Mark 12:18-34 - The resurrection of the dead and the most important commandment
19/2/23
Preach
Scripture
Questions
A question about marriage and the resurrection
18 And Sadducees—who say there is no resurrection—came up to him…
Where is this conversation taking place? Please remember this as you read. Switch on your imagination and imagine the scene.
First the disciples, then the Pharisees, now the Sadducees. Who were the Sadducees?
Josephus identifies the Sadducees as one of the major varieties of Judaism1 which came into existence during the Maccabean period. In JW 2 §162 he refers to the Sadducees’ rejection of the concept of fate and their acceptance of the idea of man’s free will. He implies that they held these ideas so that God could not be held responsible for evil. Furthermore, the Sadducees did not believe that the soul continued to exist after death or that people suffered punishments or received rewards after they died.2
…there is a tendency to compare the Sadducees to Liberals, in modern western Christianity, and the Pharisees as the Conservatives. Rather, the Sadducees were very conservative with strict observance of Torah as interpreted by their rabbis. The Pharisees permitted and had an expectation of dreams and visions and apocalypses.
…and began to ask him, saying, 19 “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if someone’s brother dies and he leaves behind a wife and does not leave a child, that his brother should take the wife and father descendants for his brother.
This law was given by Moses to the generation who were about to enter the Promised Land [Deuteronomy 25:5-10]. What is its significance in that context3?
20 There were seven brothers, and the first took a wife. And when he* died, he did not leave descendants. 21 And the second took her, and he died without leaving descendants. And the third likewise. 22 And the seven did not leave descendants. Last of all the woman also died. 23 In the resurrection, when they rise, whose wife will she be? For the seven had her as wife.
Is this a sincere question on the part of the Sadducees?
24 Jesus said to them, “Are you not deceived because of this, because you do not know the scriptures or the power of God?
This was a very offensive statement to make against the Sadducees as they prided themselves in their knowledge of Torah. Because they do not understand the Torah they do not understand the power of God. Jesus is equating the two.
How has your understanding of the power of God grown through your knowledge of scripture? Give specific examples.
25 For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.
Read Hebrews 2:5-8. Jesus was lower than the angels as he lived on earth. What is his status now? What is the final state of those who believe [1 Corinthians 6:3]?
26 Now concerning the dead, that they are 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’? 27 He is not God of the dead, but of the living. You are very much mistaken!”
V26 is a quote of Exodus 3:6. What is Jesus’ argument?
The greatest commandment
28 And one of the scribes came up and heard them debating. When he saw that he answered them well…
The scribe is likely a Pharisee as he appreciates Jesus’ taking down of the Sadducees.
…he asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?”
This was a common debate amongst the rabbis so it is likely a respectful enquiry.
29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Listen, Israel! The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God from your whole heart and from your whole soul and from your whole mind and from your whole strength.’
Do you recognise this verse?4
31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 32 And the scribe said to him, “That is true, Teacher. You have said correctly that he is one and there is no other except him. 33 And to love him from your whole heart and from your whole understanding and from your whole strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself, i8.s much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
The scribe concurs and in addition quotes from the scriptures [1 Samuel 15:22; Psalm 40:6-7, 51:16-17; Isaiah 1:10-17; Hosea 6:6; Micah 6:6-8 etc.]. It is an astounding answer given that the conversation is taking place in the temple!
34 And Jesus, when he saw that he had answered thoughtfully, said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And no one dared to put a question to him any longer.
Where are you in relation to Jesus and his kingdom? How would you evaluate where you are at in light of these stories? What are areas you need to work on?
Homework
Do you know the scriptures and the power of God [Mark 12:24]?
Love God with your whole self [Mark 12:30; Deuteronomy 6:4-5].
What are YOU going to do about Jesus?
John D. Barry et al., Faithlife Study Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012, 2016). JW Josephus, The Jewish War (= Bellum Judaicum)…
Gary G. Porton, “Sadducees,” in The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary, ed. David Noel Freedman (New York: Doubleday, 1992), 892.
This is the levirate marriage of Deuteronomy 25:5-10. Its purpose was to preserve the name of a man who died without a son. Daughters would marry into other families. A son would inherit and preserve his father’s name and inheritance from YHWH in the land.
The greatest commandment is the Shema [Deuteronomy 6:5]. This was regularly recited by Jews even to this day as a part of daily prayers etc.