THE GOD OF ABRAHAM

Mark 12:18-27
Key Verse: 12:26b

     "I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of
     Jacob."

     In the last passage the Pharisees came to Jesus and asked him, "Is
it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?" (14) This question was subtle
enough to make anyone fall into a dilemma. The Israelites were occupied
by the Roman Empire. They had to pay taxes to the Roman Empire as one of
the colonial peoples. However, the people of Israel believed that they
had to love God only. They were happy to pay the Jewish temple tax. But
they were sorry about paying taxes to Rome, thinking it was illegal to
pay the tax to the Roman Emperor, and thinking that they were a chosen
people. Jesus said in verse 17, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and
to God what is God's." Jesus' answer taught them the basic duties to
state and church. Christian faith is based on the fact that God's people
must love God only. But Jesus answered them, "Give to Caesar what is
Caesar's." The Sadducees heard that the Pharisees failed terribly in
trapping Jesus. The Sadducees felt good, thinking they were superior
to the Pharisees. In today's passage the Sadducees were more than sure
they could trap Jesus with a very subtle question and put him in deep
trouble. Let's see what their question was and how Jesus helped them to
understand the spiritual world.

I.  The motive of the Sadducees' denial of the resurrection (18-23)

     According to Josephus the historian, the word "Sadducee" means
"the righteous one." But in light of history, the Sadducees had never
been "the righteous ones"; they were, in general, opportunists or
sheer pragmatists. The origin of the Sadducees is obscure. Probably
the Sadducees became a sect when the priesthood became increasingly
powerful. At the time of Jesus, the people of Israel were suffering
under the yoke of the Roman Empire. But the Sadducees were known as
aristocrats. They were more interested in maintaining the status quo
than in the religious purity of the nation. Simply speaking, they were
not godly people, but were political people. For example, they did not
believe in the resurrection of the body (18). They also did not believe in
any spiritual realities, such as spirits, angels and the immortality of
the soul. It is irony that the high priests' position had been occupied
by atheistic Sadducees throughout many generations. It has been said,
"The world is mad and full of ironies." This saying might have stemmed
from the Sadducees. With the authority and power of the high priesthood,
they abused their power over the suffering people.

     The Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection because they
loved the world so much that they had no idea about the spiritual
realities. They were ancient hedonists who loved the world and with
money they wanted to live in the world forever. Moreover, the Sadducees
did not believe in the resurrection in order to deny the Bible teaching,
especially that everybody has to stand before the judgment seat of God
after death (2Co 5:10). They really wanted to escape standing before
the judgment seat of God. So they lived as if they were agnostics. As
a result, they denied the resurrection of the body doggedly. They were
like little children who cover their eyes with their fingers and say,
"There is no sky." Especially, the Sadducees did not like one of Jesus'
titles, "The Son of David," which indicated the coming Messiah who would
die for the sin of the world and rise again on the third day. They
came to Jesus to discredit him in the eyes of the people and get him
in trouble with the Roman power as to the authority of Jesus (Mt 21:23)
and as to the resurrection of the body.

     The Sadducees asked a question made up of a most sorrowful and
grotesque story which goes as follows: "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. Now there were
seven brothers. The first one married and died without leaving any
children. The second one married the widow, but he also died, leaving
no child. It was the same with the third. In fact, none of the seven
left any children. Last of all, the woman died too. At the resurrection
whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?" (19-23)
The Sadducees, in making up this story, made use of the Jewish levirate
law of marriage. Deuteronomy 25:5-10 says, "If brothers are living
together and one of them dies without a son, his widow must not marry
outside the family. Her husband's brother shall take her and marry her
and fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to her. The first son she bears
shall carry on the name of the dead brother so that his name will not
be blotted out from Israel. However, if a man does not want to marry
his brother's wife, she shall go to the elders at the town gate and
say, ‘My husband's brother refuses to carry on his brother's name in
Israel. He will not fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to me.' Then
the elders of his town shall summon him and talk to him. If he persists
in saying, ‘I do not want to marry her,' his brother's widow shall go
up to him in the presence of the elders, take off one of his sandals,
spit in his face and say, ‘This is what is done to the man who will not
build up his brother's family line.' That man's line shall be known in
Israel as The Family of the Unsandaled." The story of Judah and Tamar
in Genesis is a good example of Jewish tradition (Gen 38).

