The God of the Living
Text: Mark 12:18-27
Core Idea: Through Jesus Christ, the best for us is yet to come – the life we know now is only a dim and faint analogy for what the resurrection life will be like. This is possible because our God is not the God of the dead but of the living. Then may the reality of the resurrection transform not only our future life but our lives today.
INTRODUCTION
Thank you, Min, for sharing your story with us – and reminding us of the beauty of doing life together. Now, I wonder if some of you feel similar to Min – life feels like a battlefield; you want to run away from your responsibilities; you want to be alone – away from others. If this is you, remember that God hasn’t forsaken you. I know this because you are still here – it’s not a coincidence that you’re here. Then my prayer is that you’ll experience the love of God through the love of this community. Let us carry that burden with you. May we learn to stand side by side – striving together to love God and live a life worthy of the gospel.
In fact, that was the theme of our retreat. It was really good spending the weekend together with the people we love. I feel like something happened that brought us closer to one another – which is why, for those of you who couldn’t join us, we missed you so much. Hopefully, you’ll be able to join next time. I’ll just share this: one of the things I said was that we retreat in order to advance – that’s what Christian retreats are all about. God works in us so that He can continue to work through us. We come together in order to be scattered. Then I pray that the conviction we felt through the Word at the retreat won’t be wasted – but that all of us will continue to be moved by the gospel, be challenged to live out the gospel, and be inspired to take the gospel to those that God has placed in our lives.
Well, we are going through the Gospel of Mark – exploring the life of Jesus. Last few weeks, we saw that Jesus has been greeted with fierce opposition from religious leaders as they brought a series of questions to publicly discredit Him while privately plotting to kill Him. The Pharisees and the Herodians brought a political question – a question on the imperial tax. A teacher of the law brought a religious question – a question on the greatest commandment. And today, we’ll see the Sadducees coming with a theological question – a question on the resurrection. So, with this in mind, let’s turn our Bibles to Mark 12:18-27. Let me read this for us.
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 raise up offspring 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 burning 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!”
Amen. This is the Word of God for you today.
Three things from this passage:
· THE SADDUCEES
· THE ASSUMPTION
· THE GOD OF THE LIVING
1) THE SADDUCEES
Let me actually spend some time sharing about the Sadducees since we’re introduced to them for the first time in the Gospel of Mark. The Sadducees were a small sect of priestly families with significant political and religious influence. They were incredibly wealthy, and they dominated the Sanhedrin (the Jewish governing body). In other words, they were one of the most powerful and respected people in Jerusalem. Now, they were the chief rivals to the Pharisees both politically and theologically. You see, unlike the Pharisees, they were supportive of Rome. Unlike the Pharisees, the Sadducees considered only the first five books of the OT (Torah) as the Word of God – which may be the reason why, unlike the Pharisees, they didn’t believe in angels and demons. And from verse 18 of our passage, we learn that they did not believe in the resurrection. They didn’t believe in the immortality of the soul or the final judgment – and this really shaped the way they lived.
Let me explain by sharing a couple of quotes. Edmond Hiebert writes, “They were rich and powerful and noted for their arrogance and harshness.” Josephus, the first-century Jewish historian, writes, “The Sadducees are even among themselves rather boorish [rude, ignorant] in their behavior, and in their interaction with their peers are as rude as to aliens.” It’s clear that these men were arrogant, disrespectful, and harsh. Their main concern was the maintenance of their privileges. They didn’t live for others – they lived for themselves, their power, and their comfort. Even though they seemed quite conservative in their theology (believing only the Torah to be from God), they were very worldly and self-centred – and I don’t think it’s a coincidence. You see, I believe that there’s a strong correlation between what they believed in and how they lived their lives. The Sadducees believed that this life was all that there was. They believed that their souls died with their bodies – that there was no ultimate judgment after the grave. As a result, there was nothing that kept them from exploiting others and there was nothing that encouraged them to live for others. So, they lived for themselves. They lived to promote their own agenda. They lived exactly the way they wanted.
