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Home , Mark 12

FOUR QUESTIONS Mark 12:13-37 2/3/08

The Jewish religious leaders are seeking to find some way to seize and destroy Him cf v. 12 Jesus has become a threat to their power and pretenses. So they gather together to try to trap or ensnare Him with His own words. 1. Should We Pay Taxes? 12:13-17 Hatred can sometimes bind diverse people together with a kind of diabolical superglue. Such is the case with the opponents of Jesus. 13a Even the and the got together The Herodians supported the family of Herod as well as the Romans rule of their country. The Pharisees considered Herod to be an evil usurper of the throne of . After all, Herod was not even a Jew. He was an Edomite. The Herodians were political liberals The Pharisees were political conservatives. Yet they were cemented together by their mutual hatred of Jesus. The Pharisees hated Jesus because He was disrupting their religious agenda. The Herodians hated Him because He threatened their political arrangements. They both wanted Him dead. 13b Their intent was to trap Him in a statement They were being hypocritical, or two-faced. 14-15a Their question No matter how Jesus answered, it would put Him in trouble with either the or the Romans. If Jesus told them to pay, He would be seen as a compromiser and disloyal to His people. It would hurt His image with those who viewed Him as the Messianic deliverer. If Jesus said, “Don’t pay,” these religious leaders would charge Jesus before the Romans with promoting insurrection. 15-17 Christ’s Answer 15-17a We are to pay our taxes even if we don’t like or agree with the government cf Romans 13:1-7; 1 Timothy 2:1-6; 1 Peter 2:13-17 Jesus teaches that we are to obey the laws of government except when they specifically tell us to disobey the laws of God. 17b Jesus adds that we must also render to God the things that are God’s Caesar’s image was stamped on the coins, but God’s image is stamped on us. cf Gen1:26-27 Because we are made in God’s image, we belong to God. As we are to that things that are Caesar’s, so we are to give unto God the things that are God’s. Jesus is not just talking about paying tithes to God; He is also talking about our lives. He is calling for a profound commitment to God. 2. Whose Wife Will She Be In The Resurrection? 12:18-27

2 18-23 The ’ Question The Sadducees were the theological liberals. They rejected all but the first five books of the and then interpreted them rather loosely. They didn’t believe in , demons, the existence of the , life after , the resurrection, or final judgment. The Sadducees asked Jesus a question they had probably used a thousand times to stump the conservative Pharisees. They were assuming that because they couldn’t figure out an answer, there was none. Like many skeptics and critics today. Their question involved the Old Testament law of Levirate marriage which taught that if a man died childless, his brother was marry his widow to raise up an heir. cf Deuteronomy 25:5-10 This served several purposes. It produced a child to care for a widow in her old age. It kept a family line from dying out. It kept family wealth intact. 24-27 Jesus’ Answer 1. They did not understand the scriptures. 24a Many OT passages taught about a resurrection 2. They didn’t understand the power of God. 24b God is able to resurrect the death even if they can’t figure out how. 3. She will not be the wife of any of them 25

3 Note that the question wasn’t whether she could get married once she got to , but which of her earthly marriages would last into eternity. Jesus’ answered “none of them”. The institution of marriage does not carry over into heaven. There is no eternal marriage. The next life is different. It is not like this one. There is no need for marriage and procreation. Our bodies will be perfect in heaven and we will to die. The good news is that we will know and each other even more in heaven. When our old sinful natures are gone, we will be more lovable and capable of loving. 4. The does teach a resurrection. 26-27 Jesus could have used any of number of OT passages that clearly teach that there is a life after death. (Dan 12:2; Isa 26:19; Job 19:25-26) But the Sadducees only accepted the first five books of the OT. So Jesus went to an unusual place, in a book they did accept- Exodus 3:6 Jesus based His answer on the present tense of the word. Even though they had died hundreds of years before the time of , God said to him, “I am the God of , , and ,” not “I was their God. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were alive and enjoying an everlasting relationship with God The Significance of Jesus’ Answer

4 Jesus saw the Bible as accurate and reliable down to the very tense of the word used. He had a confidence that God’s word had been recorded accurately and preserved from the time of Moses down to that very time that He was speaking For almost 1500 years 3. What Commandment Is The Foremost Of All? 12:28-34 Jesus states that love for God and love for others are the two most important things in life. To love God with all our heart, soul, , and strength means to love Him with all that we are. To put Him first in our lives To be devoted to Him is not a life of living by rules, but a life living in a relationship with God. God us!! 1 John 3:1a See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. 1 John 3:16a We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; 1 John 4:9-10 By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Matthew 11:28 "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Hebrews 13:5b He Himself has said, "I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER FORSAKE YOU," 5 It is only right that we should love Him!! What Are The Signs That We Love Christ? 1. We keep His commands John 14:15, 21 John 14:15 “If you love me you will keep My commandments.” 2. We put Him ahead of the things of this world 1 :15-16 1 John 2:15-16 Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. 3. We care about the needs of others. 1 John 3:17 1 John 3:17 But whoever has the world's goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? Love for God and love for others is fused together. When we have a loving relationship with God, it enables us to have a loving relationship with others. 4. We love others. 1 John 4:20 1 John 4:20-21 If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also. To love others means to treat them as we treat ourselves. To be as committed to their well-being as we are our own. This not natural to us. 6 The Holy Spirit has to make a radical change in our hearts. What does it mean that a person is “not far from the kingdom of God?” It means that he is facing truth honestly. He is not simply trying to defend what he wanted to believe. He is not trying to defend the party line. He is testing his beliefs by what the Word of God says. He has the courage to stand up for what is true even if it means losing some friends and making some new enemies. After this, no one ventured to ask Him any more questions. It is Jesus’ turn to ask the questions. Jesus quotes :1 and asks them to explain how David’s son could also be David’s Lord. 4. If David Calls the Christ “Lord”, In What Sense Is He His Son? 12:35-37 The Old Testament taught that the Christ would come through the physical linage of David. Jesus asks the question, Why does David call his future offspring, “Lord?” How can the be both David’s son and his Lord if he is merely ? The younger is to honor the elder, not the other way around. The only explanation is that: Jesus must be God. Jesus saw the Bible as accurate and reliable down to the word used. 7 5. Truths That Matter a. Jesus had a high view of the reliability of the Bible. Shouldn’t’ we? Every word is important and reliable. He saw the Bible as trustworthy to the very tense of a word. Get a reliable translation. b. Jesus is our example in how to study the Bible. With confidence With care Words and letters are important We need to be careful to not be like the Sadducees in letting your presuppositions determine how you interpreted the Bible. c. Jesus is God. d. There will be a resurrection day. Many people today are gambling with their lives on the bet that there will be: No life after death, No resurrection, No judgment Jesus and the Bible clearly teach otherwise. John 11:25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who in Me shall live even if he dies, Where will you be? Matthew 25:46 "And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." How can you avoid the judgment? John 5:24 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life,

8 and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. Romans 8:1 Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

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