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Study 19 - Teaching With Authority

M ARK CHAPTER 12:18-44

Questions 1. Have you ever been involved in a formal debate? What was it about and what
was the outcome?

READ Mark 12:18-44

2. What are the Sadducees attempting to accomplish in questioning Jesus about

the resurrection?
3. How does Jesus answer them and what does he indicate is the source of their
error?
4. How do we combat the Sadducees' error in our own lives so that we are
innocent of knowing “neither the Scripture nor the power of God”?
5. In vs. 28-34 a teacher of the law asks Jesus which commandment is the most
important. What does Jesus’ answer tell us about the nature of Christianity?
Why does Jesus name two commandments in reply instead of the one for which
he was asked? How are the commandments related to one another?
6. What additional information does the teacher of the law add to Jesus' answer
and what is the significance of the addition?
7. In vs. 35-37, Jesus, who previously had been on the defensive, goes on to ask
his own questions. What is the purpose of his question? What is he trying to
communicate about the Messiah?
8. Of what flaw is Jesus accusing the teachers of the law of in vs. 38-40? How
do they fail to be obedient to the great commandment?
9. A poor widow is contrasted with the teachers of the law. What are the
contrasts? How does her life demonstrate obedience to the great commandment?
What changes would be required in your life for you to emulate her?

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LEADER'S NOTES M ARK 12:18-44

Main Points Jesus has previously defeated the chief priests, teachers of the law, and elders in
debate (11:27-12:12), and also the Pharisees and Herodians whom they sent
(12:13-17). Now he defeats the Sadducees (12:18-27). Jesus' identity as the
Messiah is further established as he proclaims what is at the heart of true religion
and draws attention to the failure of Israel’s leaders. They stand condemned and
powerless before Jesus. He also continues to challenge current perceptions of
the Messiah, replacing them with a more biblical understanding.
Jesus has silenced his enemies, has the crowd firmly on his side, and has
established his Messianic identity. As his death approaches, we are made aware
that it will not happen because he is a criminal, nor will it happen because he is
unable to defend himself and escape his enemies. Instead, it will be because he
has chosen to die in accordance with the will of his Father.

Commentary on the 1. Have you ever been involved in a formal debate? What was it about
Passage and Notes on and what was the outcome? Approach question.
the Questions
2. What are the Sadducees attempting to accomplish in questioning
Jesus about the resurrection?
Mark tells us that the Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection but that death
was final, that one passed into oblivion. Apparently, any judgment that happened
occurred in this life. Elsewhere we learn that they ascribed far more authority to
the first five books of the Bible than they did to the remainder of the OT and that
they did not believe in angels (Acts 23:8). Although they were eventually
condemned as a heretical group after the Jewish revolt of 66-70 A.D., at this time
they were players on the religious scene and opposed Jesus’ obvious authority.
Not as vindictive toward Jesus as the chief priests, teachers of the law and the
Pharisees, they saw no need to encourage the development of more groups of
people who held to what they considered foolish beliefs. Thus, they seek to
belittle Jesus and his belief in resurrection with the clever logic of their question.
First, they draw attention to the Moses command regarding Levitical marriage
(Deut 25:5-10). If a married man died without an heir, then his brother was to
marry his wife in order to provide an heir who would carry on his name. The
Sadducees had full respect for this command but believed that if there was a
resurrection it would create unresolvable problems. A problem for two people is
more pronounced if it involves seven so they give a series of seven brothers in
marriage to the same woman in unsuccessful attempts to pass on the family
name. They want to know who will be married to who at the resurrection. While
perhaps a man might have a harem, in this example a woman inherits one This
conclusion seems absurd. Therefore, the resurrection must also be absurd.
3. How does Jesus answer them and what does he indicate is the source
of their error?

