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Jesus' View on "Back to the Bible" |
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Jesus' View on "Back to the Bible" |
When we read the Bible we often run into many passages that we cannot comprehend. For example, in the beginning God created the heavens and earth (Gen. 1:1). Nobody can prove or disprove the God's creation by reasoning alone. Without taking it by faith, we have no clue on the origin of our life, not to mention the origin of the very universe we live in. If we limit our understanding of the Bible only to human reason, we miss many invaluable messages from the Bible and end up being like the Sadducees. While our reason is important in studying the Bible, we must combine it with our faith in the power of God. This is what Jesus teaches us.
Jesus was at the temple court, teaching the people. The religious leaders interrupted his teaching and challenged him with many questions. For example, the Pharisees came and asked Jesus a question on the matter of tax. It was very difficult, since it was a trap and any answer would endanger Jesus (Mt. 22:15). Jesus answered the Pharisees in such a way that they were dumbfound and had no choice but walk away (Mt. 22:22). That same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him with a question (Mt. 22:23). After finding the Pharisees, their rivalry, disappointed the Sadducees lost no time in challenging Jesus themselves. They were confident that their question was more difficult to answer than that of the Pharisees. The Pharisees and Sadducees were both religious leaders. Both of them honored Moses and strived to live according to his teachings. Yet, as their title differed, they had different philosophies and opinions on the number of things. One of the marked differences was their view on the supernatural things such as resurrection and angels.
Sadducees were aristocratic noblemen who held the position of priesthood. Although they had a mystical job, their primary concerns were secular. They considered invisible things as nonsense, and focused attention on living the best life here on earth. As a general consensus, the Sadducees denied the resurrection. When they read the Scriptures, they could not find any direct support on the resurrection of the dead. Their master Moses died and never rose from the dead. When Moses gave the law, it was about what they should do while they were on earth. Moses did not give any specific instruction on the resurrection of the dead, so the belief or opinion on the resurrection was left for them to decide.
The resurrection is a matter of belief, not a matter of fact. After one is born, he lives on earth for a while and eventually dies. After the death he is buried and remains buried. He does not come to life. This is the fact to every single person on earth. Nobody can prove or disprove the resurrection of the body. The Scriptures do not claim, nor point out anyone who is still living among us among the dead. The Scriptures, however, indicate some possibilities like Elijah who was taken to heaven without tasting death and like King David who yearned for the resurrection. At best, the Sadducees could be agnostic, politely acknowledging that they did not know for sure. Instead, they vehemently opposed it even to the extent of distinguishing itself on this point from other religious sects. Whenever the issue came up, they put everything else aside and debated the matter until the point of becoming physical (Act 23:6). They had many reasons to oppose the resurrection. Their story to Jesus revealed one.
According to their life experience with the Moses’ law, they concluded that the resurrection was a fanciful story. It was at best irrelevant, and at worst just plain silly. Their story goes. “Teacher,” they said, “Moses told us that if a man dies without having children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for him. Now there were seven brothers among us. The first one married and died, and since he had no children, he left his wife to his brother. The same thing happened to the second and third brother, right on down to the seventh. Finally, the woman died. Now then, at the resurrection, whose wife will she be of the seven, since all of them were married to her (Mt.22:24-27)?” To summarize their story, a woman married seven times to seven brothers and went through seven funerals, and had no children. What a tragic story! Such bizarre story is more unlikely than the story of the resurrection. But they brought this hypothetical story to Jesus as if it had really happened. In any case, the story has one clear point. It is better not to have the resurrection at all. Life is meaningful as it is. Life is better to end with death. The death is a wonderful conclusion God had prepared for man. This also comes with another advantage: no worries about hell and eternal punishment.
