Then [some] Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him; and they asked Him, saying: 19 “Teacher, Moses wrote to us that if a man’s brother dies, and leaves [his] wife behind, and leaves no children, his brother should take his wife and raise up offspring for his brother. 20 “Now there were seven brothers. The first took a wife; and dying, he left no offspring. 21 “And the second took her, and he died; nor did he leave any offspring. And the third likewise. 22 “So the seven had her and left no offspring. Last of all the woman died also. 23 “Therefore, in the resurrection, when they rise, whose wife will she be? For all seven had her as wife.” 24 Jesus answered and said to them, “Are you not therefore mistaken, because you do not know 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 “But concerning the dead, that they rise, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the [burning] bush [passage], how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I [am] the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’ ? 27 “He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. You are therefore greatly mistaken.“

– Mark 12:18-27 (NKJV)

This time a different group of religious leaders come to test Jesus with a question. They are asking him a hypothetical question. This one has no basis in reality but is a made up situation. The one’s asking the question are mocking the idea of resurrection because it’s something the simply don’t believe.

So they ask about a woman who was married several times in her life and who she will be married to in the resurrection? To them, this is a “gotcha” question. But they are deeply mistaken. They wanted to select pieces of scripture to believe and left others to be disregarded. They were all about the Law (the first five books of the Old Testament that were written by Moses) but not the prophets (pretty much the rest of the Old Testament). So their question was rooted in the principles of the Law… “Who will she be married too in the resurrection?”

So Jesus answers them from the portion of scripture they believed (Exodus, the second book of the bible). He makes them aware that even though they only hold to a small portion of the Old Testament scriptures, they don’t understand those scriptures very well or the power of God! He has no problem pointing out that they are “mistaken.” And he basically gives them chapter and verse of how bad their understanding is (chapter and verse markings come later). Jesus answers the question, but points out that these men are ignorant of what they are asking.

These men thought they had a grasp on God’s word and a grasp on how to trap Jesus with their words, but they soon realized that they didn’t know God’s word as well as they thought and they didn’t know Jesus at all. This was a grace for them to see their mistaken interpretation of God’s word and all the other conclusions they had jumped too. I wonder if any that day received the mild rebuke from Jesus and went back to examine their beliefs.

Father, We love you and want to grow in knowledge of you and your word. Help us receive your word with humility and meekness. I pray that we would examine our own hearts in light of who you have revealed yourself to be. Let us not bring our own conclusions to your word, but help us to see what you reveal about yourself in your word. Give us discernment as we apply your word to our lives. In Jesus Name, Amen.