The Resurrection

If you use your imagination and try to conjure up the greatest possible experience that you would have in heaven. Once you reach the pinnacle of that imagination multiplied by a million times and you still won't have reached what God is preparing for his people. We have that kind of eternal perspective is that in those things of earth grow strangely dim welcome to Renewing Your Mind of this Lord's day, Dr. RC Sproul is going to study the words of Jesus from the Gospel of Mark shows that the Christian there is indeed something to look forward to after this life and it's more than we can ever hope your doctors turn our attention. Now once again to the gospel and to St. Mark we are still in the 12th chapter. And this morning I will be reading from chapter 12 beginning at verse 18 and reading through verse 27, the last the congregation to stay in place for the reading of the word of God and then some Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him and I asked him, saying, teacher, Moses wrote to us that if a man's brother dies and leaves his wife behind and leaves no children, his brother should take his wife and raise up offspring for his brother. Now there were seven brothers. The first took a wife, and dying. He left no offspring in the second to the gurney, died nor did he leave any offspring in the third. Likewise, so that the seven had her in left no offspring, and last of all the woman died also. Therefore in the resurrection. When they rise whose wife will she be for all seven had her as wife Jesus answered and said to them, are you not therefore mistaken because you do not know 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 but concerning the dead, that they rise have you not read in the book of Moses and the burning bush passage all God spoke to him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. He is not the God of the dead. But the God of the living. You are therefore greatly mistaken. Beloved, let us never be greatly mistaken in our understanding of the word of God which word you have just heard. Please proceed.

When we look the last time at the confrontation that Jesus had with the Pharisees and the Herodian's I mentioned the chapter 12 gives to us three episodes of encounters that Jesus had with various groups that were present in that day, each of which had their own agenda and each of which came to Jesus trying to trap him and impale him on the horns of a dilemma.

The Pharisees raised the issue of paying taxes to Caesar, hoping that Jesus would either get himself in trouble with the government or with the people and now today were looking at the issue of the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead, which was a serious dispute in the first century that divided these factions divided the Pharisees from the Sadducees. Sometimes we tend to think that there was great unanimity between the Pharisees and Sadducees because of their commitment with each other to the destruction of Jesus, but that's about all they agreed on both the sect of the Pharisees and the Sadducees presumably began in the second century BC, but they had serious theological differences. On the one hand, for example, the Pharisees laid great emphasis and stress on the sovereignty of God.

They were the Calvinists and Augustinians of their day perish the thought. Whereas the Sadducees were the Malaysians before Pelagius, who believe that the affairs of men and of history were determined not by a sovereign God, but solely and exclusively by the unfettered free will of human creatures. Secondly, the Pharisees affirmed their belief in angels and in the demonic realm where the Sadducees categorically denied the very existence of angels or of demons. 1/3 point of dispute had to do with what was contained in the canon of sacred Scripture. The Pharisees believed that the Scripture contained the Torah which was the first five books of the Old Testament, the Pentateuch, as well as the prophets and the writings. The wisdom literature and such. Whereas the Sadducees had a much more restricted view of the canon, recognizing only the Torah as the word of God.

That is the first five books of the Bible, so any appeals to writings beyond the book of Deuteronomy did not count for the construction of theology as far as the Sadducees were concerned, and so they were convinced that since there was no teaching in the Torah about life after death. Certainly there would be no resurrection at the end of the age. The Pharisees building their case largely on the teachings of the prophets, however, believed in life after death, and in the resurrection. So, since this was a key point of dispute among the Sadducees, bring their case to Jesus and they set up this conundrum.

This poser about what would happen in the resurrection to these seven men who shared at one time or another. The same wife and so they put the question the Jesus the man marries a woman. The man dies before the woman has any children, and according to the law of Moses, which is called the labor rights law or the kinsman redeemer commandment the surviving brother of the man who perished was obligated to take his brother's widow as wife that his brother may have some offspring but suppose the second. The brother dies and the woman still doesn't have any children and they have another brother. So the third brother marries the woman and still she has no offspring and he dies and so on, until we have seven brides for seven Brothers or something like that. We actually have seven rooms for one wife and all of the men die without the woman bearing any children and then at last she dies. And so the obvious question that the Sadducees put before Jesus is this right. The woman said seven husband who's going to be her husband in heaven, not anytime I stand up to preach in his pulpit about anything. My chief responsibility is not to please you not to please burqa require.

