Unlimited: Jesus Deals With Ignorance | Good News Unlimited
Unlimited: Jesus Deals with Ignorance
Jun 17, 2024 2206
They say ignorance is bliss, but not when it comes to God’s Word and His Power.
Jesus replied, “Are you not in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God? When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. Now about the dead rising—have you not read in the Book of Moses, in the account of the burning bush, how God said to him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken” (Mark 12:24–27, NIV)!
Although we hear a lot about the Pharisees, it was the Sadducees who were the elite ruling class in Jerusalem. They controlled both the business sector and the government under the Romans. They also had absolute control of the temple in Jerusalem. Still, they lived in ignorance.
The Sadducees didn’t believe in the resurrection of the dead, but they knew that Jesus did. So, they asked Jesus about a woman who had married seven brothers, one after another. Whose wife would she be in the resurrection?
The response of Jesus was remarkable.
Ignorance isn’t Bliss!
The answer Jesus gave was shocking because He called them – the most highly revered and powerful religious authorities of his nation – ignorant of both the Scriptures and of God. Ignorance isn’t bliss!
Jesus then went on to support the reality of the resurrection using a typically Jewish way of reasoning. He reminded them of when God had said to Moses, “I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”
Jesus told the Sadducees that God is the God of the living.
By implication, there must be a resurrection for Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob if God claims them as his.
There are two things that Jesus says that are vital for us to know: The Scriptures and the power of God.
But to have one without the other is dangerous. To read the Bible without the power of God in our lives, or to think to use God’s power without knowing the Bible will both lead us astray.
– Eliezer Gonzalez
Eli’s Reflection: Ask God reveal to you where you stand in relation to this. In what areas do you need to develop your spiritual life? Do you need to study the Bible to leave ignorance behind and grow in faith and experience the power of God?
