science, as opposed to a literal seven days of creation. The miracles of Jesus are a bit of a stretch of the imagination. Jesus probably inspired people to share their meals with others at the feeding of the five thousand, and the exorcisms and healings can be explained logically, empirically, and scientifically. A person doesn’t need to believe they were the result of some supernatural act of God.
We certainly fall into the trap of being more concerned about this world instead of the next. We store up as much wealth as we can and struggle with the idea of sharing. We worry about our jobs, families, health and scores of other physical things. With our focus on the things of this world we neglect such things as prayer, reading the Bible devotionally, and living as people of faith.
RELATIONSHIPS AND NOT RELIGION
Jesus levels harsh words at the Sadducees. “You are mistaken,” Jesus tells the Sadducees. He uses a strong word for “mistaken.” It’s not, “you’re just a little off track.” Rather it is closer to meaning, “You are completely wrong. You are headed in the opposite direction from reality. You are so messed up you don’t know up from down and left from right.”
Jesus continues his criticism, “You know neither the scriptures nor the power of God. For people who were supposed to be religious leaders this is a stinging criticism. But, Jesus’ words were accurate.
The Sadducees thought that the Bible was a bunch of commandments to obey mixed in with some ideas to debate, some myths, and a few theological principles in which people needed to believe. Their selfcenterness and closed mindedness blinded them to the truth that the Bible is a book about love.
The Bible tells about a God who creates in love. It has stories of the faith in which God can be seen walking with his people providing for them and protecting them—because of his love for them. The New Testament tells about a God who loved the people of his world so much that he sent his son to suffer and die for them. And because of God’s love, Jesus was raised from the dead and we have new life.
The Bible is about a God who yearns for us to do more than believe in several theological articles, or accomplish a number of religious rituals. The Bible is about a God who loves you and me, and who wants us to respond to his love in love.
The Sadducees were also blind to God’s power at work in the world. They didn’t see God changing lives, or granting a person peace in the middle of conflict. They didn’t credit God with birthing good out of bad and life from death. And, they didn’t see hope, love, and forgiveness as gifts from God.
LIFE VERSUS DEATH
The Sadducees ask Jesus a ridiculous question. It ranks right up there with, “Did Adam have a navel?” It wasn’t even original—and it had been answered. Religious writings had declared that the woman, in such a situation, would always be understood to be the wife of her first husband.
Jesus seizes the Sadducees question and makes it a teaching opportunity. He asserts that the resurrection is real and that there is life after death. He also points out that in the story of Moses and the burning bush that God proclaims him to be the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God is the God of the living and not of the dead.
While stressing the reality of the afterlife, Jesus also points out that God is the God of those who live on this side of death, also. While walking this earth, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were men of faith, who worship this God of the living.
Paging through the pages of the New Testament, we soon realize that Jesus said much, much more about life on earth than he did about heaven. Jesus doesn’t want us to believe in him simply to be saved and go to heaven. Jesus wants us to be his followers. He desires to be our teacher and our master. Jesus wants us to live in his power in this life, and to use our lives to spread the kingdom of God to the people around us.
CONCLUSION
Truly, God is God today. God is God in the midst of our economic recovery, the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the 2010 Winter Olympics. God is God here in Surprise and in Desert Streams. God is God of our lives—guiding us, equipping us for service, comforting in our needs and embracing us with his love and grace.
Amen
