On Line Bible Study - For the week September 28 - October 4, 2009

Lesson 407

Mark 12: ¹⁸Then the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him with a question. ¹⁹"Teacher," they said, "Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and have children for his brother. ²⁰Now there were seven brothers. The first one married and died without leaving any children. ²¹The second one married the widow, but he also died, leaving no child. It was the same with the third. ²²In fact, none of the seven left any children. Last of all, the woman died too. ²³At the resurrection whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?"

²⁴Jesus replied, "Are you not in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God? ²⁵When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. ²⁶Now about the dead rising—have you not read in the book of Moses, in the account of the bush, how God said to him, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? ²⁷He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken!"

The question is whether there is a resurrection, and the Sadducees were sure there was not. Jesus has done battle with Pharisees, Scribes, teachers of the law, elders, chief priests. Now the Sadducees weigh in with their complaint against him.

The word "sadducee" could refer to a priest from the times of David and Solomon - Zadok. It could also come from the Hebrew word for "righteous one". Perhaps this group derived their name from both. And the lodestone of their faith was Torah - the Law of Moses. The Biblical reference point for their argument is from Deuteronomy 25:5-6 - a brother has a responsibility to take his deceased brother's wife as his own if they had had no children.

In Jesus' rebuttal, he cites two realities - the Scriptures (and notice that he quotes from the Torah - the Bible of the Sadducees), and the power of God. But we also have a very interesting theological moment in this text. "Resurrection" pre-exists the experience of Christ. When Jesus cites Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as being in fellowship with God - not as corpses, but as living beings - he is speaking of "resurrection" as angelic - as constant communion with God. Scholars note that the texts Jesus references from Exodus (in chapter 3:6, 3:15-16, and 4:5) are not specific to resurrection. In fact, from our vantage point these might seem to provide a weak argument. But from the standpoint of the Judaism of Jesus' day, the notion of being alive after death - the idea that body and soul do not disintegrate - was somewhat revolutionary.

While Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are mentioned, it is the power of God that makes resurrection possible. God is a God of the living, and to experience life with God following death is God's gift. Jesus refutes the idea that the afterlife is exactly like this life. (So does Paul in I Corinthians 15:35ff.) We do not marry in that life any more than do the angels.

What were the Sadducees hoping to prove with their question to Jesus? They hoped to prove that he did not adhere to the Scriptures - that he believed something that was not Biblical. Once again, Jesus moves in the direction of what is meant to threaten him. He takes what is being used against him and turns it around on his acusers. Without defining "resurrection" in any specific way, he reminds the Sadducees that the God of their scriptures is a God who relates to living beings.

A final note - Jesus makes it clear in this text on two ocassions that the Sadducees are wrong. Are you not in error ...? Jesus states in verse 24. And in verse 27 he flat out tells them: You are badly mistaken!

For me, this is another reminder of how one can quote scripture and still be wrong. It's not the "letter", but the spirit of the law that gives us life.

On Line Bible Study - For the week September 21-27, 2009

Lesson 406
Mark 12: ¹³Later they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus to catch him in his words. ¹⁴They came to him and said, "Teacher, we know you are a man of integrity. You aren't swayed by men, because you pay no attention to who they are; but you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not? ¹⁵Should we pay or shouldn't we?"

But Jesus knew their hypocrisy. "Why are you trying to trap me?" he asked. "Bring me a denarius and let me look at it." ¹⁶They brought the coin, and he asked them, "Whose portrait is this? And whose inscription?" "Caesar's," they replied. ¹⁷Then Jesus said to them, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's."

And they were amazed at him.

They say that enemies can create strange bedfellows. People who hate each other can be united by a mutual enemy. In verse 13, the they must be the chief priests, teachers of the law and elders. Unable to trap Jesus themselves, they solicit help from Herodians - we understand this group to be those who supported the Herodian dynasty in general. The dynasty owed its existence to Rome. The Pharisees appear to function as those who would have opposed paying taxes to Caesar. So, Herodians and Pharisees are strange bedfellows indeed!

However, they were united in their desire to see Jesus removed from the scene. The way they greet Jesus is obviously empty flattery, for their intent is to trap him.

