God of the Living

18 And Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection. And they asked him a question, saying, 19 “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife, but leaves no child, the man must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. 20 There were seven brothers; the first took a wife, and when he died left no offspring. 21 And the second took her, and died, leaving no offspring. And the third likewise. 22 And the seven left no offspring. Last of all the woman also died. 23 In the resurrection, when they rise again, whose wife will she be? For the seven had her as wife.”

24 Jesus said to them, “Is this not the reason you are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God? 25 For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 26 And as for the dead being raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? 27 He is not God of the dead, but of the living. You are quite wrong.” – Mark 12:18-27 ESV

Driven by their mutual hatred for Jesus, the Pharisees and Herodians had set aside their long-standing differences and joined forces in a vain attempt to bring His ministry to an end. But they had failed. They had tried to expose Jesus as a political insurrectionist who stood opposed to the Roman government and its excessive taxation of the people of Israel. But these men misunderstood the nature of Jesus’ Kingdom; it was not of this world. He had not come to free Israel from slavery to Rome, but from slavery to sin and death. His mission was spiritual, not political. 

When the Pharisees and Herodians returned to the Sanhedrin and reported the results of their less-than-successful mission, a contingent of Sadducees replaced them. These men would form the second phase of their well-orchestrated attack on Jesus. The Sadducees were a powerful religious/political sect made up of the wealthy and influential upper class of Israel. They held the majority of the 70 seats in the Sanhedrin and controlled much of what happened in and around the temple. Their aristocratic mindset caused them to disdain the common man and to elevate themselves as members of the religious and political elite.

To preserve their superior status within the nation, the Sadducees became reluctant partners with Rome, willingly accepting its presence as a necessary evil. Compromise with Rome allowed them to maintain their control over the nation of Israel. The Sadducees were essentially a political party that dabbled in religion. While they strongly believed in the books of Moses (Genesis through Deuteronomy), they rejected many established doctrines of the Hebrew religion.

For instance, they denied any resurrection of the dead, and this led them to reject the concept of an afterlife. They concluded that the soul perishes at death, eliminating any idea of future rewards or penalties. Therefore, their theology included no concept of heaven or hell. They also rejected any belief in an invisible spiritual realm populated by demons and angels. In a sense, they were the religious progressives of their day, espousing liberal views on a wide range of important doctrines that put them at odds with the more traditional Pharisees.

But since the Pharisees and Herodians failed in their mission to entrap Jesus, the more liberally minded Sadducees got their chance. They approached Jesus with a carefully concocted and convoluted story meant to expose His more conservative and antiquated religious views. These men knew that most of the peasant class also clung to traditional views on the doctrines of the afterlife and resurrection. So they made up a hypothetical story meant to reveal the absurdity of these beliefs.

But like the Pharisees and Herodians who preceded them, the Sadducees would meet their match in Jesus. While they saw Him as nothing more than an uneducated peasant from the backwater village of Nazareth, He would prove far more knowledgeable of the Scriptures and more than able to defend the doctrines of the resurrection and the afterlife.

Jesus had made many comments about eternal life. In fact, He told Nicodemus, a member of the Pharisees, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16 ESV). He offered the Samaritan woman water that would permanently satisfy her thirst and provide her with eternal life.

“…whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” – John 4:14 ESV

More recently, Jesus told Martha, Lazarus's sister, that her dead brother would rise again.

“I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.” – John 11:25-26 ESV

These statements, and others like them, would have reached the Sadducees, and Jesus’ persistent claims regarding eternal life and the resurrection of the dead would have infuriated them. So, they decided to use their superior intelligence and vast knowledge of the Scriptures to expose Him as an uneducated fool. They set up their trap by recounting a well-known law of Moses.

“Moses gave us a law that if a man dies, leaving a wife without children, his brother should marry the widow and have a child who will carry on the brother’s name.”  – Mark 12:19 NLT

They were referring to the levirate law, as outlined in Deuteronomy 25:5-10. This law required that a man's brother, if the man died without a male heir, marry his brother’s widow. The law's primary purpose was to preserve the deceased's name and prevent the widow from becoming destitute. But to expose the ridiculous nature of belief in resurrection, the Sadducees devised a highly unlikely story. It involved a woman who ends up marrying seven different brothers, each of whom dies unexpectedly and prematurely, leaving her a widow without a male heir. Their strange tale ends with the woman’s death, and they summarized their story with a question:

“So tell us, whose wife will she be in the resurrection? For all seven were married to her.” – Mark 12:23 NLT

You can almost see the smug expressions as they dropped this bombshell on the unsuspecting Rabbi from Nazareth. They knew they had Him. There was no way He could answer this confusing conundrum and maintain His naive belief in the resurrection.