Jesus took their question serious and made time to answer. Jesus replied, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God (Mt. 22:29).” Jesus answered them in two ways. One is the direct answer and the other addresses the deeper issue behind their question. First, the direct answer. The Sadducees had their own idea about the resurrection. Simply speaking, it is nothing but the replication or continuation of our current life. The only difference is that afterlife is perpetual without ending. So the story of seven brothers and one woman at the resurrection is nothing but a nightmare, since nobody will die and there are constant conflicts. They live in hell forever. Upfront Jesus reproved their idea, saying "At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven (Mt.22:30)." There is no marital status, since their relationship changes. This is a mysterious part of the resurrection. Jesus' resurrection helps us to understand this a little better. When Jesus' disciples were full of fear, they locked the door tight so that nobody could enter. Then Jesus appeared to them as if he were a ghost. Yet Jesus allowed them to touch him, especially his hands and side (Jn. 9:27). Jesus had a physical body, which was not exactly same as the physical body of people before death. The resurrection body is not a ghost, but a spiritual body. Jesus walked with his disciples who was on their way to Emmaus and talked with them. He stopped by and ate with them. After giving thanks to God at the dinner table, Jesus suddenly disappeared (Lk. 24:31). Jesus is the first fruit and shows what the resurrection body is like. 1 Corinthians 15 elaborates about the spiritual body in depth. The Sadducees had no idea about this resurrection body. Their problem was that they limit their understanding of the resurrection only to their experience on earth and never opened up their minds on the possibility of a whole new life.
Jesus continued and addressed the more fundamental issues behind their questions. For this Jesus cited the Scriptures, "But about the resurrection of the dead—have you not read what God said to you, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’ (Mt. 22:31,32)?" This is a direct quote from Exodus 3:6. It was God's introduction to Moses. This quote appeared irrelevant to the very issue - the resurrection of the body. Then Jesus made a point. "He is not the God of the dead but of the living (Mt. 22:33).” This last statement has a profound meaning. God of the dead literally means God of the dead. Suppose the dead gather and worship God. The dead in the tomb whisper each other, and encourage one another to chant, saying praises. While God is busy with the dead, he has no time for the living. What happens is quite the opposite. God has nothing to do with the dead. God deals with the living. God works with the living. God guides them and leads them. This is what happened to Abraham. When Abraham was old, he met God Almighty who created heavens and earth. He was invisible, but the true object of worship. The Jewish legend of Abraham tells that he smashed all the idols in the house and made his parents extremely upset. He received the word of God and embarked on new journey - the life of faith. Wherever he went he worshipped God. He listened to him and prayed. He had the promise from God and trusted him. He had deep relationship with God to the point of becoming his friend. When he died, his God did not die with him. Rather his faith was passed to his son Isaac. Isaac too met God. Although Isaac was different from Abraham God was the God of Isaac, just as God was the God of Abraham. God was with Isaac, rebuked him at times, protected him at times and guided him throughout his life. God was with Jacob and with his descendants, the Israelites, down through the generation.
Sadducees honored the Law of Moses and did their best to obey his law. It is ironic that they used his law to reject the resurrection. They had the Law of Moses, but did not have his faith, nor his spirit. When Moses met God at the age of 80, he was physically alive, but spiritually dead. He had previously had a shepherd heart for his people, but lost it. He was getting old, coping with his reality. He was content and happy to be a husband and shepherd in the wilderness. When God ordered Moses to go and deliver his people out of Egypt, he was fearful and hesitant. God helped Moses to overcome the fear of facing Pharaoh. This all started when Moses met God, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. On that day God was no longer the God of dead, but the God of Moses.
When Sadducees questioned the resurrection, they fundamentally questioned the power of God. This revealed their poor attitude toward the Scriptures. They read the Scriptures with the most emphasis on the Moses' law, which was good. Unfortunately they failed to grasp the power of God while they read the Scriptures, treating them mostly as legal codes. When Jesus said that they did not know the Scriptures, Jesus did not mean that they had never read the Scriptures. Probably they knew all there was. They, however, failed to relate their immense knowledge to the power of God. What was worse, they outright rejected the power of God behind the Scriptures as they read them. They had no capacity for the power of God and totally missed the opportunity to experience it despite their much knowledge about the Scriptures.
Jesus teaches us, "You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God." Knowing the Scriptures are inseparable from knowing the power of God. When we say "back to the Bible," the first thing that comes to our mind is to read it and study it diligently. But if we fail to experience the power of God through the bible study, we have not studied it all in light of Jesus' comment. What a sad reality at the end of the day after studying all day! When we read the Scriptures and practice them, we must experience the power of God as well.