Adam, Zac, Hayley, Jessica, Cassidy, Micah, Megan & Kati,

Jesus and the Sanhedrin

Part 2 (12:18-44)

The Test of the Sadducees

The Sadducees are connected to the temple priests and are actually the “theologically conservative” branch, believing only the written Torah (OT), not the verbal traditions that the Pharisees passed down. They don’t believe in Resurrection since it’s not explicitly taught in the Torah (though there are references to “Sheol”, which is a bit different). Their elaborate (fictional) setup of seven men marrying one woman is based on the concept that if a man dies without kids, his brother is obligated to marry his wife in order to preserve his family line.

I love Jesus response, yet it scares me, too: isn’t this why you’re wrong, that you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God? He cuts to the core with authority and declares that there will be a new order in heaven, without marriage, similar to the angelic system. I like what Edwards has to say here:

Interestingly, the categories of v25 – marital existence and angelic existence – repeat those of Genesis 6:1-2, in which the “sons of God” condescended to take human wives. (This likeness is even clearer in Luke 20:35-36, where the angels are called huioi theou (“Sons of God”), as they are in Genesis 6:2). But in v25 the order is reversed: whereas Genesis 6:1-2 appears to signify for the author of Genesis that the effects of the fall extended even to heaven, Jesus’ use of the same categories in v25 signify the full redemption of the fallen order, in both its earthly and heavenly manifestations, and the full realization of glorified heavenly existence.

I had always assumed that a marriage-less heaven meant a heaven without human intimacy, probably due to my images of heaven being too influenced by the concept of singing worship songs forever, rather than the concept of a restored creation. The correlation to Genesis makes me wonder if the point is more that it is the safeguards around human intimacy (marriage and clothes) that are no longer necessary in a restored creation where the effects of the fall have been reversed. This is, of course, speculation; the reality is that we know very little about “angels in heaven”. What we can know for sure is that the new redeemed creation will be more enjoyable, not less, than the current fallen creation.

The Test of the Scribes

This guys is actually really cool; it seems more like he’s acting independently, rather than as a representative of the scribes. He likes Jesus answer so much that he asks one of his own – a common question to ask rabbis, it turns out – and he asks it genuinely. The scribe “came”, “heard” and “saw” – words not to be taken lightly, given Mark’s emphasis on hearing and seeing.

In His response to the Pharisees, Jesus linked together what we owe God and Government, here He unites loving God and People. He makes it clear that God is the most important, but the way He puts them together makes it clear that both are necessary. Indeed, usually the best way to express love for God is to love people. This is more clear when we get a better grasp of God’s intense compassion and desire for people to be helped, especially the helpless, usually designated as “orphans and widows” in scripture.

The Question of the Day

Jesus is pushing at the Jewish understanding of the Messiah – before He’d done it privately with His disciples, but now He’s doing it publicly. Basically He’s pushing back at the idea that the Messiah is cheap sequel to the Davidic kingdom. Yes, the Messiah is a descendant of David, but He will surpass David. “’Son of David’ may assert certain truths about the Messiah, but it falls short in essential ways of capturing His identity … the Messiah is not simply David’s son, He is God’s Son” (Edwards).

The Widow’s 2 Cents

This seems totally unrelated (which usually means we just need to look harder). The first key is that the widow is being contrasted with the scribes in v38-40. The second key in how it relates is to note that Jesus “calls His disciples to Him”, to watch this widow – in other words, this is a lesson for them, a lesson about discipleship. The third key is that “the final Greek words of the chapter might be paraphrased, ‘she lay down her whole life’” (Edwards).

After debating with the Sanhedrin and it’s three groups (and winning), Jesus takes the stage and pushes back at people’s conception of the Messiah. Now he takes his disciples aside and points to the scribes, saying “don’t be like them” and to this widow, saying “be like her instead”. It is really a recasting of what He’s been saying all along – they’re not called to be served, but to serve; not to seek positions of power and influence, but to give all their money away without any show. In essence, after publicly redefining what the Messiah would be like, He privately redefines what His followers would be like.

Dear Jesus, please redefine our vision of a genuine disciple – in real terms like house, car and entertainment system. Help us grab tightly to the widow’s model and reject the scribes’ model – and that of our culture.

-- peter