     The gist of the Sadducees' question was, "At the resurrection
whose wife will she be, since the seven brothers were married to her?"
The Sadducees thought that in asking such a question they had rendered
the whole idea of the resurrection completely ridiculous. The Sadducees
never believed in the resurrection. But they asked Jesus what would
happen at the resurrection by saying, "At the resurrection whose wife
will she be?" (23) They were indeed contradictory people.

     The Sadducees' assumptive story is not acceptable. For instance,
how can a woman, a human being, marry seven brothers unless she is
made of steel? Even if she is made of steel, how could she change her
emotional feelings like we change the cartridge of a printer, in order
to marry seven times? The Sadducees never understood the integrity of
a woman. Usually a woman marries one time. She never wants to marry
again. In the Old Testament, the widow Ruth said to her mother-in-law,
Naomi, "...if anything but death separates you and me" (Ru 1:17b). She
is a good illustration of a genuine woman. When we analyze their story,
the Sadducees were people who could do anything to carry out their
political intrigue. Maybe this is the reason people say, "politicians
are first-class liars."

     The Sadducees talked about the marriage problem because it was in the
first place of their hearts. The Sadducees were excessively obsessed with
grabbing a woman of noble birth in their hands. This is why they asked,
"Whose wife will she be?" They were always sick with the idea to grab
something in their hands.

     What is worse, the Sadducees had the problem of death in their
hearts, even though they did not know what it was. They were aristocratic
people. They enjoyed a luxurious life and their political power. So they
wanted to live in this world forever and never die. But things did not
go as they had expected. The Sadducees ignored the spiritual realities
completely. But they could not be an exception from the absolute of God
that man is both body and spirit. For example, the president of a company
who possessed a 27-story building invited his pastor to dinner. After the
dinner he asked his pastor a question, "Is it okay if I drink just one
cup of wine before going to bed?" The president's wife, sitting next to
him at the table, said sadly, "He wants to drink just one cup of wine,
then just one more cup of wine and then one more cup of wine until he
is drunken almost every night." This man's tragedy was that he did not
know the simple truth that man is both body and spirit. He did not know
the fact that he was under the power of sin and death. So every night
demons held a carnival in the man's soul.

     The experience of Cain was very familiar to the Sadducees. They
knew God but they did not respect God. They did not obey God. When Cain
felt good he bought a Big Mac for his younger brother, Abel. But when
he felt bad he killed his brother by beating him to death. Still, God
promised him that he would care for him. But Cain did not accept God's
promise. Cain said to God, "My punishment is more than I can bear"
(Ge 4:13). When Cain wanted to live in the world leaving God out,
he had no direction. So he became a restless wanderer. He was going
somewhere every day until he was completely exhausted. His life was full
of constant sufferings and anxiety. Cain wanted to live freely, leaving
God out of his life so that he might live freely in his own way. But he
was not free. He was a restless wanderer.

     There was a man called Zacchaeus. His official title was "A Chief
Tax Collector of Jericho." He ate a lot. As a result, he weighed 244
pounds even though he was 4' 11". He did not need a chair because he was
so roly-poly that his standing or sitting didn't make any difference.
One day he heard that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by Jericho. Since
he was short, he climbed up a sycamore tree to see Jesus. Jesus saw
that he was a lost soul. Jesus' compassionate heart went out to him.
Jesus called him, "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at
your house today" (Lk 19:5). Jesus invited himself and his disciples
to Zacchaeus' house and gave him the grace of forgiveness of sins and
eternal life. Jesus declared to the world, "He is also a son of Abraham."
It was indeed a glorious declaration to this wretched man Zacchaeus.
Then Zacchaeus' heart was changed. He confessed he would give half
of his possessions to the poor and if he owed anything to anybody he
would pay them back four times as much. If he really wanted to do so,
he had to get a huge loan from the bank. It was impossible for him. But
his repentant testimony was very sincere and tearful. More than that,
his story tells us that money didn't make him happy. Jesus made him
happy when he came to Jesus as he was.

