And Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection. And they asked him a question, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies and leaves a wife, but leaves no child, the man must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. There were seven brothers; the first took a wife, and when he died left no offspring. And the second took her, and died, leaving no offspring. And the third likewise. And the seven left no offspring. Last of all the woman also died. In the resurrection, when they rise again, whose wife will she be? For the seven had her as wife.”
Jesus said to them, “Is this not the reason you are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God? For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. And as for the dead being raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not God of the dead, but of the living. You are quite wrong.”
Another day, another test for the Son of God at the hands of a different group of religious people. The debate between the Pharisees and the Sadducees reminds me about the ones I frequently witness online between Calvinists and Armenians. Each group is entrenched in their own intellectual theological understanding of the scriptures. I wonder if Jesus would also say to them "you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God"?
The phrase "He is not God of the dead, but of the living" speaks to us of the nature of those who have been born of the Spirit. In truth, Jesus is sovereign over all of the universe, but in reality He is God of those who have been born again and are spiritually alive. Reminds me of how Paul, the apostle, instructs us to "consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus". Speaks much to me of why the world is the way that it is.
Help me Lord to live today as one who is spiritually alive.
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Great post, as always Bob. I am making a stab at getting back to participating on a daily basis here in blogland. Both in posting and reading others posts and you have always been a "must read" for me.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year dear friend to you and your precious wife.