Three Questions plus one from Jesus: sermon
Sermon: Exodus 3:1-6, 1 Corinthians 15:42-50, Mark 12:13-44
Jesus is challenged by representatives of different religious “clubs”
· Pharisees – a lay group of committed god fearers.
· Sadducees – probably associated with the temple, priests and wealth.
· Scribes:- religious lawyers from either party.
· Herodians: A religious group who may have been supporters of the local king.
In Jesus’ conflict with these groups three things happen
1) a challenge is made
2) an answer is given to the challenge
3) Jesus presents a revolutionary interpretation of the relationship between God and his people/creation.
Paying the Imperial Tax to Caesar (Mark 12:13-17)
1) A challenge is made
Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not? (v14). It’s a trap (v15). On one hand the people would have seen such payments as an aspect of their servitude to Rome. On the other hand any public denial of the payment would have caused trouble with the Roman authorities.
2) An answer is given to the challenge
Jesus asks for a denarius (a small silver Roman coin) which was required when paying the tribute to Caesar. He asks who the image and superscription on the coin is of. The answer is Caesar’s. Jesus says give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s. There are obligations to the state that not only do not infringe on God’s rights but indeed are based on the state being appointed by God. (eg Rom 13:1-7)
3) Jesus presents a revolutionary interpretation of the relationship between God and his people/creation.
The duties owed to God and Caesar or distinct but not separate. God alone is God. Human rulers can overreach themselves. All we do should be to accomplish God’s will. Humans bear the image of God. Their allegiance is to him alone.
Marriage at the Resurrection (Mark 12:18-27)
1) A challenge is made
A complicated story of a woman obeying instructions (perhaps from Tobit, a book in the Apocrypha) to marry a succession of brothers as each dies ends with a question: “At the resurrection whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?” The aim is to prove the impossibility of an afterlife. After all, you can’t have more than 1 husband at a time.
2) An answer is given to the challenge
It is the Sadducees who ask the question. They didn’t believe in an afterlife and they only accepted the first 5 books of the Old Testament as authoritative. Jesus gives his answer from those books (Exodus 3:6). ‘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 of the living. (26,27) He says they are” badly mistaken!” The resurrected life was to be totally different to their current experience. (verses 24-25)
3) Jesus presents a revolutionary interpretation of the relationship between God and his people/creation.
The reason that the Sadducees were badly mistaken is that they failed to recognise God’s covenantal faithfulness to his people. It was not only for this life but for eternity. They had failed to believe in the God of their fathers.
The Greatest Commandment. (Mark 12:28-34)
1) A challenge is made
One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” (v28)
2) An answer is given to the challenge
Jesus does not come up with something new but refers to Deuteronomy 6;4-5. i.e. Love the Lord your God. Such love is inextricably connected to love of neighbour. (Leviticus 19:18). Faith and behaviour cannot be separated. Love of God is illustrated by love of neighbour.
3) Jesus presents a revolutionary interpretation of the relationship between God and his people/creation.
This discussion was in the vicinity of the temple. It is about true worship. (“more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” v33). True worship is not ritual alone. It is love of God. It is living in direct relationship to God with our whole being. It is not a relationship mediated by any thing or action.
Whose Son Is the Messiah? (Mark 12:35-40)
1) A challenge is made
This time Jesus makes the challenge:-
“Why do the teachers of the law say that the Messiah is the son of David? 36 David himself, speaking by the Holy Spirit, declared:“‘The Lord said to my Lord: 37 David himself calls him ‘Lord.’ How then can he be his son?” (35-37)
2) An answer is given to the challenge
This time there is no answer. Only a delighted crowd.
2) Jesus presents a revolutionary interpretation of the relationship between God and his people/creation.
Jesus is pointing out that the Messiah is the Son of David but much more. He is not just a political figure he is David’s Lord. He is repudiating a nationalistic view of the Messiah. His question quotes Psalm 110 which you will recognise as the Psalm which says that the Messiah is a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek
Now there is a contrast between two apparent God fearers
Warning Against the Teachers of the Law (Mark 12:38-40)
These men were held in high esteem but they have been silenced by Jesus’ question. They appear to be very religious but its all show. It is to gain esteem and it rests on activities like devouring widows’ houses.
The Widow’s Offering (Mark 12:41-44)
In contrast, an insignificant widow who only gives small gifts to the temple is actually giving all. The gift to corrupt Israel was wasted but motivated by giving her all to God. The widow in Mark 14:1-9 was seen as wasting her gift but it actually was doing a “beautiful thing” for Jesus.