Now, do you know what happened to the Sadducees? Two more quotes. Brian Duignan wrote, “Though the Sadducees were conservative in religious matters, their wealth, their haughty bearing, and their willingness to compromise with the Roman rulers aroused the hatred of the common people. As defenders of the status quo, the Sadducees viewed the ministry of Jesus with considerable alarm and apparently played some role in His trial and death. Their lives and political authority were so intimately bound up with Temple worship that after Roman legions destroyed the Temple, the Sadducees ceased to exist as a group, and mention of them quickly disappeared from history.” Mitchell Bard wrote, “The Sadducees disappeared around 70 A.D., after the destruction of the Second Temple. None of the writings of the Sadducees has survived, so the little we know about them comes from their Pharisaic opponents.” In other words, they left nothing. They contributed to nothing. And they quickly vanished from history. So much for living for themselves – living to preserve their names. It was absolutely a wasted life.
Here’s the point. You may wonder, “Is talking about the resurrection really necessary? Honestly, it just feels like the distant future. In fact, I don’t have the time to consider the future. I’m so busy just trying to get through my life every single day.” But the life of the Sadducees shows us that believing and understanding the resurrection is important because it impacts how we live our lives today. If we believe that life ends after the grave, that we’re not accountable to anyone in the afterlife, then it’s so easy for us to live for ourselves. We may live for power because we want to be in control – we like being in control. So, we’ll do anything to get that – even at the cost of others. That’s what these Sadducees did – they were notorious for abusing their power and not caring for others. Or we may live for pleasure. 1 Corinthians 15:32 describes the mindset of those who don’t believe in the resurrection: “If the dead are not raised, ‘Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.’” They were basically saying, “What’s the point of sacrificing for others, investing in others, being good to others if this life is all we have? Let’s just enjoy ourselves. What matters is that my family and I are comfortable and safe.”
In contrast, believing in the resurrection, knowing that we are accountable to Someone in the afterlife will empower us to live selflessly – live for others and His glory. We’ll be able to live more generously, more patiently, more courageously, with more love and hope all because we realize that our lives do have eternal consequences, that there’s a greater thing we can live for than our life here on earth. Then let me ask you, “What influences your choices, your lifestyle – the way you spend your money or time? Do you help people or not? Is your life generally directed to yourself and your goals or is your life directed to the things that are on the heart of God?” Jesus is reminding us that all these things can be greatly influenced by the way we think of the resurrection. The Sadducees didn’t – and their lives reflected their belief. What about you?
2) THE ASSUMPTION
In our passage, the Sadducees approached Jesus with a carefully crafted scenario followed by a question. Now, they weren’t coming to Jesus because they were sincerely curious, because they really wanted to learn – no, they came to trap Him, oppose Him, and humiliate Him. They were looking for a way to demonstrate their superiority over Jesus. Remember – they didn’t believe in the resurrection. So, for them to bring a question on the resurrection was either to convince Jesus to side with them or ridicule Him for His belief. No wonder their words were dripping with condescension, sarcasm, and hatred. Now, they began by citing the OT law. Verse 19, “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 raise up offspring for his brother.” This was an actual law recorded in Deuteronomy 25:5-6. It’s true that this law may seem strange to us, but it was designed to do at least two things. First, it was designed to protect the widows. In general, inheritance in Israel was transferred through male descendants – which meant that if you were a widow, you couldn’t receive anything. You were, in one sense, cut off from the family. So, God instituted this law to force the family to take care of her. Secondly, it was also for the continuation of the family line. In their culture, to have their family line cut off because of no children meant worse than death. It meant that they were cursed. So, this law was instituted to preserve the family name. This law displayed God’s love for His people.
But the Sadducees weaponized this law to trap Jesus, corner Jesus, silence Jesus. Here’s how they did it: they posed this bizarre but tragic story where seven brothers died, in succession, after each marrying this woman. And in the end, even the wife died – leaving no children. Absolutely heartbreaking. Yet using this hypothetical situation, they asked Jesus in verse 23, “At the resurrection, whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?” This was their logic: “She had seven husbands in this life – then how can she have only one in the afterlife? It doesn’t make sense. The idea of resurrection is absurd because it leads to ridiculously complex situations.” They must have thought that they’ve got Him. He was trapped.
Then imagine their surprise when they heard Jesus respond in verse 24, “Are you not in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God?” They were the experts in the Scriptures. And yet Jesus had the audacity to tell them that they were wrong – that they didn’t know the Scriptures or the power of God. But this was true. Remember, the Sadducees didn’t believe in all of the Bible – they only believed in the first five books. In other words, they picked and chose what would be considered the Word of God. And because they thought that their “Scripture” didn’t speak about the resurrection, they were quick to deny the reality of the afterlife. This was the first assumption they made: that there was no resurrection. But Jesus quickly dismissed that by saying in verse 25, “When the dead rise,” not “If the dead rise” – implying that the resurrection is a reality for all.
