Are you not therefore mistaken, because you do not know the Scriptures nor the power of God?

 

 Then they sent to Him some of the Pharisees and the Herodians, to catch Him in His words.  When they had come, they said to Him, "Teacher, we know that You are true, and care about no one; for You do not regard the person of men, but teach the way of God in truth.  Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?  Shall we pay, or shall we not pay?"  But He, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, "Why do you test Me?  Bring Me a denarius that I may see it."  So they brought it.  And He said to them, "Whose image and inscription is this?"  They said to Him, "Caesar's."  And Jesus answered and said to them, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."  And they marveled at Him. 

Then some Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him; and they 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.  And the second took her, and he died; nor did he leave any offspring.  And the third likewise.  So the seven had her and left no offspring.  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, in the burning bush passage, how 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."

 

- Mark 12:13–27 

 

Yesterday we read that once again Jesus and the disciples came again to Jerusalem. (The events in our current readings  take place during what we commemorate as Holy Week, the final week of Christ's earthly life.)  And as He was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to Him.  And they said to Him, "By what authority are You doing these things?  And who gave You this authority to do these things?"  But Jesus answered and said to them, "I also will ask you one question; then answer Me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things:  The baptism of John -- was it from heaven or from men?  Answer Me."  And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' He will say, 'Why then did you not believe him?'  But if we say, 'From men'" -- they feared the people for all counted John to have been a prophet indeed.  So they answered and said to Jesus, "We do not know."  And Jesus answered and said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.  Then He began to speak to them in parables:  "A man planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a place for the wine vat and built a tower.  And he leased it to vinedressers and went into a far country.  Now at vintage-time he sent a servant to the vinedressers, that he might receive some of the fruit of the vineyard from the vinedressers.  And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed.  Again he sent them another servant, and at him they threw stones, wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully treated.  And again he sent another, and him they killed; and many others, beating some and killing some.  Therefore still having one son, his beloved, he also sent him to them last, saying, 'They will respect my son.'  But those vinedressers said among themselves, 'This is the heir.  Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.'  So they took him and killed him and cast him out of the vineyard.  Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do?  He will come and destroy the vinedressers, and give the vineyard to others.  Have you not even read this Scripture:  'The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This was the LORD's doing,  and it is marvelous in our eyes'?"  And they sought to lay hands on Him, but feared the multitude, for they knew He had spoken the parable against them.  So they left Him and went away.

 

  Then they sent to Him some of the Pharisees and the Herodians, to catch Him in His words.  When they had come, they said to Him, "Teacher, we know that You are true, and care about no one; for You do not regard the person of men, but teach the way of God in truth.  Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?  Shall we pay, or shall we not pay?"  But He, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, "Why do you test Me?  Bring Me a denarius that I may see it."  So they brought it.  And He said to them, "Whose image and inscription is this?"  They said to Him, "Caesar's."  And Jesus answered and said to them, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."  And they marveled at Him.   My study Bible explains that the Herodians were Jewish political supporters of the ruling house of Herod the Great.  Therefore, these are willing servants of Rome.  Jesus understands that this is a test, and the text also lets us know that He is wise to their hypocrisy which is involved here.  The trap is that if Jesus answers "yes," it would turn the Jewish people against Him.  But if He answers "no" it would bring a charge of treason by the Romans.  My study Bible comments that Christ's answer defeats their cunning, and it shows that a believer can render the state its due while also serving God (Romans 13:1-7; contrast Acts 4:19).  Christ's brilliant response, holding the coin to illustrate, shows the image of the emperor and so is properly paid to him.  But at the same time, each person also bears the image of God and therefore belongs to God (Genesis 1:26-27).  My study Bible says that conflict arises only when the state demands that which is contrary to God.  Moreover, the distinction between things that are Caesar's and things that are God's does not imply the division of a believer's life into the secular and the sacred.   On the contrary, God is Lord over all of life, including the secular.  But we fulfill governmental requirements that do not conflict with our first responsibility to God.  To pay taxes and similar civil duties are not detrimental to holiness.

