Key Passage
Then some Sadducees came to Jesus. (Sadducees believe that no person will rise from death.) The Sadducees asked Jesus a question.
— Mark 12:18 ERV (Read Full Text)
Key Thought
Clearly, this period of Jesus’ ministry is filled with the carefully crafted questions of his enemies. Pharisees, supporters of Herod (vs. 13), and Sadducees were not good friends normally. They all had their political, religious, and social agendas. However, Jesus’ popularity with the common people, his willingness to speak the truth of God boldly without relying on the support of other religious leaders, and his acceptance of the titles of Son of God, Son of David, and King of the Jews as he entered Jerusalem scared them to death. They were going to do their best to trap him with their questions.
The Sadducees would have very deep differences with Jesus because they did not believe in angels or the resurrection. They were wedded to the world as they found it and survived with their faith by accommodating it to the political winds of the time. As we read the following verses, Jesus will not use polite or politically correct speech. Like the apostle Paul does in 1 Corinthians 15, Jesus directly rebukes the wrong-headed lie that denies the resurrection. Of course, Jesus’ greatest exclamation mark on the truth of the resurrection will be his own empty tomb and his appearances to his disciples after his death.
Prayer
Father in heaven, you are the eternal God. From everlasting to everlasting you have been, will be, and are God. I confess that I cannot completely fathom the truth of this. However, dear Father, I do trust it with all my heart. Father, I believe in your Son and I have shared with him in his death, burial, and resurrection through baptism. By the power of your Holy Spirit, I live to honor you each day. I believe that the Holy Spirit will bring me safely into your presence for eternity. Thank you for such great hope. May I never compromise my faith in this glorious truth. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Related Scriptures
You were raised from death with Christ. So try to get the things in heaven. I mean the things where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Think only about the things in heaven, not the things on earth. Your old sinful self has died, and your new life is kept with Christ in God. Christ is your life. When he comes again, you will share in his glory.
— Colossians 3:1-4
What we tell you now is the Lord’s own message. We who are living now might still be living when the Lord comes again. We who are living at that time will be with the Lord, but not before those people who have already died. The Lord himself will come down from heaven. There will be a loud command. That command will be given with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God. And the people who have died and were in Christ will rise first. After that, we people who are still alive at that time will be gathered up with those people who have died. We will be taken up in the clouds and meet the Lord in the air. And we will be with the Lord forever. So encourage each other with these words.
— 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18
Devotional provided by Heartlight®
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