Your Mistake Is...
Mark 12:18-27
Message #46
We like to be right, don’t we? We have opinions and generally, we think our opinions are right. And so, we spend a lot of time figuring out ways to protect our opinion and ways to prove that our opinions are correct, and that is the part of this text I’d really like us to focus on today because that is exactly what the Sadducees are doing here. This is the next round in the cage fight between Jesus and the religious and political leaders of Jerusalem.
In this round, we get to know the Sadducees as they are sent in to try to take down Jesus. We saw a reference to the Sadducees back in round one (Mark 12:27). But they are back today with what they think is a new knock-out punch for Jesus.
The Sadducees were one of the three religious/political groups that had joined forces to remove Jesus from their culture. The Sadducees were very full of their own opinions and they fought very hard to maintain them. And the one opinion that comes to light today is the Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection (and because of this the Sadducees were sad, you see).
Even though they were sad (and mad), the Sadducees were the religious/political elite class of Jerusalem. They had all the money and they oversaw all Temple life and all events at the Temple, which means the massive money-making operation Jesus physically attacked twice in the Temple courts was owned by the Sadducees. And so, they had a very personal vendetta against Jesus.
They were also very closely tied to Rome. They worked very closely with Rome on all matters of religious rule over for the people and they were the ones who ultimately orchestrated the crucifying of Jesus by Rome.
And finally, the Sadducees were constantly fighting with the Pharisees who had the opposite opinions on many things, and both groups drew their opposite opinions from what we would call today the Old Testament of the Bible.
The Sadducees believed the first five Books of Moses (Pentateuch) were the absolute rule from God, and they believed the rest of what we call the Old Testament was more like commentary and of far lesser importance than the Books of Moses. And so, if there was something in the remainder of the Old Testament that was not in the first five books, they disregarded it.
The Pharisees were the exact opposite. They took God’s Ten Commandments and they added six hundred and thirteen of their own commandments to supposedly help everybody follow God’s original ten.
These two religious/political groups (along with the Herodians) were all constantly fighting each other. But when it came to Jesus, they were all on the exact same page. Jesus of Nazareth must be taken down and eliminated.
And so, today it’s the Sadducees turn to go into the ring with Jesus, and as they do, we learn not only what their mistake is and what our mistake might be, but we also get some great encouragement from Jesus about the resurrection.
Mark 12:18 (NLT)
18 Then Jesus was approached by some Sadducees—religious leaders who say there is no resurrection from the dead. They posed this question:
Now, guys, it is impossible for me to not apply this to our political culture today because this is political theater. The Sadducees have no real question for Jesus. Their only motivation is to take Jesus down in the eyes of the people who are following him and so they worked out a scheme cloaked in a hypothetical situation that they hoped would turn the crowd against Jesus. (And if that’s not an example of how our media works today, I don’t know what would be.)
The problem is, the Sadducees thought they were dealing with a man and they refused to believe they might actually be dealing with God in the Flesh. And so, they begin with an insincere platitude and then present their hypothetical set-up.
Mark 12:19 (NLT)
19 “Teacher, Moses gave us a law that if a man dies, leaving a wife without children, his brother should marry the widow and have a child who will carry on the brother’s name.
This is true. Moses did teach this (Deuteronomy 25:5). The Sadducees left out a few details here, but this is called the Law of Levirate Marriage, which is basically explained here in verse 19. It’s not Levirate as in the Tribe of Levi. It’s from the Hebrew word that means “brother.” And the Book of Ruth is based around the Levirate Marriage (and the Kinsmen Redeemer).
But of course, the Sadducees didn’t really want to discuss the Law of Moses with Jesus. They’re just using it to try to get the people to think less of Jesus and hopefully get them to turn against him. So, they lay out the best trap they could come up with to try to ensnare the Lord of Glory. (Good luck with that!) Here it is.
Mark 12:20-23 (NLT)
20 Well, suppose there were seven brothers. The oldest one married and then died without children.
21 So the second brother married the widow, but he also died without children. Then the third brother married her.
22 This continued with all seven of them, and still there were no children. Last of all, the woman also died.
23 So tell us, whose wife will she be in the resurrection? For all seven were married to her.”
Remember the Sadducees don’t believe in the resurrection, and the Law of Moses regarding the Levirate Marriage had nothing to do with the resurrection. It has to do with carrying on the family name and the Tribe of Israel’s name. The resurrection doesn’t have anything to do with anything here. They just created this hypothetical situation, then tied it to the resurrection (which they don’t believe). They are trying to create division because half the people don’t believe in it and follow the Sadducees and the other half do believe in it and follow the Pharisees.) They are going to try to stump Jesus in the eyes of the people – which seems to us to be absolutely crazy.