 

Then some Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him; and they 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.  And the second took her, and he died; nor did he leave any offspring.  And the third likewise.  So the seven had her and left no offspring.  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, in the burning bush passage, how 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."  My study Bible says that the Sadducees represent landowners and other wealthy families in Jerusalem.  They held many high offices in Israel.  They controlled the temple and the Sanhedrin.  They were different from the Pharisees, in that they were politically prudent, and they adapted to the presence of the Romans.  My study Bible adds that they interpreted the law more rigidly than did the Pharisees; and unlike the Pharisees, they rejected belief in angels and in the resurrection from the dead at the end of the age.   The Sadducees completely disappeared after the destruction of Jerusalem.  Jesus tells them that they do not know the Scriptures nor the power of God; they accepted as their Scriptures only the Pentateuch (the first five Books of what Christians call the Old Testament).  Their scenario which they present is absurd, and Jesus tells them that the resurrection is not what they imagine, a simple continuation of earthly life.  The Scriptures in fact reveal a complete transfiguration of life in the resurrection.  Moreover, Abraham and his sons, as the Lord's voice testified to Moses at the burning bush (Exodus 3:15), are alive in God even if they are physically dead.   The Sadducees fail to know how this is true.  My study Bible says that it is the clear teaching of Christ that the souls of the faithful who have departed this life are sustained before the face of God in anticipation of the final joy of the resurrection.  

 

 Jesus asks the Sadducees, "Are you not therefore mistaken, because you do not know the Scriptures nor the power of God?"  It is important to consider this question in light of our own understanding of Scriptures.  A very literalistic sense of Scripture is a limited way to approach the Scriptures, for example.  That limits the ways that we can look at Scripture and think about the truths revealed within Scripture.  It is not that there is nothing "literal" in the Bible.  But to limit oneself to that single way to understand would be tantamount to the limitations of the Sadducees in this sense, that they cannot apprehend the resurrection nor the qualities which Jesus teaches here.  It's important that Jesus reveals that in the resurrection, there is not a simple continuation of earthly life, but one that is transfigured, changed.  When we think about what that means, it should take our minds to what is called the Transfiguration (see this reading), in which something of that heavenly reality was revealed in quality to Peter, James, and John.  Through such a revelation, Christ gives us glimpses of the changed life He's talking about here.  He says also that people in the resurrection are like angels in heaven.  What does it mean to be like angels in heaven?  In what way are people in the resurrection like angels in heaven?  Are they holy?  In the eyes of the Church historically the answer is yes, and a saintly person is one who reflects such similar qualities to the angels.  With that consideration, a whole host of qualities open up as possibilities regarding life in the resurrection.  But without knowing the Scriptures, and without knowing the power of God, what can we imagine this means?  Like the Saduccees, we would have no idea, and would be utterly limited in our understanding and expectation.  And finally there are also the words of the Lord to Moses at the burning bush, in which God identifies to Moses as the I AM (Exodus 3:14), the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob (Exodus 3:15).  If we cannot understand that the phrase "I AM" conveys a state of timeless pure being, if we cannot wrap our understanding around how God can be -- in the present tense -- the God of Abraham and his descendants, at the same time, then we will not be able to understand the Scriptures -- nor the power of God -- as Jesus presents them here.  We won't be able to understand or to accept Christ, for this is His teaching regarding how we are to understand such things.  Therefore Christ Himself is testifying here to the many ways in which we're to approach and understand the Scriptures, to open our hearts and minds to them, and to see more than is simply literally on the page.  So, we need to be steeped in the Scriptures.  We need to have a wide understanding of them, and a complete one, if we're going to approach passages with a sense of how Scripture texts work, and what the God is like who is being presented to us through Scripture.  For this we turn not simply to our own reading, which should be ongoing, but to what are known as the Church Fathers (and Mothers as well).  That is, those who have come before us, dedicated their lives to a holy way of life, to the Scriptures and their understanding, and who have stood the test of time with their insights.  These early scholars and saints of the Church are the ones upon whose writing the commentary in my study Bible is based, and that forms an important part of how we understand and receive the Scriptures as well.  Everything is not simply redone every decade or so and started from scratch.  In fact, such approaches usually miss enough so that substance is lost.  In such saintly tradition, we have a tie to the earliest Church and its receipt of the gospel message from the apostles themselves, and we have the advanced learning not only of brilliant scholars but as those who sought the holy as the one prize worth having in life, and to sustain a life beyond, those who understood the wisdom of the Scriptures and the word of God as true treasure.  We have a lived experience of dedicated lives, even to the point of martyrdom for their faith.  This is something to recognize and respect, for although life may change on the surface, the spiritual enemies of those who love God have not really changed in the ways that we are all tempted. Neither has the basic spiritual struggle of human beings changed in substance, for we struggle against our own self-centered vision for a larger one based on where God calls us.  And these things mentioned are only a taste of what "the Scriptures" and the "power of God" hold for us if we approach with the respect due to these things, and to a holy way of life, a struggle for humility in the face of God and those who would point the way for us.  Let us consider how much remains that we don't yet know, and open our minds to both the Scriptures and the power of God which Jesus names here in our reading today.