Today we are going to look at Mark 12: 18-27:
18 Some Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him and asked him a question, saying, 19 “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies, leaving a wife but no child, the man[ shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother. 20 There were seven brothers; the first married and, when he died, left no children; 21 and the second married the widow and died, leaving no children; and the third likewise; 22 none of the seven left children. Last of all the woman herself died. 23 In the resurrection whose wife will she be? For the seven had married her.”
24 Jesus said to them, “Is not this the reason you are wrong, that you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God? 25 For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 26 And as for the dead being raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the story about the bush, how God said to him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? 27 He is God not of the dead, but of the living; you are quite wrong.”
I find this section of Mark 12 to be very interesting. We are looking here at the passage where the Sadducees come to Jesus, not with a sincere question, but come to trap Him. In the section before, the Pharisees come to Jesus and ask Him a question about taxes, not to legitimately learn or grow, but to entrap Him. This is where He gives the “give to Caesar what is Caesar’s statement.” They come, not with humility to learn, they come to Jesus to make a point.
Likewise, the Sadducees come to Jesus today with a question about the resurrection, but they don’t come to actually learn or grow, but they come to trap Him. They come to Jesus and ask Him about the resurrection, and they don’t even believe in the resurrection. They come to Him, just to mess with Him, to trap Him, to get people to turn on Him.
They do not come to Jesus with the right posture. Remember how we are told that posture is so important in life. It is so important in faith. How do we approach Jesus? How do we approach faith? How do we approach scripture? Do we approach these things with the proper posture?
Do we approach the Bible with the understanding that there is something we can learn?
Do we approach the Bible with listening ears?
Do we approach with humility?
Do we approach with the knowledge that we can learn something?
If we do not approach the Bible with humility and a teachable posture, we will never learn anything at all. We’ll never truly hear God’s voice. We’ll miss everything He is trying to say to us. Instead of listening, learning, growing, the Pharisees and Sadducees, came with arrogance, with pride, and with the desire to trap Jesus, not learn from Jesus.
Today, with what posture do we approach Him?
If you’d like to get each day’s daily scripture reading sent to your phone along with this reading guide, text @39110 to 81010 to sign up!