We do stuff like this. Maybe not the Law of Moses and the hypothetical Levirate marriage and seven husbands. Our culture for sure does this but it doesn’t help us to point at the culture and say the culture is messed up. That’s a foregone conclusion. We have to put ourselves right here. It’s no good if you don’t. The Bible is no good if you don’t put yourself in it.
But right here is where we really need to pay attention – this is today’s most important point (M.I.P.)
I started by saying we like to be right. We have opinions that we think are right, and we spend a lot of time protecting our opinions and proving that our opinions are right. That is our nature, and that is the nature of all these religious groups. And if I don’t personally, look at the Sadducees and say, “You know what? Their nature – is my nature,” then the only other one I can relate to is Jesus. And while I am ultimately like him when I am glorified, and I have the righteousness of Jesus, if I don’t see my nature the same as the Sadducees, then the power of God’s Word is lost on me.
But the Sadducees were wrong. The Pharisees and Herodians from last week were wrong. The religious leaders of the previous week were wrong. And these groups that made up the Sanhedrin were wrong.
So, can I ask you to consider joining me in making a commitment today? Can we make a commitment today to try to not be wrong in the same way that all these leaders were wrong? Would you consider making that commitment with me today?
Okay then, in love and directed at both of us – you and me – here is what Jesus says is our mistake.
Mark 12:24 (NLT)
24 Jesus replied, “Your mistake is that you don’t know the Scriptures, and you don’t know the power of God.
In all of our opinions, in all of our views, in all of our judgments – is there a chance that our mistake is that we don’t know the Scriptures and we don’t know the power of God? Is there a chance that is our mistake?
Is there a chance that we can put ourselves right there with the Sadducees and say, “I’m more like them in my nature than Jesus? I want to be transformed more and more into the image of Jesus, but I realize like Paul did in Romans Chapter 7 that this is a constant struggle and that my sin nature makes me more like the Sadducees than Jesus. So that means there’s more of a chance that I’m making the same mistake as the Sadducees than that I’m perfect like Jesus.”
If we’ll do that, what it will produce is humility. It will produce a brokenness. It will produce a crushing of our pride. And it makes us able to receive who Jesus is. We’re no longer going toe-to-toe with him, we’re saying, “Lord, you’re right. I’m wrong. Transform me.”
I’d like to stop and pray about this verse right now and about the possibility that we may be more like the Sadducees than we think.
And I understand that you may be here today and not really be ready to wrestle with such a question between you and God. And so, if this is deeper than you want to go with God today just listen to me pray, and listen for God’s voice.
Let’s pray, and if you can, pray with me.
Lord, Jesus, do I not know your Word well enough that I am putting my own opinion over your Word?
Lord, do I not know your power well enough that I am putting my own understanding over your power?
Lord, is my mistake that I view your Word through my own opinions? And I view your power through my own understanding?
Lord, please don’t let me do what the religious leaders are doing here. God, forbid me, from using your Word to try to support or prove my own opinion. Lord, your Word is your Word, not mine. And so, please give me the commitment and the power of the Holy Spirit to receive what your Word says – as you wrote it. Help me receive it and believe it, just as you intended it to be received.
And Lord, enable me to truly believe your all-things-are-possible power. Lord, I can’t grasp your power with my limited understanding. You have to place this knowledge in my heart. And so, Lord, please give me the gift of faith to believe the unlimited extent of your power. Open the eyes of my heart, Lord, remove the scales from my eyes and cause me to be awestruck by the fact that your power is beyond anything I could ever conceive or imagine in my human thinking.
Lord, I confess today that I don’t know your living Word enough and I don’t know your unlimited power enough, and Lord, I surrender to that right now. And I pray you would crush my pride, my high thinking of myself, and that you would give me a full measure of faith that I would know your Word in a deeper and more accurate way and that I would believe in a life-changing way you unlimited, immeasurable power in my life. For your glory and in your name, Jesus, amen.
