Resurrection And Revelation Series

Theological debates have baffled people as long as there have been humans on the earth.

Adam and Eve wrestled with the Sovereignty and goodness of God and the Volition of Humans as they listened to the serpent and ate of the forbidden fruit (Gen. 3)

Cain faced the balance between grace and justice (Gen. 4)

The Israelites in the exile battled between the uniqueness of the One true God and worshipping the gods of their neighbors.

In the early church, they faced a dilemma between which Jewish laws Gentiles should follow and which ones were allowed to be overlooked.

Early Christians battled over the nature of Jesus - whether He was divine or simply blessed - the Nicene and Apostles creeds came out of that debate.

In the passage we’re considering today, we come face to face with the eternal nature of the soul and the identity of the Christ.

If you have your Bibles, open them to Luke 20:27-45. You’ll find that on p. 838 of the new pew bibles.

While you’re turning there, I want to give us a little bit of background. Up to this point in the book of Luke, we’ve encountered two different groups of Jewish leaders - the Pharisees and the Scribes. They are generally two of the three groups that make up the Jewish ruling council called the Sanhedrin. Some theologians believe that the earliest iterations of this ruling council came in the days of Moses when there were Elders appointed from each of the tribes to help him lead the people of Israel through the Exodus. (Num. 11:16-24). Through much of Israel’s history, there was another faction of religious leaders called The Sadducees.

The Sadducees

Part of the Sanhedrin

Recognized the Pentateuch - the first five books as being authoritative, therefore denying the teaching of the other books.

they seem to deny the oral traditions, predestination, immortality of the soul, bodily resurrection, and angels (Strauss)

They were priests, like the Pharisees, but formed an aristocratic faction. (Cox) In other words, their positions on the council were passed more along family lines than on calling or merit.

While they were the primary part of the council in the early days, they were essentially ousted from any significant power after the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70.

Even though they made up a part of the Sanhedrin, they are mentioned here in the book of Luke for the first time.

You may be thinking, what’s the big deal? Why should we know about these different groups? Why should we care about groups that no longer matter to us?

First of all, I think we should understand some of their distinctives because come in to play in Jesus’ life and in the lives of the early founders of the church. If you’d like to see a rather comical exchange, check out Acts 23. When Paul recognizes that some of his audience are Sadducees and some are Pharisees, he plays off of their differences in order to diffuse the situation.

Secondly, they are noted in Scripture. We should seek to understand what makes various people and groups distinct in order to understand Scripture more fully and to understand how we might deal with similar people in our day.

Some people have said the Sadducees are “sad you see” because they don’t believe in the resurrection. They believe that all of life is encountered in the here and now. When someone goes to the grave - that’s it! There is no eternity. There is no heaven. There is no hell. There’s nothing. I think that part of the reason they are considered a bit “aristocratic” is that their M.O. is to make the most of this life - for their good and for God’s, and then die. They might resonate with the bumper sticker from the last century - “the one who dies with the most toys wins.” They might add something about doing good for God and for humanity, but for them, all of life is measured in length of days and breath of life.

So, with this in mind, this group of ruling leaders approach Jesus with a theoretical situation about the resurrection (because of course, they don’t believe in it).

Their question brings us to the first point in our outline….

Challenge of Faith (27-33)

There are times when we come to various doctrines of the faith that collide with our own preconceived ideas.

gender - what is a woman? what is a man?

Exclusivity of Christ - is he the only way?

the Sovereignty of God - if God is sovereign, then do I have any choice? It seems like I do, but how can God account for that?

Is God all knowing?

Those questions may just scratch the surface for many of us.