Daily Devotions
Mark
Therefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad. "Acts 2:26a"
Day 265 – Mark 12
MAKING REFERENCE TO MOSES
Jesus was not done yet. He went on to make reference to Moses.
“But concerning the dead, that they rise,
have you not read in the book of Moses,
in the burning bush passage, how God spoke to him,
saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac,
and the God of Jacob?’
He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living.
You are therefore greatly mistaken.”
MARK 12:26-27
The Sadducees prided themselves in their knowledge of Moses. Having rejected the traditions of the Pharisees, they focused on only the Books of Moses. But had they indeed read the Books of Moses carefully and correctly?
1. Clear statement concerning the resurrection of the dead
a) Jesus was going to do more than just make a declaration.
b) He was going to prove to the Sadducees that the Law of Moses taught this doctrine.
2. The Burning Bush passage
a) How did God address Himself to Moses?
i) Did He not speak of Himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob?
ii) What would be God’s point in addressing Himself in this manner?
iii) God was addressing Himself as the God of the living.
iv) God was speaking to Moses as if the patriarchs were alive (and not dead).
v) This was a valid interpretation (The Sadducees could not dismiss this argument).
b) Reiteration of the wrong premise of the Sadducees
i) The Sadducees did not have a valid premise to reject the doctrine of the resurrection.
ii) If their premise for their doctrine was proven wrong, then it follows that their conclusion was also flawed and useless.