Please hear me as we watch Jesus knock out the religious leaders in round after round of this cage fight.
We cannot see ourselves as Jesus because we don’t have his nature. We have to see ourselves as the religious leaders because we do have their nature. And so, our prayer and commitment must be – Lord, don’t let me make the same mistake they made. Lead me to know your Word better and your power more. Amen?
Alright, let’s finish with some awesome encouragement about the resurrection. The Sadducees used the resurrection to try to trap Jesus, so Jesus takes the opportunity to clarify things for them and for us.
Mark 12:25 (NLT)
25 For when the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage. In this respect they will be like the angels in heaven.
Baam! In two sentences Jesus handles this little marriage twist challenge. In the resurrection, we will not be married or be given in marriage. But that does not mean we won’t know our spouses or have a deeper heavenly relationship with them. It means we won’t be married in the sense of a relationship designed for procreation or sex. The Levirate Marriage the Sadducees brought up was all about procreation through sex (to keep the family name going). And so, I hate to break the news to both the Mormons and the Muslims, but the Bible is clear – there is no sex in heaven because our relationships will be even closer and better than sex and there will be no need for procreation. (It is a great way to recruit young men to your religion though.)
Then Jesus clarifies (end of verse 25), In this respect they will be like the angels in heaven just meaning the angels aren’t married (or have sex) now and in this respect we will be like them.
And then Jesus continues in Mark 12:26-27.
Mark 12:26-27(a) (NLT)
26 “But now, as to whether the dead will be raised—haven’t you ever read about this in the writings of Moses, in the story of the burning bush? Long after Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had died, God said to Moses, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ 27 So he is the God of the living, not the dead . . .
In another knock-out punch, in another round, Jesus uses the writings of Moses – the only writings the Sadducees fully believe – to make it perfectly clear to them the resurrection is real and God is the God of the eternally living.
When God said He IS the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, it is a reference to their whole person of the entirety of who they are. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are still who they were on earth, but in a glorified state which we see a picture of with Moses and Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration (Matthew 17).
Guys, we will be more recognizable, and more loving and lovable in heaven than we are here on earth. (Get the Heaven series on the Word By Mail phone app.)
There may be no marriage, but our relationships will be more real because they will be glorified and un-marred by sin.
And so, to end this round, Jesus puts the Sadducees in their place at the end of verse 27.
Mark 12:27(b) (NLT)
27 . . . You have made a serious error.”
In this round, we get to know the Sadducees as they are sent in to try to take down Jesus. We saw a reference to the Sadducees back in round one (Mark 12:27). But they are back today with what they think is a new knock-out punch for Jesus.
The Sadducees were one of the three religious/political groups that had joined forces to remove Jesus from their culture. The Sadducees were very full of their own opinions and they fought very hard to maintain them. And the one opinion that comes to light today is the Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection (and because of this the Sadducees were sad, you see).
Even though they were sad (and mad), the Sadducees were the religious/political elite class of Jerusalem. They had all the money and they oversaw all Temple life and all events at the Temple, which means the massive money-making operation Jesus physically attacked twice in the Temple courts was owned by the Sadducees. And so, they had a very personal vendetta against Jesus.
They were also very closely tied to Rome. They worked very closely with Rome on all matters of religious rule over for the people and they were the ones who ultimately orchestrated the crucifying of Jesus by Rome.
And finally, the Sadducees were constantly fighting with the Pharisees who had the opposite opinions on many things, and both groups drew their opposite opinions from what we would call today the Old Testament of the Bible.
The Sadducees believed the first five Books of Moses (Pentateuch) were the absolute rule from God, and they believed the rest of what we call the Old Testament was more like commentary and of far lesser importance than the Books of Moses. And so, if there was something in the remainder of the Old Testament that was not in the first five books, they disregarded it.
The Pharisees were the exact opposite. They took God’s Ten Commandments and they added six hundred and thirteen of their own commandments to supposedly help everybody follow God’s original ten.
These two religious/political groups (along with the Herodians) were all constantly fighting each other. But when it came to Jesus, they were all on the exact same page. Jesus of Nazareth must be taken down and eliminated.
And so, today it’s the Sadducees turn to go into the ring with Jesus, and as they do, we learn not only what their mistake is and what our mistake might be, but we also get some great encouragement from Jesus about the resurrection.
