WATCHWORD:
27 Last of all, the woman also died. 28 So tell us, whose wife will she be in the resurrection? For all seven were married to her.” 29 Jesus replied, “Your mistake is that you don’t know the Scriptures, and you don’t know the power of God. 30 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. 31 “But now, as to whether there will be a resurrection of the dead—haven’t you ever read about this in the Scriptures? Long after Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had died, God said, 32 ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ So, he is the God of the living, not the dead.” 33 When the Sadducees heard him, they were astounded at his teaching. Matthew 22:27-33
34 But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees with his reply, they sought to question him again. […] 41 Surrounded by the Pharisees, Jesus asked them a question: 42 “What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?” They replied, “He is the son of David.” 43 Jesus responded, “Then why does David, speaking under the inspiration of the Spirit, call the Messiah ‘my Lord’? For David said,
44 The Lord said to my Lord,
Sit in the place of honor at my right hand
until I humble your enemies beneath your feet.
45 Since David called the Messiah ‘my Lord,’ how can the Messiah be his son?” 46 No one could answer him. And after that, no one dared to ask him any more questions. Matthew 22:34,41-46
Meditation:
Bible Trivia
Question: How can Jesus be the Son of God, and God? How is that possible?
Answer: How limiting do you make of our Creator God?
From a scripture standpoint, the ministry of Jesus could be bookended by the Sermon on the Mount, early in his ministry, and the Olivet Discourse, the final teaching ministry to His disciples on Mount of Olives, just days before his crucifixion and Resurrection. Over those three years His popularity grew, reflected in the number of followers, and the size of the crowds that gathered.
The stories of Jesus’ ministry reached the Pharisees and the teachers of the law early in his ministry. He was called a ‘mad rabbi’, and they paid little attention. But then as the reality of His ministry became more defined and reports of what he was teaching, along with attracting large crowds, the Jewish leadership began to think of Jesus as a threat. When they learned of the miracle of the loaves and fishes on the slopes north of Bethesda, and then another miracle near the Gentile village of Gadara, that set off alarms, and efforts to discredit him became more pronounced.
The fishing village of Capernaum became a center of Jesus’ early ministry where he frequently taught in the synagogue. Whenever He traveled to Jerusalem he did not hesitate to teach in the temple, and the crowds followed. His presence there increased the threat to the Sadducees and upset the Pharisees. It was during his third year of ministry that the plots to deal with this upstart, took on murderous intent.
You read in the Matthew passage some of the futility that the Pharisees and the Sadducees experienced in playing this early form of Bible Trivia. Trying to trick Jesus just never seemed work to way they would like. They mostly came away being told or implied that “Your mistake is that you don’t know the Scriptures, and you don’t know the power of God.”
Did you feel a little tinge when reading that last quote of Jesus? It is possible to have much Bible knowledge, yet not fundamentally ‘know’ the Scripture? We can remain faithful to our Bible study group, have helpful and meaningful discussions on various understandings that a scripture passage taught. But, too often, we walk away from those discussions, and whatever we learned or heard we left back there where our group met. Maybe because we are puzzled how we apply what we learned, in a practical way, to our daily walk.
Jesus kept it simple for me and you, He defined the law by its core principles: Love the Lord with everything you have and love others as yourself. So be it.
Prayer for Deeper Understand of God’s Word:
Heavenly Father, Who through the power of the Holy Spirit caused all holy scripture to be written for our learning, we pray that we would diligently study Your Word, read, mark, learn and inwardly digest all that You have graciously provided for us, so that we may come to a knowledge of salvation and Your will for our lives. Open the eyes of our understanding and prepare our hearts by the power of Your Spirit, that we may receive Your Word with much joy and rejoicing and may we leave tonight having a deeper understanding of Who You are. May we like Job, wonder at Your glory and majesty as we unfold the precious truths that are contained within its pages and may we say like him, “I have heard of You with my ears but now You opened my eyes to spiritual truths and understanding that I never had before.” This we ask in the name of Jesus. Amen.