     As was Zacchaeus, the Sadducees were fallen men because they did
not know the Bible. What they worried about was whom to marry and when
they would die. And who could make their hair stand on end was in their
minds. They were greedy and selfish. Romans 2:7,8 says, "To those who
by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will
give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the
truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger."  The Sadducees
were in God's wrath and anger.

II.  The God of Abraham (24-27)

First, they will be like the angels in heaven (24-25). The Sadducees
came to Jesus to trap him. How did Jesus deal with them? Jesus knew that
they had a malicious intention. But Jesus did not mind. Jesus loved
them as a mother loves her children. Jesus said in verse 24, "Are you
not in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of
God?" Jesus did not rebuke their immediate evil intention and their
motive to trap him. Rather Jesus wanted to help them see their error
in light of God's word. When Jesus saw them, they had many problems.
But the root problem was that they did not know the Bible and that our
God is the living God and the Ruler of human history.

     The Sadducees had to believe the basic truths in the Bible. For
instance, God created the heavens and the earth and everything in it (Ge
1:1). On the sixth day he made man. God made man in the image of God so
that man could grow until he became like Jesus. God made the garden of
Eden in the best part of the world. There, God established one family
between Adam and Eve so that they could be stewards of God's world. In
other words, God gave man mission as the meaning of life. God also gave
man a command not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil
(Ge 2:17) in order to establish the spiritual order of the universe: God
first; mankind second; the world and everything in it third. If there is
no order in the world, the world is chaotic and lawless. The Sadducees
especially had to know that God made his one and only Son a ransom
sacrifice for the sin of the world.  God gave eternal salvation in which
they could enjoy the love of God and the peace of God. In fact, they knew
all these things. But they suppressed the absolutes of God deliberately,
because they were so attached to the things of the world. If they wanted
something, it was to live in the world forever as yuppies. They did
not know the truth of God that all men are made out of the dust of the
ground and all men go back to the dust of the ground. They did not know
that God is Spirit (Jn 4:24).  They did not know that man is a soul.

     There is a story about a queen. Her husband was a despotic king.
He was merciless to other people, even to the crown prince. Especially,
he killed many Christians. But he loved his wife so dearly for 35 years.
In spite of himself, the king gave all of his affection to his wife. When
the king felt he was going to die, he said to his wife, "You can request
anything you want in your heart. Then the request will be granted,
whatever it may be." The queen confessed that she had secretly been a
Christian for the last 30 years. And she pleaded with the king that she
be baptized by a missionary and receive eternal salvation. The king was
surprised that the queen did not appreciate the power and glory of his
kingdom. But as he promised, he said, "Your request is granted," and
cried. The queen's story tells us that God made man to be happy when
his soul is in Jesus.

     Contrary to the Sadducees' thought, death is not the end of
everything. Man is immortal. Man has eternal life. Man has God's promise
that he will inherit the kingdom of God. John 6:63 says, "The Spirit gives
life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are
spirit and they are life." When we die, our flesh goes back to the dust
of the ground because it came from the dust. But our soul lives forever.

     Read verse 25. "When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be
given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven." Here "angels"
do not merely refer to God's messengers or neutral beings as ordinary
angels. In this case the words, "like the angels," mean that they will
be like Jesus. 1 Corinthians 15:49 says, "And just as we have borne
the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the
man from heaven." Jesus did not talk about the struggle of marriage or
possessions. Jesus told them that they would enjoy eternal salvation and
the beauty of the kingdom forever. When we believe in the resurrection
of Jesus we can receive the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God gives us
joy and peace and security. We must hear Jesus' words, "They will be
like the angels in heaven." When we hear Jesus' words we can believe
that we shall be like Jesus.