But my ultimate responsibility is to please God. He's the one who's going to judge me for how carefully I have handled his word with today. I have a dilemma of my own, because not only do I have the responsibility of pleasing God, but I have the unenviable task of trying to please my wife and how I handle this text and we all know that her name is she who must be obeyed and this is one of her persistent theological inquiries that she brings to me she said honey, are we going to be married in heaven. I'm not sure how to answer that because I try to flee from this text as fast as I can because I know the text doesn't give my wife very much comfort or on the other hand, maybe it would be bad news for the think that she would have to stay married to me for all eternity.

Remember the files was to death do us part in a this is a strong commitment, but I don't know that it's an eternal one that we've entered into between us and but in any case, Jesus answered, the inquiry of the Sadducees with a rebuke. Listen to this for a minute, folks, because it's so easy for us to sit back in the comfort of the 21st century and look in judgment at these contemporaries of Jesus, of his day and think about how stupid or how arrogant they may have been, where we harbor so many of the same ideas and same attitudes within our own hearts. But Jesus rebukes them for this reason, you are mistaken because you don't know the Scriptures. No, I think 100% of the theological errors that we make, because we don't know the Scriptures is God's revealed the same things to all the buses in the same book we read the same book.

We don't always agree on what the book teaches. And that's because we don't really know what's in there.

Every believer should strive with all of his might to have a sound knowledge of the word of God, lest we hear that same rebuke from Jesus, you are mistaken because you don't know the word of God you don't know the Scriptures and then he goes on to say what and because you don't know the power of God. Christianity, whatever else it is dear friends, is a supernatural religion we live in a culture that does everything it can to squelch and to quench any idea of the supernatural, and we say that we believe in God and yet we live sometimes as if our lives were totally in the grip of the powers and forces of this world, we haven't begun to understand the transcendent power of God, the God who can save let there be light and the lights come on the God whose power is been manifested throughout the gospel of Mark in the earthly pilgrimage of Jesus who calms the storm, who raises the dead who heals the sick and so Jesus rebukes the Sadducees who were very closely related to the priestly class and the ruling body of the centage and he said you people have no understanding. You don't understand the Scriptures, and you don't understand the power of God. So you come with this sophomoric question. Trying to trap me about what happens to these men who were married to this one wife so he now begins to correct their thinking. He says for when they rise from the dead, strike one as far as the Sadducees say because Jesus affirms resurrection here.

They say the Sadducees are mistaken about the resurrection, because they will rise from the dead, but they will neither marry nor will they be given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.

No member he's talking to people who don't believe in resurrection and who don't believe in angels. Jesus said there is a resurrection and when we are raised will be like those angels that you deny what the sea mean when he says there's no marriage or giving in marriage, when I read this text to my wife.

This is where I am in jeopardy by saying Jesus says here in clear language that in heaven there is no marriage, and there's no giving in marriage, so my dear, that should end the discussion once and for all and it's almost like she says to me well if we can't be married in heaven. I'm not sure I want to go there and I say well if you're not sure you want to go there you will go there. Don't leave honey but I did give her some little grain of hope and that's about all it is.

It's an infinitesimal particle of hope that maybe that's not what Jesus means here because there are some thinkers who believe that what Jesus is saying is not that there would be no marriage, but he uses this Hebrew idiom of marrying and giving in marriage where in the gospel of Matthew. For example, when Jesus is talking about his coming in judgment, a saying of that day no one knows the day and the hour, but that his coming would be like it was in the days of Noah. People will be marrying and giving in marriage. Now when you look back at the text describes the flood that destroyed the world in the days of Noah we see that God looks at the world and sees that men were only wicked continually and everybody was doing what was right in their own eyes, and when they describe the corruption of that day in Jesus that is can be just like it was in Noah's day, people are going to be eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage.

Now some scholars and there are very few of them argue that what the Scripture means by that is that what characterized the days of Noah that God responded to was such severe judgment was that the sanctity of marriage was so tarnished by sin that people were marrying, divorcing, marrying, divorcing. It was like a merry-go-round where the sanctity of marriage was not being honored at all and that was one of the reasons why God sent the flood. The punishment Jesus could be just like that when I come in judgment and perhaps he saying that people will be at ease in Zion totally disregarding God's regulation for marriage but in heaven will be no divorce, no cheap marriage. Maybe that's all Jesus is getting at here, but I don't see how that one answer the question that is being posed by the Sadducees.