There’s an important lesson for us to learn here: misunderstanding the Scriptures, picking and choosing what you consider to be God’s Word will inevitably lead to a distorted view of God and our theology (like the resurrection) – and the implication is that it will also lead to a compromised life. Think about it. The reason why these Sadducees wasted their lives wasn’t because they were uneducated, because they didn’t have enough money, or because they didn’t have family prestige. Their root problem was the fact that the Scripture was dead to them, and they had never truly experienced the power of God in their lives. And Jesus was telling them, “Unless you have these two things, you’ll continue to live this way. The change will not come apart from the Word and His power.” You see, when we desire change, we say something like this: “I need more money. I need more education. I need better friends. I need a perfect body. I need better connections. I need this and that.” But Jesus is telling us that if we want to experience true transformation, it won’t happen apart from the Word and His power. Then let me ask you, “Do you believe that everything written in the Bible is the very Word of God or do you pick and choose what fits your desire, ambition, and belief system? More importantly, do you cherish and treasure everything in the Word or do you choose to ignore certain parts for your comfort, to maintain that status quo in your life?” Brothers and sisters, if you want to grow, if you want to change, you must let God speak to you the way He desires – not pick and choose what you want to hear. You need His Word. You need His power.
Now, listen to what Jesus said in verse 25, “When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven.” Here, Jesus corrected their second assumption: that the resurrection was a continuation of life as they knew it. In many ways, this is how we think of the resurrection life as well. We think that after death, we’ll enter through a passage that will lead us to a world that seems very similar to our world here – the only difference would be that it’ll just go on forever. This is exactly why the Sadducees asked the question about the seven brothers. But Jesus was telling them that their assumption was wrong. The resurrected life wasn’t just a prolonged form of one’s earthly existence. No, the resurrected life was going to be an entirely new existence – an entirely new order. As an example, He shared that there will be no marriage relationship in heaven – and that we’ll become “like angels.” Note that He didn’t say we’ll become angels but that we’ll be like angels – probably in the sense that we’ll no longer procreate or die.
As a pastor, I have the privilege of officiating weddings – and the best part of this is that I get to have the best seat in the house. I can see everything. I can see the bride coming in. I can see the groom’s reaction. I can see the bride being given away. I can see the taking of the vows – the exchange of rings. I can see the bride and groom walk down the aisle together to begin a new life. The smiles, the tears of joy. As much as all of this is so beautiful, Jesus is reminding us that every wedding is a pointer to a greater wedding. You see, marriage and all that it entails (the friendship, the sense of being intimately known by another, experiencing this deeply satisfying love) – everything about marriage is really to prepare us for the moment when the heavenly Bridegroom will be united with His bride, the Church. I know – you’re extremely disappointed that you won’t be married to your spouse in heaven. It’s just unthinkable that you won’t be with your spouse because that’s how much you love your spouse. (Well, I pray that that’s how everyone here is thinking.) But Jesus is telling us that there won’t be any disappointment in heaven because whatever joy we’re experiencing in this life is just a small foretaste of the joy to come. We’ll all be experiencing the life that no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no heart could ever imagine – it’s the life that God has wisely prepared for those who love Him. Brothers and sisters, heaven is not primarily about reuniting with loved ones – though that’s definitely part of it. Heaven is first about the unceasing worship of the Lamb of God. Revelation 7:9-10 says, “There before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: ‘Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” The resurrection is real – and the life there will be greater than we could ever imagine.