Little did they know that their whole story was built around a false premise. Jesus was about to expose their ignorance regarding the doctrine of the resurrection, and it was because they did not understand God's Word. Jesus boldly proclaimed, “Your mistake is that you don’t know the Scriptures, and you don’t know the power of God. For when the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage. In this respect they will be like the angels in heaven” (Mark 12:24-25 NLT).

Jesus delivered a one-two combination that must have been a devastating blow to their overinflated egos. First, He accused them of not knowing the Mosaic Law. Then He added that they were ignorant of God’s power. Since they couldn’t fathom the idea of life after death, they simply discounted it. Despite their careful study of the books of Moses, they didn’t believe that Yahweh was God of the impossible. Instead, they viewed Him as limited in power and confined to interacting with men only in this life. 

Their primary error was trying to apply a temporal law to eternal matters. They were so obsessed with the here and now that they couldn’t conceive of a hereafter. Jesus had told the Pharisee, Nicodemus, “If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?” (John 3:12 ESV). These men could not understand eternal truths. They tried to comprehend the ways of God through the cloudy lenses of their earthly perspective. Had he been around, the apostle Paul would have told them, “Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways!” (Romans 11:33 NLT).

Their limited understanding had led to a limited view of God. They couldn’t conceive of an afterlife because they viewed it as implausible and impossible. They were intimately familiar with death and probably feared it. Since they couldn’t see what lay beyond the grave, they simply refused to acknowledge that anything was there. They concluded that this life was all there was.

The whole story they concocted rested on misconceptions and misinterpretations of Scripture. So Jesus told them there would be no marriage in the afterlife. It really didn’t matter how many husbands the fictitious widow had in this life because there will be no marriage in the next life. There will be no need to procreate and fill the earth. By virtue of His vast power, God will give resurrected, glorified bodies to all who live in His eternal Kingdom. Men and women will no longer be expected to bring new life into the world. Their God-given mandate to be fruitful and multiply will no longer apply.

Jesus adds another not-so-subtle clarification meant to expose another of the Sadducees’ errant beliefs. He states that, in the eternal state, men and women will be much more like angels than human beings. They will be divine creatures who can live in unbroken fellowship with God the Father for eternity. Like the angels, they will focus all their time and energy on His glory and offer Him ceaseless praise.

Jesus ends with a lesson on the Old Testament Scriptures. He takes them back to the writings of Moses, recounting the story of the burning bush as recorded in Exodus. There, in the Midianite wilderness, God appeared to Moses and called him to deliver His people. From the burning bush, God declared to Moses, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob” (Exodus 3:6 ESV). These three men had long been dead by the time Moses came along, yet God refers to Himself as their God, using the present tense, not the past tense. Jesus was trying to reveal to these so-called experts in the Pentateuch what they had missed. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were not gone; they had just been relocated; they were in God's presence.

Like the Pharisees and Herodian before them, the Sadducees failed. They proved no match for the Son of God. Having put all their hope in this life,  they couldn’t comprehend Jesus’ offer of eternal life. But the doctrine of the resurrection was central to Jesus’ teaching, and His resurrection from the dead would validate His offer of eternal life. The apostle Paul summed it up well.

…if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless. And we apostles would all be lying about God—for we have said that God raised Christ from the grave. But that can’t be true if there is no resurrection of the dead. And if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins. In that case, all who have died believing in Christ are lost! And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world.

But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died. – 1 Corinthians 15:13-20 NLT

Having rejected the doctrine of resurrection, the Sadducees unknowingly rejected the One who would make it possible. Their limited view of God and their flawed understanding of His word kept them from seeing and believing in the One who could give them eternal life. These men revered Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but couldn’t imagine that they were still alive. Yet, Jesus said His Father was “not God of the dead, but of the living” (Mark 12:27 ESV). In God’s Kingdom, death is not the end; it is the beginning. As Cody Carnes wrote in the chorus of his song, Christ Be Magnified, “death is just the doorway into resurrection life.” Christ has been raised from the dead and is the first of a great harvest of all who have died. God’s Word promised it, God’s Spirit fulfilled it, and, as Paul wrote, we can place our hope in it.

The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you. – Romans 8:11 NLT

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Keep Your Eye On the Prize

12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. 16 Only let us hold true to what we have attained.

