We live in the present, the line of time stretches from the unfathomable past to the unknowable future, yet we live in the present, where God's Finger touches that line.
18 Then come unto him the
Sadducees, which say there is no resurrection; and they asked him, saying, 19 Master, Moses wrote unto us, If
a man's brother die, and leave his wife behind him, and leave no children, that
his brother should take his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother. 20 Now there were seven brethren:
and the first took a wife, and dying left no seed. 21 And the second took her, and
died, neither left he any seed: and the third likewise. 22 And the seven had her, and left
no seed: last of all the woman died also. 23 In the resurrection therefore,
when they shall rise, whose wife shall she be of them? for the seven had her to
wife. 24 And Jesus answering said unto
them, Do ye not therefore err, because ye know not
the scriptures, neither the power of God? 25 For when they shall
rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as
the angels which are in heaven. 26 And as touching
the dead, that they rise: have ye not read in the book of Moses, how in the
bush God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac,
and the God of Jacob?
27 He is not the God
of the dead, but the God of the living: ye therefore do greatly err. (Mark
12:18-27)
Our Lord will reveal some manifold truths of God in this lesson. I say manifold
because the Word of God is so pregnant with meaning and hidden gems that He
cannot utter a single thought that is not laden with truth and mysteries in
abundance. At first reading, this passage seems to address the state of
marriage as it relates to the saints in Heaven, and a simple explanation of how
God had assured Abraham that he was his God. But, in reality, the spiritual
ramifications are far more expansive.
We have seen how the chief priests, scribes and elders of the Jews approached Christ
in the Temple to enquire by what authority He cleansed the Temple; but instead
of forcing our Lord into a rhetorical corner, His would-be antagonist were
hushed by His own question: The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men?
answer me. (Mark 11:30)
This question they could not answer without a double jeopardy. Then the
religious Pharisees and the Herodians (supporters of the secular power of Rome
and her pawn, Herod) came to “catch Him in His words” by asking if
tribute should be paid to Rome or not. Once again, Jesus routed these
malefactors.
In the present text, we see the Sadducees joining the parade to come before
Christ to try their skills of outsmarting God. The arrogance of each of these
groups is readily recognizable in their failure to learn, from the first
humiliating defeats, that they lacked the intellectual and spiritual acumen of
winning any dialectic with the Son of God. This last group is different from
the Temple rulers and Pharisees in that the Sadducees did not believe in the
resurrection of the dead. These Sadducees furthermore rejected the
authority of the very scripture which they quoted in the writings of Moses.
Perhaps they believed Moses, but not the God of Moses.
Our Lord answers, in simple terms, their question concerning the state of a
complicated serial marriage in the resurrection. “For
when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in
marriage; but are as the angels which are in heaven.” This is a
profound mystery; however, the remaining commentary of Jesus exceeds the
gravitas of the first. Our Lord addresses their abject error in their unbelief
in the reality of the resurrection. 26 And
as touching the dead, that they rise: have ye not read in the book of Moses,
how in the bush God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the
God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? 27 He
is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living: ye therefore do greatly
err.
The explanation revealed in our Lord’s words transcend time
and mortal being. I offer the following quoted text from the Biblical
Illustrator: Christ raises the
question: Could God call Himself Abraham’s God if He had permitted his hopes to
be disappointed, and his whole life to be dissipated by the touch of death?
Whatever we love we seek to keep alive, and, if God loved Abraham, would He let
him die? If the Sadducee was right, Abraham was at the time a handful of desert
dust in which certainly God could take no peculiar interest. The fact that man
can engage the interest of God, speak to Him, enter into covenant with Him; be
beloved, embraced, protected by God, is the proof of immortality. Because God
lives, he will live also whom God loves. There are many arguments that go to
prove immortality, but this is chief, that God loves man, delights in him, and
would be Himself bereaved, and spend a desolate eternity, if death robbed Him
of the spirits that trust Him. (R. Glover)
The
entire issue is comprehended in the eternal nature of the Lord. He is the great
“I AM!” He bore that title and nature before the worlds were made. He bore that
title in addressing Abraham; He bore that title in His earthly ministry; and He
bear that title today. He is the eternal I Am because He is not bound or
limited by the Space-Time Continuum. He exists apart from our time scale.
God
spoke to Abraham from the Burning Bush and identified Himself as I AM. The I AM
was the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – and all who believe in the Promise
made to Abraham. If our Lord is the ‘I AM’ God of Abraham whom He loved
(properly termed loves), was there any point in time when He ceased to be His
God, and became His God at some later theoretical point (such as some time
after the death of Abraham? That would make no sense at all. Since God is
unchanging in His nature and being, He is forever the God of all whom He has
called and chosen. He loved Abraham (and you and me), and He will not allow
those He loves to perish – even for a second. Once He is our I AM God, He is
forever our I AM God.
As
mortal men and women, we tend to speak of our loved ones in Christ, who have
passed beyond the veil, in the past tense, i.e. “She was such a sweet and
precious mother.” But if we believe God, we will admit that such a past tense
reference is inappropriate. Those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ never
die, but merely pass beyond our means of feeling, seeing, hearing their
presence among us! In fact, the existence and being of the saint, passed into
glory, is more real and stark than we in this present life. Those who pass from
this life in Christ are identified IN Him and are also borne in paradise by the
I AM. Being in Christ makes the saint as timeless and his Transport.
The
love of God is a sure sanctuary that loses none that it receives. That love
cannot let go. Instead, God will make every allowance to insure the eternity of
all that it embraces. Even though the justice of God demands a sentence of
death upon all who sin (and God cannot contradict His own Law), He makes a
remarkable and amazing provision for that sentence to be paid by the innocent
blood of His only Begotten Son. It is that sacrifice and redemption to which we
look awe, gratitude, and abject humility during this season of Lent.
