MARK 12:18-27
GOSPEL READING AND REFLECTION (June 3, 2020)
The Sadducees
also came to Jesus. Since they claim that there is no resurrection, they
questioned him in this way, “Master, in the Scriptures Moses gave us this law:
If anyone dies and leaves his wife but no children, his brother must take the
woman, and, with her, have a baby, who
will be considered the child of his deceased brother. Now, there were seven
brothers. The first married a wife, but he died without leaving any children.
The second took the wife, and he also died, leaving no children. The same thing
happened to the third. In fact, all seven brothers died, leaving no children.
Last of all, the woman died. Now, in the resurrection, to which of them will
she be wife? For all seven brothers had her as wife.” Jesus replied, “ is this
not the reason you are mistaken, you do not understand the Scriptures or the power of God? When they rise from the dead, men and women
do not marry, but are like the angels in heaven. Now, about the resurrection of
the dead, have you never had thoughts about the burning bush in the book of
Moses? God said to Moses: I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God
of Jacob. He is the God, not of the dead, but of the living. You are totally
wrong.”
POINT OF
REFLECTION
The pick-up
points of this gospel reading is quite perplexing and needs prior understanding
about the social standing and beliefs of the Sadducees. Sadducees were group of
early elites that do not believe in resurrection after the physical death,
anchored their beliefs on Torah, the first five books of the Bible, and values good
relationship with the ruler to further their beliefs and tradition. This group
is the liberal version of Pharisees deep stuck on the three major areas: Their
of tradition, their view of supernatural, and their views on divine sovereignty
and human responsibilities.
In the first
place, the gospel is a question of resurrection to loosen the credit of Jesus
as He immerse into the lives of human almost completely enslave of sins. They
wanted to remove Jesus’ crown of popularity by letting people see that Jesus teaching
is moot and not in accordance with the Laws, Torah. In other words, this
somehow tries to drag Jesus down of the perplexing level of their question. Who
return answer that truly caught them by surprise?
Because Sadducees
does not believe resurrection, they question Jesus whose wife would a woman become
after resurrection having married all the seven brothers here on earth? Jesus
answer was so direct telling they were wrong and did not understand the Bible or
the power of God. The logical thinking of the Sadducees was limited only on “the
here and now” because they do not believe life after death. Their understanding
on the Mosaic Law in the time of Moses which allowed the second brother to take
the woman with no child of the first was a perpetuation of the Israelite’s
tribe by way of the child. They never taught of life after death. That is why
Jesus said they were wrong.
In this gospel, resurrection
is real not even in the accounts of the New Testament but even more in the
account of the Old Testament which was maliciously interpreted by the Sadducees
in favor of their beliefs, practices and traditions. Jesus clearly speak to us,
Christians, that there is life after death in Him. The mind of the Sadducees was
contained in the loop of a single age and life tomorrow is a continuation of
today.
There are two
important ages to consider in this regard, the so called as “this age” and “that
ages.” The “this age” is our life here and now. While the “that ages” is the resurrected
life as the son of God. Sadducees mind
was loop on “this age” and does not understand life on “that age."
Death is the
gate way of resurrection unto Jesus as the son of the Father in heaven. Notice that
early believer happily give-up their lives for the works of Jesus because they
knew that they would be resurrected back to life like angels of God in heaven.
Finally, while
Sadducees was trying to fall down Jesus using very difficult question that even
them does not understand, Jesus made it not into their favor. Instead, He turns it
into an opportunity to further the cause of the Father’s kingdom by clarifying
and assuring the reality that death is the gateway of resurrection.