17 Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. 18 For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. 20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself. – Philippians 3:12-21 ESV

Paul has just expressed the motivating factor behind his life: “that I may know him and the power of his resurrection…” (Philippians 3:11 ESV). For Paul, this knowledge of Christ included a personal and tangible experience of the divine power that raised Jesus from the dead. This remarkable resource came in the form of the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. As Paul told the believers in Rome, “The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you” (Romans 8:11 NLT). The power made available by the Spirit of God was producing spiritual fruit in Paul’s life in the form of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). These qualities were the direct result of the Spirit’s presence and power, not Paul’s own self-effort.

But Paul knew that the resurrection power made available by the Holy Spirit had an even more significant aspect to it that he longed to experience: His own physical resurrection from the dead. Paul had a long-term, eternal perspective. He knew that there was much more to a saving relationship with Jesus Christ than our earthly experiences. Yes, Paul was fully aware that the resurrection power he coveted had short-term, in-this-lifetime ramifications; it produced spiritual fruit and provided the power needed to live distinctively different lives.

For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives. – Romans 6:4 NLT

But Paul longed to experience the full scope of that resurrection power in his life.

Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was. – Romans 6:5 NLT

In his first letter to the believers in Corinth, Paul explained the implications of being physically resurrected just as Jesus was.

Our earthly bodies are planted in the ground when we die, but they will be raised to live forever. Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength. They are buried as natural human bodies, but they will be raised as spiritual bodies. – 1 Corinthians 15:42-44 NLT

Paul understood that there was a transitional state after death. Upon breathing his final breath on earth, his physical life would come to an end, but his eternal life would begin. He would enter into God’s Kingdom and be reunited with Jesus, the one who had commissioned him for his earthly ministry. But the question is, what kind of body will Paul have? According to the Scriptures, the resurrection of our bodies will not take place until Christ returns for His bride, the church. Paul wrote about this in his first letter to the church in Corinth.

…our physical bodies cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. These dying bodies cannot inherit what will last forever.

But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed. For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies. – 1 Corinthians 15:50-53 NLT

So, in the intermediate state, after death and awaiting the Rapture of the church and the resurrection, it would seem that the saints in heaven are in spiritual/non-corporeal form. In his vision of heaven recorded in the Book of Revelation, the apostle provides a brief insight into this matter.

I saw under the altar the souls of all who had been martyred for the word of God and for being faithful in their testimony. – Revelatioon 6:9 NLT

John saw those who had come to faith during the Tribulation and been put to death by the Antichrist, just prior to the Second Coming of Christ. They were standing before the throne of God, but in a non-physical form. John refers to them as “souls.” They will receive their resurrected bodies after the final judgment. Jesus talked about this final resurrection.

Don’t be so surprised! Indeed, the time is coming when all the dead in their graves will hear the voice of God’s Son, and they will rise again. Those who have done good will rise to experience eternal life, and those who have continued in evil will rise to experience judgment. – John 5:28-29 NLT

But Paul knew that the day would come when all believers will receive a new glorified physical body, just as Jesus did at His resurrection. After His resurrection, Jesus appeared to His disciples in bodily form, but that new body was significantly different than the one He had before. Jesus ate several meals with His disciples and interacted with them just as He had before His death. But according to the gospel accounts, Jesus’ new body was not limited by time or space. He was able to enter a locked room with no difficulty (John 20:19), and yet John indicates that Jesus’ body was the same one that died on the cross because “he showed them his hands and his side” (John 20:20 ESV). His physical wounds were still evident even in His glorified state.

The apostle John also confirms that we will one day have glorified bodies just as Jesus does, and while we cannot fully comprehend the nature of our final resurrected state, it is something for which we should eagerly long.

…we are already God's children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him. – 1 John 3:2 NLT

So, Paul was striving to live in the power of the Spirit in this life, but longing to experience the transformative power of the Spirit that comes only after death. He maintained a delicate balance between his thoughts on the here and now and the hereafter.

Paul confessed to the Philippian believers that he was far from perfect. In other words, he had not yet attained all that he longed for; he was a work in progress. But he had an unflinching desire to pursue and experience all that Christ had died to make available to him.

But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. – Philippians 3:12 NLT

He used the Greek word, diōkō, which has a range of meanings. It carries the idea of physical exertion or effort and is far from a passive word. It could mean “to run swiftly in order to catch a person or thing,” and could also refer to someone running in a race using all their available energy to reach the finish line. Paul wasn’t sitting back and waiting for heaven. But he also wasn’t waiting for the Holy Spirit to do all the work. He knew he had a part to play in the process of his spiritual transformation in this life.