Mark 12:18 (NLT)
18 Then Jesus was approached by some Sadducees—religious leaders who say there is no resurrection from the dead. They posed this question:
Now, guys, it is impossible for me to not apply this to our political culture today because this is political theater. The Sadducees have no real question for Jesus. Their only motivation is to take Jesus down in the eyes of the people who are following him and so they worked out a scheme cloaked in a hypothetical situation that they hoped would turn the crowd against Jesus. (And if that’s not an example of how our media works today, I don’t know what would be.)
The problem is, the Sadducees thought they were dealing with a man and they refused to believe they might actually be dealing with God in the Flesh. And so, they begin with an insincere platitude and then present their hypothetical set-up.
Mark 12:19 (NLT)
19 “Teacher, Moses gave us a law that if a man dies, leaving a wife without children, his brother should marry the widow and have a child who will carry on the brother’s name.
This is true. Moses did teach this (Deuteronomy 25:5). The Sadducees left out a few details here, but this is called the Law of Levirate Marriage, which is basically explained here in verse 19. It’s not Levirate as in the Tribe of Levi. It’s from the Hebrew word that means “brother.” And the Book of Ruth is based around the Levirate Marriage (and the Kinsmen Redeemer).
But of course, the Sadducees didn’t really want to discuss the Law of Moses with Jesus. They’re just using it to try to get the people to think less of Jesus and hopefully get them to turn against him. So, they lay out the best trap they could come up with to try to ensnare the Lord of Glory. (Good luck with that!) Here it is.
Mark 12:20-23 (NLT)
20 Well, suppose there were seven brothers. The oldest one married and then died without children.
21 So the second brother married the widow, but he also died without children. Then the third brother married her.
22 This continued with all seven of them, and still there were no children. Last of all, the woman also died.
23 So tell us, whose wife will she be in the resurrection? For all seven were married to her.”
Remember the Sadducees don’t believe in the resurrection, and the Law of Moses regarding the Levirate Marriage had nothing to do with the resurrection. It has to do with carrying on the family name and the Tribe of Israel’s name. The resurrection doesn’t have anything to do with anything here. They just created this hypothetical situation, then tied it to the resurrection (which they don’t believe). They are trying to create division because half the people don’t believe in it and follow the Sadducees and the other half do believe in it and follow the Pharisees.) They are going to try to stump Jesus in the eyes of the people – which seems to us to be absolutely crazy.
We do stuff like this. Maybe not the Law of Moses and the hypothetical Levirate marriage and seven husbands. Our culture for sure does this but it doesn’t help us to point at the culture and say the culture is messed up. That’s a foregone conclusion. We have to put ourselves right here. It’s no good if you don’t. The Bible is no good if you don’t put yourself in it.
But right here is where we really need to pay attention – this is today’s most important point (M.I.P.)
I started by saying we like to be right. We have opinions that we think are right, and we spend a lot of time protecting our opinions and proving that our opinions are right. That is our nature, and that is the nature of all these religious groups. And if I don’t personally, look at the Sadducees and say, “You know what? Their nature – is my nature,” then the only other one I can relate to is Jesus. And while I am ultimately like him when I am glorified, and I have the righteousness of Jesus, if I don’t see my nature the same as the Sadducees, then the power of God’s Word is lost on me.
But the Sadducees were wrong. The Pharisees and Herodians from last week were wrong. The religious leaders of the previous week were wrong. And these groups that made up the Sanhedrin were wrong.
So, can I ask you to consider joining me in making a commitment today? Can we make a commitment today to try to not be wrong in the same way that all these leaders were wrong? Would you consider making that commitment with me today?
Okay then, in love and directed at both of us – you and me – here is what Jesus says is our mistake.
Mark 12:24 (NLT)
24 Jesus replied, “Your mistake is that you don’t know the Scriptures, and you don’t know the power of God.
In all of our opinions, in all of our views, in all of our judgments – is there a chance that our mistake is that we don’t know the Scriptures and we don’t know the power of God? Is there a chance that is our mistake?
Is there a chance that we can put ourselves right there with the Sadducees and say, “I’m more like them in my nature than Jesus? I want to be transformed more and more into the image of Jesus, but I realize like Paul did in Romans Chapter 7 that this is a constant struggle and that my sin nature makes me more like the Sadducees than Jesus. So that means there’s more of a chance that I’m making the same mistake as the Sadducees than that I’m perfect like Jesus.”