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Jesus charges them with knowing neither the Scripture nor the power of God.
This is the source of their error. Their error leads them to wrong beliefs, which in
turn leads to wrong living. Having accused them of standing on a faulty
foundation he proceeds to answer their question by pointing to the nature of the
resurrection life. Contrary to the Sadducees conception that resurrection life
would be identical to life in the here and now, Jesus states that in the resurrection
our life will be analogous to that of the angels. (Because Sadducees did not
believe in angels, Jesus' reply added insult to injury). Jesus' saying does not mean
that the resurrected dead will be spirits without some sort of body but that in their
resurrected body they will not renew earthly relationships like marriage and the
begetting of children. In heaven our primary intimacies will be with God. While
the OT does not reveal much about what heaven will be like, Jesus presumes to
tell them and thus speaks with unprecedented authority.
Once he has answered their question, Jesus deals with the issue behind the
question: the resurrection. Mark's readers, knowing that Jesus has predicted his
own resurrection, will realize that more is at stake here than winning a theoretical
argument. Indeed, the followers of Jesus were living in a Hellenistic environment
which was hostile towards the idea of resurrection because of their philosophical
belief that the body was evil. The hope of the believers was tied into Jesus'
defense of the resurrection. Jesus proceeds to prove the resurrection by referring
to a part of the OT which the Sadducees would have viewed as authoritative
(Exodus 3:6). While the verse itself does not grammatically demonstrate the
necessity of the resurrection, the context of the verse does.
Here God describes himself as a deliverer who will rescue Israel from
oppression. And He grounds his ability to deliver in the fact that he is the God of
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God had promised these men that he would be their
Savior and Provider (Gen. 12:1-3; 15:1-18; l7:1-8). However, if these men are not
alive then this reference is a discouragement rather than an encouragement. It
means that God does not have the power to save his people from death. God's
word to Moses is to be taken as a proclamation that he has not forgotten his
relationship with the Patriarchs and that they and the rest of the righteous dead
will yet enjoy his favor. Again, it ought to be apparent that Jesus had not only
answered the Sadducees but that all who were followers of Jesus (ourselves
included) could take comfort and courage from his answer.
4. How do we combat the Sadducees' error in our own lives so that we
are innocent of knowing “neither the Scripture nor the power of God”?
One thing we must avoid is being selective about what passages of Scripture we
will take seriously, picking and choosing which parts of Scripture we will be
obedient to and which we will disregard. This has as much to do with beliefs as it
does with behavior. Our beliefs and behavior must be shaped by the Scriptures.
Rejecting certain doctrines will invariably effect how you behave. The
Sadducees in rejecting resurrection also rejected the doctrine of the final
judgment. This, in turn, causes one to live poorly because on this basis it no
longer matters how you behave. Sin is discounted. The opposite is also true. If
we begin behaving in ways contrary to the commands of Scripture, it is not long

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before we adjust our doctrine to justify our actions. We must know the Scriptures
and submit to them.
The second thing we will do to avoid the Sadducees' error is to become a praying
people who genuinely deal with God. We will also believe that he is at work and
look for evidence of his working. This will prevent us from not knowing the
power of God. Paul accuses another group of not knowing the power of God
when in 2 Timothy 3:1-9 he writes, "they have a form of godliness but deny its
power". They are people who can put on a pretty good outward display of
religiosity, but whose religion is ultimately without substance. Paul indicates that
some people live deliberately like this to take advantage of others. However, any
one of us can slip into this kind of existence. Whenever we are not experiencing
any of God's power in our lives and grow cynical about God's ability to work it
usually means that we have ceased to be fervent in prayer and have failed to
open our eyes wide enough to see God's hand involved in our circumstances so
that we can respond with thanksgiving. These disciplines must be central in our
lives if we are to escape the charge spoken against the Sadducees.
5. In vs. 28-34 a teacher of the law asks Jesus which commandment is
the most important. What does Jesus’ answer tell us about the nature of
Christianity? Why does Jesus name two commandments in reply instead
of the one for which he was asked? How are the commandments related
to one another?
Jesus' answer to the scribe's question gives us the fundamental insight that
Christianity is not so much a religion as it is a relationship. A loving relationship
with God, not rules, is at its core. Flowing inseparably from that relationship are
our relationships with others. Christianity does have rules that are to be obeyed.
In fact, it was commonly understood in Christ's day that the OT law included 613
commandments. Part of the reason for the Scribes' question was a desire to
organize this body of material around a basic commandment so as to give a
fundamental premise on which to hang the individual commands. This did not
render the other commandments superfluous. Instead, the fundamental purpose
and character of the OT law could be discerned.
In Jesus' answer we are able to discern the continuity between OT Judaism and
Christianity - in both God has been pursuing a relationship of love with his people.
The scribe's commendation of Jesus' answer may be included by Mark to show
that Jesus was not to be seen as a Jewish heretic, but one whose grasp of what
the law really represented was quite profound. Jesus gives two commandments
instead of the one he was asked for because a person might claim to love God,
who is invisible, without much objective evidence. It was possible to believe that
acts of worship alone were adequate evidence of love for God. Jesus is not
interested in allowing that belief to have any credence. No-one can rest on
abstract fulfillment of the first commandment. Indeed, it seems that this was the
problem of Israel's leadership they were full of religious devotion but had very
little love for the fellow man. No such dichotomy between love for God and love
for people was tolerable.