I'm not persuaded by that particular option. I think Jesus is speaking straightforwardly here saying that is not of any management is really just like the angels.

Angels aren't married, they just don't have offspring that are appropriate and when I say that my wife is disappointing.

I said, but think about honey. Why would you want to be married to me in heaven. You want to put up with me for all eternity assist.

Think about it when were in heaven. The renew sin. The be no exploitation of women there being no insults one to another of husbands and their wives.

Sin will be banished from all human relationships in don't you understand that my relationship to somebody that I hardly know in this world will be deeper, more blessed, more intimate, more fulfilling than anything I can experience in marriage in this world. Think of it, we will enjoy human fellowship and communion that will be far richer than the best communion we ever can possibly experience in this world and I guarantee you, honey, if when we get the Avenue find out that we are not married anymore. Yes, I have bother you at all. I was reminded of an episode I had in seminary. When we heard a speaker in chapel who did everything but destroy the reformed faith and the tax everything precious to classical reformed theology and on the way out in my distress I caught up with my mentor Dr. Gerstner as he was on the way to his car and I said Dr. Gerstner. If John Calvin were in that chapel this morning. He would turned over in his grave in midstride.

Gerstner just stopped and he turned the Mideast young man, don't you know that nothing could possibly destroy the felicity that John Calvin enjoys at this moment is excuse me, but we fail to understand the depth of joy and delight that God has prepared for his people in heaven. If you use your imagination and try to conjure up the greatest possible experience that you would have in heaven.

Once you reach the pinnacle of that imagination multiplied by a million times and you still won't have reached what God is preparing for his people with his power, and with his work.

Now Jesus moves in verse 26 to this consideration. But concerning the dead, that they rise have you not read as you give them a quiz here on what they've read of their theological acumen what they studied in the Bible.

Have you not read.

I doesn't take into Isaiah doesn't taken the Jeremiah doesn't taken the Job or to the writings he takes them to the Torah takes them to the second book of the Old Testament versus have you not read in the book of Moses and the burning bush passage how God spoke to him. That is to Moses, saying, I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.

He's not the God of the day but he's the God of the living. Therefore, you are greatly mistaken.

To prove his point of future resurrection, Jesus goes right to the very book that they thought did not teach life after death.

Lisa what you think the Bible is teaching God's of the God of the dead. Why would God send the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob Ellis. He was still the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac got objecting to realize what that means to us today that Abraham dear friends is still alive.

Isaac still lives. Jacob is alive and well because their lives are in the hand of the God of the living who will not let death and our personal existence so that we find in this text. Dear friends, not only a magnificent philosophical reputation of the views of those who would try to entrap Jesus, but we find from our masters lips once again. His bold and strong affirmation to the oldest question that man has which is this. If a man dies, shall he live again and our Lord. Without hesitation answers that question in the affirmative. We have life and we have it forever, and to miss that is not only to be mistaken. Jesus said to be greatly mistaken. My prayer dear friends, is that that the state may never be found among us. This life is full of pain and hardship in you may be experiencing some sort of difficulty right now. Darcy scrolls message today points our attention beyond our present circumstances and provides us with an eternal perspective. I'm glad you joined us today for Renewing Your Mind as we continue Dr. Sproles verse by verse series through the gospel of Mark each Sunday we gain such valuable insight into this gospel and when you contact us today with a donation of any amount. We will send you a valuable resource to help you in your own study. It's the digital download of Dr. Sproles commentary on this gospel you can go online to requested@renewingyourmind.org again that's Renewing Your Mind.org and in advance let me thank you for your financial gift as a reminder, you can listen to this message and other recent renewing of my programs on our app. It's free for you to download and is loaded with great features you'll find daily videos, articles, and other helpful study aids.

Plus, you can use the built-in digital Bible and choose from many reading plans for your personal devotions to search for linear in your app store. When questioning Jesus the religious and legal scholars of the day did their best to trip them up, but they met their match. When asked, in which commandment was most important. I hope you'll join us again next Sunday for another message from Mark's gospel here on Renewing Your Mind