The God Of The Living - Mark 12:18-27 Series

Mark 12:18 Then 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 have children for his brother. 20 Now there were seven brothers. The first one married and died without leaving any children. 21 The second one married the widow, but he also died, leaving no child. It was the same with the third. 22 In fact, none of the seven left any children. Last of all, the woman died too. 23 At the resurrection whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?" 24 Jesus replied, "Are you not in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God? 25 When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. 26 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'? 27 He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken!"

Introduction

What need do you have in your life right now that is out of your reach? It’s just simply not in your power, you don’t have control over it, but it’s important. Sometimes we run into impossible obstacles and we wish we had some kind of superpower—like Thor’s hammer or something that could go beyond normal human ability that would enable us to make circumstances change, or make people change, or some kind of way of getting out of the confining limitations of being human. Tonight we’re going to talk about a power that you can gain access to that’s kind of like Thor’s hammer, except better. But first let’s remind ourselves of the context of Mark 12.

The Mocking Question

The chief priests, the teachers of the law, and the Pharisees have all had a run at Jesus, now here come the Sadducees in v.18. These groups are like a bunch of 747’s at DIA all lined up waiting for their turn. So far Jesus has demolished everyone who came at him, now here come the Sadducees.

Sadducees

This is the only time in the book of Mark the Sadducees are mentioned. The main thing you need to know about the Sadducees is right here in verse 18.

Mark 12:18 Then the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him with a question.

The Sadducees denied the resurrection because they were annihilationists. They said when you die, your body goes into the ground and your soul, your personhood is annihilated. You just simply go out of existence. There’s no afterlife, no judgment day. Whatever happens in this life is what happens, then it’s over.

Moses

These are rich, powerful, influential aristocrats. And they were also brutal, vicious, dangerous men. But just like the Pharisees and Herodians, they approach Jesus with a bogus respectful greeting. And then they quote Moses. 19 "Teacher," they said, "Moses wrote for us They 1`quote Moses because they only accepted the books of Moses as authoritative. If a doctrine couldn’t be found in the first 5 books of the Bible, they didn’t accept it. You might have heard of people who are Jesus-only, or Paul-only; the Sadducees were Moses-only.

And so it was hard to convince a Sadducee that resurrection was real because all the verses in the OT that talk about resurrection are in the later books. So they rejected the idea because Moses never mentioned it. At least, that might have been their excuse. Jesus is going to tell us the real reason they didn’t believe. But before we get to that, let’s watch them take their stab at stumping Jesus.

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 have children for his brother.

That’s a law out of Deuteronomy 25. Your brother dies without having a son to carry on your brother’s name, and you’re single, you need to step in, marry the widow, and your first son will carry your brother’s name.

The Crazy Scenario

Now here comes their crazy scenario.

20 Now there were seven brothers. The first one married and died without leaving any children. 21 The second one married the widow, but he also died, leaving no child. It was the same with the third. 22 In fact, none of the seven left any children.

This is the musical that never really caught on—one bride for 7 brothers. So they come up with this goofy scenario and then get to the punchline. (And you can almost hear them snickering.)