Mark 12:18-34. In yesterday’s reading we saw continuing conflict between Jesus and the Jewish religious leaders.  The leaders wanted to get rid of him but they were playing politics because they knew that many of the people respected him.  There were several groups of religious leaders during the time of Jesus.  These groups included the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Herodians, and the scribes, as well as others.  Yesterday the scribes and Pharisees tired to get Jesus in trouble with the Roman authorities but it didn’t work.  I was impressed how Jesus appealed to them to turn their lives back to God in spite of the fact that they were part of a long history of leaders and people who had rejected God.  Jesus even implied that, at least some of them would not turn back (remember that the evil vine-growers eventually killed the owners son), but he still kept offering them a place in God’s kingdom.

In today’s reading another group of the leaders come to Jesus, some of the  Sadducees.  Right away Mark reminds us that the Sadducees don’t believe in the resurrection; that is they do not believe in an afterlife.  Yet they are questioning him about the afterlife.  Pretty insincere.  Their question involves what must have been a completely fabricated situation about seven brothers all eventually marrying the same woman and each dying.  Before you think, “Oh gross!” Think about the story of Ruth.  In that story Ruth had married a guy who then died.  After moving to Israel she met and married a close relative of her former husband and they lived happily ever after.  Now Boaz (the close relative) was impressed by Ruth but he also married her because of a rule in the law of Moses.  If a guy got married and then died without leaving behind any children then an unmarried brother or other close relative needed to marry the widow.  The first child would be considered the descendant of the dead husband.  Any other children would count as descendants of the new husband.  The reason for this law was so no family would become extinct.  This may have been important because God had made specific promises to the various families in Israel and wanted to preserve them so he could fulfill they promises.  At the very least it shows that God is concerned about the lives of individuals; we are each important to him.  I’m glad Boaz stepped up to the plate with Ruth because Jesus was eventually one of the descendants of their child, Obed.  By the way there is no record of Boaz and Ruth having any other children so Boaz may have sacrificed his own family name for all of us.   The Bible is full of amazing people, but that is what happens when you submit to an amazing loving God.

So the Sadducees ask Jesus about the seven brothers.  In turn each one married the girl and each one died.  Sounds like some crazy “reality TV show” or a story from a “48 hours Mystery”, but that was their story and they were sticking to it.  Then they asked whose wife she would be in the resurrection; the after life.  Completely insincere, remember they don’t believe in an after life.  I’m not sure what they were up to.  Certainly they couldn’t get him in trouble with the Romans over a theological question like this.  Maybe they were hoping he would give some kind of lame answer that would discredit him with the people.  On the other hand the Pharisees totally disagreed with the Sadducees about the after life and maybe they were trying to provoke some more hostility between Jesus and that group.

What ever their reason Jesus answered them in a straight up way.  He told them that they didn’t really know as much about the Old Testament as they thought that they did.  Resurrected people are not still married in the eternal kingdom nor do they get married.  Evidently marriage is for here and now.  Then Jesus went on to show them that resurrection is completely true.  When God talked to Moses he called himself the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, all three of whom had been dead for hundreds of years.  But Jesus indicated that God’s language implied that those three still existed and that God had an active relationship with them.  Therefore an after life does exist according to the Old Testament.  His final words to them are very important, “You are greatly mistaken”.  This is so important because if there is no resurrection then all of what Jesus was doing and all of what God had promised to the Israelites and the world in the Old Testament was a waste and lies.  Paul told the church in the city of Corinth that if there is no afterlife then we (believers in Jesus) are the most pathetic beings on earth (1 Corinthians 15:14-19).  It’s really all about an eternal relationship with God.

The next part of our reading today actually picks up on that idea.  Another leader comes to Jesus, a scribe.  Unlike the earlier leaders who were insincere and trying to trick or trap Jesus, this man was impressed with Jesus’ answer.  He asked Jesus what the greatest commandment was in the Old Testament.  Jesus answer was that a person needed to recognize that there is only one God and that they needed to honor God with their whole being.  Then Jesus told him there was a second that was very important also; to care for others like we care about ourselves.  In Matthew there is a similar story and Jesus actually tells the person that the whole Law of Moses is summed up in these two commandments.  Jesus’ answer points out the reality of God and God’s love for people.  Two very important points for the Roman believers and for us as well.  Unlike the others leaders who always seem to back away, this man acknowledges that Jesus answered well.  Jesus encouraged the man that he was getting close to finding his place in eternity.  What a contrast with the Sadducees who didn’t even believe in an afterlife.  The final words of our reading today are kind of sad though, after this episode no one asked Jesus any more questions.

I think that today’s reading really points out that there is spiritual truth; God, the afterlife, Heaven, Hell, are all a reality and there is specific truth about each of these things.  We don’t make up what it’s all about, God determined how it all is going to work.  That’s a good thing though because God is exceeding wise and filled with love for us, so the eternity he as planned is the best that it can be.  We can either accept of reject the truth about what is to come but we don’t get to make up our own truth.  I’m sure that all of this would have been comforting to those Roman believes who live in a very unstable world.  It should be comforting to us too.  It’s like the words to that old hymn, “This world’s not my home I’m just passing through.  My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue.  The angles beckon me from Heavens open door and I can’t feel at home in this world anymore.”  We do live in the here and now but we do have a there and then waiting for us.  And in the mean time we have a God who has power and loves us and will help us live for there and then in the here and now, like Boaz, and Jesus, and the prophets mentioned yester day who suffered so we could be a part of eternity (See Hebrews 11 especially verse 40).

God thank you for not giving up on us.  Thank you for faithfully reaching out to us.  Thank you for giving each of us an opportunity to return to you.  Help my not be blinded by my own version of reality.  Help me listen to you and accept the truth you are teaching.  Let my life grow ever closer to the reality of eternity with you that I am waiting for.  Let me be a light to others so they can believe too.  Thank you for your love and patience.