Word@Work 142 - Mark 12:24-25
Published: Wed, 06/11/08
Word@Work from BeaconLight
Read Mark 12:24-25 Jesus replied, "Are you not in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God? When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. (NIV)
The Sadducees had their own idea about how life should work - but without accepting God's view, they were bound to get it wrong. The problem of not starting with God, is that you cannot arrive with God. And there is certainly no way we can know about the after-life, if we ignore the Scriptures. When we reduce God to our earthly level, we automatically reject His power - as the primary factor in our origin, existence and destiny.
The Sadducees, who did not believe in an after-life or angels, got Jesus' rebuke. "You are in error", really means, "you are self deceived". They ignored God's Word and made up their own universe - they were fooling themselves (as does everybody who navigates without the Scriptural compass). Marriage, Jesus said, was for earth and not for heaven. We need marriage as a framework for sex and society - but the angels already live by a different social order. Our resurrection bodies will meet the needs of a Jesus focussed society, in which we are all children of one Father.
While God hates divorce, and Jesus spoke (far more clearly than our culture) about remarriage during the lifetime of the divorced spouse - widows and widowers are quite free to remarry. But the thrust of Jesus' comment was not so much to define marriage or heaven, as to alert them to the folly of self deception in this life - through a wilful disregard of God's Word. Our own society and government structures need this rebuke as much as we do; accompanied by the humility to change.
Prayer: Dear Lord. Help me to restructure my thinking, speaking and actions by understanding and accepting Your Word - so that I will not deceive myself and live as though there is no judgment. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
You can read more of this Bible passage online - in English and other languages - share the Bible with your friends!
The Sadducees had their own idea about how life should work - but without accepting God's view, they were bound to get it wrong. The problem of not starting with God, is that you cannot arrive with God. And there is certainly no way we can know about the after-life, if we ignore the Scriptures. When we reduce God to our earthly level, we automatically reject His power - as the primary factor in our origin, existence and destiny.
The Sadducees, who did not believe in an after-life or angels, got Jesus' rebuke. "You are in error", really means, "you are self deceived". They ignored God's Word and made up their own universe - they were fooling themselves (as does everybody who navigates without the Scriptural compass). Marriage, Jesus said, was for earth and not for heaven. We need marriage as a framework for sex and society - but the angels already live by a different social order. Our resurrection bodies will meet the needs of a Jesus focussed society, in which we are all children of one Father.
While God hates divorce, and Jesus spoke (far more clearly than our culture) about remarriage during the lifetime of the divorced spouse - widows and widowers are quite free to remarry. But the thrust of Jesus' comment was not so much to define marriage or heaven, as to alert them to the folly of self deception in this life - through a wilful disregard of God's Word. Our own society and government structures need this rebuke as much as we do; accompanied by the humility to change.
Prayer: Dear Lord. Help me to restructure my thinking, speaking and actions by understanding and accepting Your Word - so that I will not deceive myself and live as though there is no judgment. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
You can read more of this Bible passage online - in English and other languages - share the Bible with your friends!
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