Badly Mistaken

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MARK

BADLY MISTAKEN

Mark 12:18-27

18 Then the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him with a question. 19 "Teacher," they said, "Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and have children for his brother. 20 Now there were seven brothers. The first one married and died without leaving any children. 21 The second one married the widow, but he also died, leaving no child. It was the same with the third. 22 In fact, none of the seven left any children. Last of all, the woman died too. 23 At the resurrection whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?" 24 Jesus replied, "Are you not in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God? 25 When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. 26 Now about the dead rising — have you not read in the book of Moses, in the account of 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 not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken!" 

NIV

Jesus sets the record straight for this who do not believe in the resurrection, even though their question to him is about the what happens after the resurrection. The response of Jesus should give us all a great deal of hope, as we will someday experience the resurrection. It might be a bitter sweet moment for some of us in the sense that we will no longer be married to our dearly loved spouse but then some of us may have had more than one loved spouse, either because of death of divorce, of course in the case of divorce it may not be a loved spouse, but nevertheless a former spouse. We could find ourselves in the situation the Sadducees were asking Jesus about, at least the part about multiply spouses. The point Jesus was making here was not about the multiply spouses, although he did address that issue, making the point that we would not have any spouses at all in heaven, for we will be like the angels. Now it is unlikely Jesus was saying that we would have wings, but that the family system he had setup for  while we are here on earth will no longer exist, as the angels do not have a family structure, but are all in relationship to God. He did not say that we would not know each other, and enjoy one another’s company, but just that we would not be married, have children, watch then grow up get married, have children and so forth. But the real response Jesus told those Sadducees is that there is in fact a resurrection. “God is not a God of the dead, but the living.” It might be true as we read about God being the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, that we might think he was indeed their God while they were alive, as he is our God now. Certainly that would have been how the Sadducees would have looked at it. But Jesus is making the point that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are still alive and with God and therefore when we are finished with this live, we too will resurrect and be with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, in the presence of our Lord and God. It just could not be any plainer, any more simply than that. Jesus was also making a point about those who know the scriptures and yes, even know the power of God. He told them they were not in error because of their lack of knowledge of the scriptures, for they knew them well. They were badly mistaken because they did not understand the truth of the scriptures. We could learn a lesson there. We might think we are well versed in the Bible and can quote chapter and verse, and yes even quote some commentator about what it means. But we should make sure we are not badly mistaken when it comes to the truth. It is only by the leading of the Holy Spirit that we can know the truth. No matter how much we study, no matter how intellectual we are, if we are listening to men, rather than the Holy Spirit we might well be badly mistaken. We must make sure we are not badly mistaken.