Paul had a singular focus: To become like Christ. He wanted to “possess that perfection” that Christ had in mind for him. He wanted to experience all that his new life in Christ had to offer.  That is why he says, “I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us” (Philippians 3:14 NLT). Notice that his attention is fixed on the prize, the finish line. Paul is not insinuating that our glorification is somehow tied to self-effort in this life. He is not teaching that we have to earn our way into heaven; he is simply emphasizing that he desired what God wanted. He understood that God had an eternal reward in store for him, and he would not be satisfied with anything less. He would not allow himself to be distracted by the things of this earth, and he urged the Philippians to follow his example.

Dear brothers and sisters, pattern your lives after mine, and learn from those who follow our example. – Philippians 3:17 NLT

Paul wasn’t bragging or holding himself up as some icon of spiritual virtue; he was simply encouraging them to live with the same focus on the finish line that he had. He warns them that there are other examples they could follow that would only leave them disappointed and defeated in their spiritual lives.

…there are many whose conduct shows they are really enemies of the cross of Christ. They are headed for destruction. – Philippians 3:18-19 NLT

Notice his emphasis on conduct. As followers of Christ, we cannot attempt to separate our behavior from our beliefs; the two go hand in hand and are inseparable. Yet, Paul warned that there were those within the Philippian church whose conduct, if followed, would lead to destruction. The Greek word Paul used is apōleia, and while it can refer to damnation or eternal destruction, it can also be translated as “waste” or “ruin.” Keep in mind Paul’s metaphor of running a race. These were individuals who failed to finish the race well. They got distracted along the way and, rather than victory, they experienced defeat.

It seems unlikely that this is a reference to a loss of their salvation. Paul believed that salvation was the work of Jesus Christ alone. As he told the believers in Ephesus: “Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it” (Ephesians 2:9 ESV). Jesus Himself promised, “And this is the will of God, that I should not lose even one of all those he has given me, but that I should raise them up at the last day” (John 6:39 NLT).

What Paul seems to be referring to are those within the Philippian church who were living lives of licentiousness. They were what would later become known as antinomians, which simply means “anti-law.” They held a view that was diametrically opposed to the Judaizers. One group was made up of legalists, putting far too much weight on keeping the law; the other side simply said the law no longer mattered and taught that we could live however we wanted to live. This mindset had serious ramifications, and Paul points out the danger behind this anything-goes mentality.

Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth. – Philippians 3:19 NLT

Jude had some strong words for this group as well.

…these people scoff at things they do not understand. Like unthinking animals, they do whatever their instincts tell them, and so they bring about their own destruction. – Jude 1:10 NLT

Paul pulls no punches when he states that their “conduct shows they are really enemies of the cross of Christ” (Philippians 3:18 NLT). Their conduct did not match their confession; their behavior didn’t line up with their expressed beliefs. They lived for the here and now, failing to focus their energies and attention on the long-term goal God had in mind.

And Paul leaves little doubt as to his point in all of this. He wants the Philippians to live with purpose and to conduct their lives according to their newfound status as citizens of the eternal Kingdom. That is their future home. That is their destiny.

…we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. – Philippians 3:20 NLT

Paul is not suggesting that they be so heavenly-minded that they end up being of no earthly good. He is not calling them to live with their heads in the sky, but to live with their eyes firmly fixed on the finish line. They are running a race that will require that they maintain their focus. They will have to strain and strive in this life, fight off exhaustion, and ignore the pain and suffering that comes along the way. And Paul brings it all full circle, reminding his brothers and sisters in Christ that the point of it all is the day when we will all experience the power of the resurrection.

He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control. – Philippians 3:21 NLT

That’s the goal. That’s the prize. And that should be the very thing that keeps us running the race to win.

Father, there is a lot about the resurrection we will never understand until it takes place. I have a difficult time comprehending the nature of our resurrected bodies. I look forward to having a new-and-improved body that will be free from pain and suffering, and non-susceptible to the temptations of sin. But, in this fallen world, it is hard to imagine what that will be like. Yet, as Paul states, that is to be my focus. It is to be my motivation for running the race with determination. The finish line is the goal. The resurrection is the objective. Yet, how easy it is to pursue my best life in this life. How quick we are to try and make earth our heavenly home. But You have something far better in store for us. You have a future Kingdom prepared and a new heaven and a new earth in store that will make this one pale in comparison. That is where our citizenship is and that is where we will enjoy unbroken felloship with You and Your Son for eternity. Help me keep my eye on the prize. Amen. 

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.