If we’ll do that, what it will produce is humility. It will produce a brokenness. It will produce a crushing of our pride. And it makes us able to receive who Jesus is. We’re no longer going toe-to-toe with him, we’re saying, “Lord, you’re right. I’m wrong. Transform me.”
I’d like to stop and pray about this verse right now and about the possibility that we may be more like the Sadducees than we think.
And I understand that you may be here today and not really be ready to wrestle with such a question between you and God. And so, if this is deeper than you want to go with God today just listen to me pray, and listen for God’s voice.
Let’s pray, and if you can, pray with me.
Lord, Jesus, do I not know your Word well enough that I am putting my own opinion over your Word?
Lord, do I not know your power well enough that I am putting my own understanding over your power?
Lord, is my mistake that I view your Word through my own opinions? And I view your power through my own understanding?
Lord, please don’t let me do what the religious leaders are doing here. God, forbid me, from using your Word to try to support or prove my own opinion. Lord, your Word is your Word, not mine. And so, please give me the commitment and the power of the Holy Spirit to receive what your Word says – as you wrote it. Help me receive it and believe it, just as you intended it to be received.
And Lord, enable me to truly believe your all-things-are-possible power. Lord, I can’t grasp your power with my limited understanding. You have to place this knowledge in my heart. And so, Lord, please give me the gift of faith to believe the unlimited extent of your power. Open the eyes of my heart, Lord, remove the scales from my eyes and cause me to be awestruck by the fact that your power is beyond anything I could ever conceive or imagine in my human thinking.
Lord, I confess today that I don’t know your living Word enough and I don’t know your unlimited power enough, and Lord, I surrender to that right now. And I pray you would crush my pride, my high thinking of myself, and that you would give me a full measure of faith that I would know your Word in a deeper and more accurate way and that I would believe in a life-changing way you unlimited, immeasurable power in my life. For your glory and in your name, Jesus, amen.
Please hear me as we watch Jesus knock out the religious leaders in round after round of this cage fight.
We cannot see ourselves as Jesus because we don’t have his nature. We have to see ourselves as the religious leaders because we do have their nature. And so, our prayer and commitment must be – Lord, don’t let me make the same mistake they made. Lead me to know your Word better and your power more. Amen?
Alright, let’s finish with some awesome encouragement about the resurrection. The Sadducees used the resurrection to try to trap Jesus, so Jesus takes the opportunity to clarify things for them and for us.
Mark 12:25 (NLT)
25 For when the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage. In this respect they will be like the angels in heaven.
Baam! In two sentences Jesus handles this little marriage twist challenge. In the resurrection, we will not be married or be given in marriage. But that does not mean we won’t know our spouses or have a deeper heavenly relationship with them. It means we won’t be married in the sense of a relationship designed for procreation or sex. The Levirate Marriage the Sadducees brought up was all about procreation through sex (to keep the family name going). And so, I hate to break the news to both the Mormons and the Muslims, but the Bible is clear – there is no sex in heaven because our relationships will be even closer and better than sex and there will be no need for procreation. (It is a great way to recruit young men to your religion though.)
Then Jesus clarifies (end of verse 25), In this respect they will be like the angels in heaven just meaning the angels aren’t married (or have sex) now and in this respect we will be like them.
And then Jesus continues in Mark 12:26-27.
Mark 12:26-27(a) (NLT)
26 “But now, as to whether the dead will be raised—haven’t you ever read about this in the writings of Moses, in the story of the burning bush? Long after Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had died, God said to Moses, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ 27 So he is the God of the living, not the dead . . .
In another knock-out punch, in another round, Jesus uses the writings of Moses – the only writings the Sadducees fully believe – to make it perfectly clear to them the resurrection is real and God is the God of the eternally living.
When God said He IS the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, it is a reference to their whole person of the entirety of who they are. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are still who they were on earth, but in a glorified state which we see a picture of with Moses and Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration (Matthew 17).
Guys, we will be more recognizable, and more loving and lovable in heaven than we are here on earth. (Get the Heaven series on the Word By Mail phone app.)
There may be no marriage, but our relationships will be more real because they will be glorified and un-marred by sin.
And so, to end this round, Jesus puts the Sadducees in their place at the end of verse 27.
Mark 12:27(b) (NLT)
27 . . . You have made a serious error.”