Second, God is living (26-27). Look at verse 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'?" This verse is a quotation of Exodus 3:6. When Moses
gave up his princeship in the Egyptian Empire and chose to live with the
people of God, he had to undergo 40 years of wilderness life with Jethro's
seven daughters. He could not feel that God was living in his fugitive
life. Once Moses saw a bush burning. It was burning continuously. So he
went near it to look at it more carefully. Suddenly the word of God came
to him. "Moses, Moses, take off your sandals, for the place where you
are standing is holy ground" (Ex 3:4,5). Then he said, "I am the God of
your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob"
(Ex 3:6). Here God was teaching Moses that he is living. At this moment,
Moses was aware of God's presence. God is living. Verse 27a says,
"He is not the God of the dead but of the living."  God is also Father
to all mankind. Humanly speaking, God has to be Father to Abraham and
God has to be Grandfather to Isaac and God has to be Great-Grandfather
to Jacob. But God says, "I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and
the God of Jacob." This tells us that there is one God and all men of
all generations are his precious children.

     Most importantly, Jesus is teaching the Sadducees that God is ruling
world history. At the time Moses lived, the civilization of Babylonia
was gone. It was the time of the Egyptian Empire. The Egyptians invented
mathematics, astronomy and the art of oratory. Thus the Egyptian Empire
culminated the peak of human civilization in history.  Moses was born
a Hebrew slave. But by God's providence, he became a prince, the son of
Pharaoh's daughter. When we review human history, we see that Babylonian
civilization is gone. Greek civilization is gone. Roman civilization is
gone. After Roman civilization, barbarian civilization is going on. The
world changes morning by morning. But God's history is steadily moving on
toward God's will for world salvation. As God promised, God sent his one
and only Son Jesus Christ. According to God's will, Jesus died and rose
again. The worldly kingdom is very temporal and kings and queens are born
to be sorrowful and miserable because of their sins. But God is the God
of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. He is living and
he is ruling the world to save men from their sins without missing anyone.

     In this passage we learn that the Sadducees could not buy happiness
with money. There may be many who want to buy happiness in exchange for
twelve trunks of greenbacks. There are also those who know that happiness
comes from God when we believe in him, but their sinful nature has grown
to the full extent and it never allows them to come to God. Faith to come
to Jesus is simple faith, as simple as that of children. Many people who
are getting old are sad because their wrinkles increase day by day. But
in this passage we learn that we don't have to worry about this. It's
because there is no marriage problem in Jesus. Also, we will all be
like the angels; we will all be like Jesus. We have eternal salvation
in Jesus. In this passage we must remember that man is both body and
spirit and we are precious children of God forever.


STUDY QUESTIONS

1. Read verse 18. What do you know about the Sadducees? Why would
   so-called religious people not believe the resurrection? (2Co 5:10)
   What was their motive in questioning Jesus?

2. Read verses 19-22. What sorrowful story did they tell? What is the
   Biblical basis of their story? (See Dt 25:5-10; Gen 38) What does
   this story show about their inner lives?

3. Read verse 23. What was the Sadducees' question? What did they think
   their story and question proved? Why? Why were they preoccupied with
   death? With marriage?

4. Read verses 24-25. According to Jesus, why were the Sadducees in
   error? What did they need to know about God? What did they need
   to learn from the Bible? What did Jesus teach about marriage in
   heaven? What does this mean? (1Co 15:49)

5. Read verses 26-27. What Scripture did Jesus quote? See Ex 3:4-6.
   What was the occasion? How do the Scriptures teach that God is
   living and that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are also living with God?
   What does it mean to us to know that God is living?