3) THE GOD OF THE LIVING
Verse 26, “Now about the dead rising – have you not read in the Book of Moses, in the account of the burning bush, how God said to him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’?” Now, Jesus recognized that the Sadducees didn’t just misunderstand what heaven was like, but they also misunderstood who God was like. So, Jesus taught them something about God (and how that relates to the reality of the resurrection) by quoting Moses of all people. Remember the Sadducees rejected all but the first five books of the Bible (all written by Moses). Jesus intentionally turned to Moses so that they wouldn’t have any excuses. The part that Jesus quoted was from Exodus 3:6. This is the context: Israel, God’s people, was enslaved to Egypt and they were crying out for deliverance. And this is where God spoke to Moses from a burning bush to call him to lead the Israelites out of slavery, into the Promised Land. Now, in their conversation, He described Himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – and that was what Jesus wanted to point out to the Sadducees. Remember that Exodus 3 happened hundreds of years after these patriarchs died. And yet God didn’t say, “I was the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,” which would be appropriate if they were already dead. But instead, He said, “I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” because they were still living. God was implying that His relationship with them was still vital, still unbreakable, still secure – verse 27, “He is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”
One of the most tragic and heart-wrenching words that you’ll ever hear in the context of a relationship is, “I was” – “I was married. I was a father. I was a mother. I was a son. I was a daughter. I was a friend.” When someone talks about relationships this way, what it suggests is that what once was is now no longer – maybe because of an untimely death, a broken relationship, or a violated trust. But look at what God said. Even though Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had died, even though their bodies were in the grave, He said, “I AM still their God. Our relationship has never expired. Death did not terminate My relationship with them. Our relationship is still secure.” Now, how is this possible? Death did crush them to the grave. Then how are they living? Notice that this promise of the resurrection, the fact that they were still living, had nothing to do with Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob. It had nothing to do with their faithfulness, what they did for God, what they accomplished or failed to accomplish. You see, the promise of the resurrection was never based on them – the promise of the resurrection was always found upon the God who is the great I AM. He defeated the grave and He made the resurrection possible for them. Their hope rested in the power of God.
Then how did God do this? How did He defeat the grave for sinners like you and me? You see, in Exodus 3, God described Himself as “I AM” to show His eternality – that He is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. But did you know that this is the exact same language that Jesus used to describe Himself? In the Gospel of John, there’s a series of sayings that are called the “I AM” sayings. Seven times, Jesus referred to Himself as “I AM” – I AM the Bread of Life (Jn. 6:35), the Light of the world (Jn. 8:12), the Door (Jn. 10:7), the Good Shepherd (Jn. 10:11), the Resurrection and the Life (Jn. 11:25), the Way, the Truth, and the Life (Jn. 14:6), and lastly, the True Vine (Jn. 15:1). But what we see in the Bible is that even though Jesus was the Bread of Life, He was the One whose body was broken and torn apart like bread. Though He was the Light of the world, at His death, darkness came over the land. Because He was the Good Shepherd, He was the One who laid down His life for His sheep. Though He was the Resurrection and the Life, He died on the cross and was cast into the grave – and He did all this so that you and I can have life, so that we can have victory over death, so that we can be resurrected all through Him. This is how God defeated the grave for us: Jesus Christ bore the death that you and I should’ve received and rose from the grave so that we may live forever with our God.
Then what does this mean for us? First, let me speak to our non-Christian friends. Jesus clearly teaches us that the afterlife is real. All of us without exception will be resurrected because we are eternal beings made to live forever. Then the question is, “Will you live forever in the fullness of God’s glory or in the fullness of God’s justice, His wrath?” R.A. Finlayson said, “Hell is eternity in the presence of God. Heaven is eternity in the presence of God with a Mediator.” Friends, do you have a Mediator? If you don’t, you can receive Him today – His name is Jesus Christ. Give your life to Him today. He will give you life and life to the full.
Second, let me speak to my Christian brothers and sisters. Jesus reminds us that when He enters a relationship with you, He’ll be with you forever. Do you truly believe that – that He will never abandon you? Then let that truth comfort you, help you to be courageous, and change how you live every single day. You are not forgotten. Think of it this way: the doctrine of the resurrection is ultimately the doctrine of hope. J.I. Packer said, “Optimism is a wish without warrant; Christian hope is a certainty, guaranteed by God Himself. Optimism reflects ignorance as to whether good things will ever actually come. Christian hope expresses knowledge that every day of his life, and every moment beyond it, the believer can say with truth, on the basis of God's own commitment, that the best is yet to come.”
CONCLUSION
Lighthouse family, through Jesus Christ, the best for us is yet to come – the life we know now is only a dim and faint analogy for what the resurrection life will be like. And this is possible because our God is not the God of the dead but of the living. This is possible because Jesus died but was raised to life. Then may the reality of the resurrection transform not only our future life but our lives today.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1) How can the belief in the resurrection change how we live and why we live today? How can the belief in the resurrection give you hope in your pain?
2) How can our misunderstanding of the Scriptures lead to a distorted view of God and our theology – and ultimately to a compromised life?
3) Jesus said in verse 27, “He is not the God of the dead, but of the living.” How can this give you hope today? Spend some time praying for each other.