To pay the Roman tax was to acknowledge Rome's sovereignty. If one refused to pay the tax it could be interpreted as rebellion. But here is the deal ...

Herodians, Pharisees, chief priests, elders, teachers of the law - all of them were using the coins on a daily basis, presumably to purchase goods needed for living. To use the coins for that purpose, and then refuse to pay the tax was disingenuous at best, hypocritical at worst. Jesus calls it for what it is - blatant hypocracy! His response to them brings that hypocracy to the surface in an embarrassing way. They were using the coins - complete with the inscriptions acknowledging Caesar's divinity - for their own purposes. Having done so, what excuse did they have not to pay the tax? Jesus makes them see the duplicitousness they wanted to acuse him of was the sin they were more than guilty of themselves.

Be careful before you acuse others of inconsistency; you know the saying about people who live in glass houses . . .

On Line Bible Study - For the week September 14-20, 2009

Lesson 405

Mark 12: 1He then began to speak to them in parables: "A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a pit for the winepress and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and went away on a journey. 2At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants to collect from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. 3But they seized him, beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 4Then he sent another servant to them; they struck this man on the head and treated him shamefully. 5He sent still another, and that one they killed. He sent many others; some of them they beat, others they killed. 6"He had one left to send, a son, whom he loved. He sent him last of all, saying, 'They will respect my son.' 7"But the tenants said to one another, 'This is the heir. Come, let's kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.' 8So they took him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard. 9"What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others. 10Haven't you read this scripture:

" 'The stone the builders rejected
has become the capstone;
11the Lord has done this,
and it is marvelous in our eyes'?"

12Then they looked for a way to arrest him because they knew he had spoken the parable against them. But they were afraid of the crowd; so they left him and went away.

We have before us what some scholars refer to as "the Bible in miniature". Here is the whole story, in parable (or allegory) - God's search for fellowship with creation, human sin - we turn away from God - God's redemptive presence with us - and this profound truth that is "theological" because it is so often what we experience - that what is rejected becomes essential. Or, put another way, that resurrection happens.

The them in the story (verse 1 and verse 12) refers to the chief priests, teachers of the law and elders, mentioned in the previous chapter.

The vineyard is Israel - the wall is for protection from animals; the pit is for pressing the grapes; the watchtower is for protection and shelter.

The tenants are the religious leaders of the people.

The servants are the prophets ancient (Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos, etc.) and recent (John the Baptist) - God's messengers scorned or rejected by the people.

The son whom he loved (literally, the beloved son) is Jesus. This word - beloved or whom he loved - is the same as what we read at Jesus' baptism and transfiguration (Mark 1:11; 9:7).
There are overtones of the Abraham and the son whom he loved ...

The capstone reflects the Greek translation (Septuagint) of Psalm 118:22. In Hebrew it is translated as cornerstone. In either case, whether the stone is holding the building up or capping the building off, it is prominent. What has been rejected and thrown outside the gates is now recognized as the most essential component. Jesus will be crucified outside the gates of the city (see also Hebrews 13:12-13), and many of the prophets were disregarded if not discarded.

Come, let us kill him ... (Mark 12:7) - is exactly the phrase we read in the Greek translation of Genesis 37:20 - Joseph's brothers want to kill him out of jealousy. is that what also motivated the chief priests, teachers of the law and elders?

In the parable we have before us, the problem is not the "vineyard". Though scholars believe there are direct correlations between this text from Mark and the allegory we find in Isaiah 5:1-5, here is where the connection breaks down. In Isaiah, the problem is with the vineyard - the owner is looking for fruit, but the vineyard only produces "bad fruit". In Mark, the problem is with those tending the vineyard - the religious leaders. In Isaiah, God removes the protection from the vineyard and leaves it to the elements and wild animals. In Mark, God sends his son - his beloved son - and the religious leaders, in spite of being forewarned, plot to kill him anyway. The vineyard will be taken from the current leaders and given to the son. Resurrection or not, we still think we can outsmart God ...

Given the authority you have today, and the fruit you can bear in your life, what tribute are you willing to bring to the One who makes it all possible?