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The apostle John was blunt about it, “If anyone says, ‘I love God', yet hates
his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother whom he
has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen." We make our love for
the invisible God visible when we love our neighbor who is God's image bearer.
That includes people who do not relate with God. It also means that we will not
be able to love indiscriminately unless we do love God.
6. What additional information does the teacher of the law add to Jesus'
answer and what is the significance of the addition?
When commending Jesus for his answer the scribe states that loving God and
neighbor "is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices."
When he speaks in this way he is confirming the fact that in true religion,
relationships (with God and with others) are more important than rituals. It is also
likely that Mark includes this transaction as a prophecy that the temple and its
worship were about to be discarded. The rituals of OT religion were about to be
superseded because of Christ's work of establishing a new people of God apart
from those activities. (Remember that this theme of judgment on Old Israel and
the establishment of new Israel has come up in a number of previous lessons).
Mark doesn't tell us that this man followed Jesus. He may have been
purposefully ambiguous so that his readers questioned themselves with regards to
how close they were to the kingdom. What accounted for the scribe's closeness
to the kingdom? He knew God's standards: love God and love your neighbor. He
also knew that animal sacrifices could not make up for the sin of selfishness
toward others. To have accepted God's humanly impossible standard and the
inability of religion to save us is a vital step towards crying to God for forgiveness.
Things were optimistic for the Scribe. Is it like that for us?
7. In vs. 35-37, Jesus, who previously had been on the defensive, goes
on to ask his own questions. What is the purpose of his question? What
is he trying to communicate about the Messiah?
Having had his authority questioned, Jesus now questions the authority of Israel’s
teachers and continues to expose their ignorance of the Scripture. He seems
quite interested in clearing up misconceptions about the Messiah prior to his
death. Here he demonstrates that the Messiah is not merely a gifted and blessed
human being, but is divine. The teacher's problem was not that they failed to see
how Jesus matched up to OT promises of Messiah's authority, but that having
underestimated the OT messianic promises, they thought Jesus was claiming
more authority than even the Messiah should. He was claiming a status far
above what the popular understanding of the Messiah would allow.
While it had always been understood that when the Messiah came he would be a
descendant of David, Jesus demonstrates that the designation "Son of David" is
inadequate to communicate who he is. Quoting Psalm 110:1 as a reference to the
Messiah, Jesus shows David addressing the Messiah as "my Lord", implying that
the Messiah is greater than David. He didn't merely model David. Actually,
David’s life modeled the Messiah's. In light of all of Mark's gospel, Jesus'
question is a hint that the Messiah properly understood is actually the Son of God,

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whose transcendent power and significance surpass any human figure. By

associating the Messiah with the throne of God “sit at my right hand" divine
significance is attributed to him. A second thing Jesus gets across by quoting
Psalm 110 is that the Messiah's work would be far greater than David's. This
work would concern itself not with merely national deliverance (as in the case of
David) but would involve redemption for all peoples. Through Jesus' words,
David's place as a model and image of the Messiah is being challenged. The
people must be prepared to change their inadequate conceptions of the Christ.
8. Of what flaw is Jesus accusing the teachers of the law of in vs. 38-40?
How do they fail to be obedient to the great commandment?
The scribes chief flaw is that they love themselves more than God. They are
more concerned with getting honor for themselves, than giving honor to God.
They delighted in how their position enabled them to be served, rather than how it
enabled them to serve. They enjoyed their place far too much. It appears to be a
short step from enjoying the privileged status their position gave them to actually
taking advantage of others ("they devour widow’s houses"). Certainly in the
church there are those who have inherited their mantle, leaders who prey on the
poor who can ill afford to give as heavily as they are solicited to do. Jesus words
of judgment do not get much harsher than those found here: "Such men will be
punished most severely." Mark surely intends his readers to see in Jesus' words
not only a condemnation of the abuses of the Jewish teachers but also a warning
about the development of similar abuses in Christian circles. Would Jesus say,
“Beware the Fellowship Group leaders at Redeemer”?
9. A poor widow is contrasted with the teachers of the law. What are the
contrasts? How does her life demonstrate obedience to the great
commandment? What changes would be required in your life for you to
emulate her?
The widow is set in stark contrast to the scribes. Jesus words must have
surprised his listeners. The crowd gave adulation to the scribes so their own
actions as well as the scribes are undermined. A change in value systems is
required of all parties. The widow was certainly not viewed as a heroic character
in the culture. She would have been viewed as worthy of compassion, but would
not have considered a person with much to offer. She was viewed as expendable
and insignificant. The rich and influential were the heroes to be emulated. Jesus
turns these values upside down. Contrary to popular opinion large gifts did not in
and of themselves merit the favor of God. Abundant giving often creates a sense
of self-satisfaction and the opinion that God is lucky to have a rich and generous
person on his side. Jesus exposes the pretentious nature of these attitudes.
By holding up the widow as an example to emulate, Jesus demonstrates where
true value lies. It consists of living a life of extravagance toward God - giving
one’s all to him without reservation. She, one of the "least of these", is the one
who is worthy of honor, not the scribes. Her whole-hearted commitment to God
and determination to withhold nothing are exalted. Others gave what they would
not miss. She gives all that she has, becoming totally dependent upon God. It is
she, not the scribes, that we must imitate.

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