You see, during that time, these institutions in their ‘scholarship’ had begun to deny the very basics of the faith:  the authority and inspiration of Holy Scripture, the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the fact that Jesus was the only way to the Father --- all of the issues that we as Christians hold dear were being denied by those entrusted to teach the upcoming generation of ministry leaders.

How does this happen?  How do professors, teachers, and even ministers find themselves wandering from the basic tenets they were taught about the very basics of the Gospel and begin denying these truths?  Why do so many say that they have been ‘enlightened’ and live a realm of thinking known as ‘secular humanism.’  You may have heard this term.  At the Council for Secular Humanism website, they give a rather concise definition of this worldview:

Secular Humanism is a way of thinking and living that aims to bring out the best in people so that all people can have the best in life. Secular humanists reject supernatural and authoritarian beliefs. They affirm that we must take responsibility for our own lives and the communities and world in which we live. Secular humanism emphasizes reason and scientific inquiry, individual freedom and responsibility, human values and compassion, and the need for tolerance and cooperation.[1]

Many in our academic institutions, many in science, many in politics, in the media, even many so-called Christians --- people in all walks of life live by this code.  What is best is to believe only in what you can see and manipulate and examine by reason and scientific inquiry.  Belief in miracles, a spirit world, or an afterlife is not seem as very responsible.  Those who hold to faith like this are quickly dismissed and non-intellectual, backward rubes who don’t even deserve the time of day.  In fact, they pity us for our ignorance.  Keith Olbermann of MSNBC responded to a Christian’s complaint about his continually bashing of all things religious:  “I will ignore your comments and thus give them all the attention they deserve.” 

When we come to Mark 12:18-27, we find out some of the distant relatives of these ‘secular humanists’:  they are known as the Sadducees.  This is the only time they are referred to in the Gospel of Mark, but their presence is known and felt all through Scripture.  We can tell from verse 18 that they contained a significant authority in Israel, and you are correct.  They were a significant party in the Sanhedrin, or the Jewish Supreme Court.  They found themselves against the Pharisees over basic orthodox beliefs.  In verse 18, Mark tells us that “Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection.”  Not only did they reject a resurrection, but they also rejected the spirit world and the afterlife.  Sound familiar?  It should --- for it is so much like our secular society today.

How the Sadducees got on the ruling council in the nation of Israel is a mystery as far as documentation, but not one as far as what history bears out.  Israel’s beginning were decidedly godly, but even a godly nation when it takes its eyes off its God flounders.  When one begins to wonder how such a plight can happen to Israel, we had first better ask ourselves how it happened in the United States of America, a nation whose motto is “In God We Trust,” but who live as if our motto is “I Trust In Me, And Only In What I See.”

As we have said before, the Sadducees are described in Mark as ones who “did not believe in the resurrection.”  So these wealthy, influential, high brow individuals descended from their ivory tower to talk with Jesus and to give him a hypothetical story.  The story deals with a couple who have no children, but the husband dies leaving no heir.  The Sadducees them refer to Moses teaching in Deuteronomy 25 that says the brother of the man must come along and help perpetuate the lineage.  They string along this story up to seven brothers!  Then they ask Jesus:  “In the resurrection, when they rise again, whose will she be?  For the seven had her as a wife!” 

The Sadducees had fallen into what many do when they cease to interact with everyday folks --- they began to major on the minors.  They began to think and create hypothetical situations and riddles to try to impress their contemporaries with their wisdom to figure out these puzzles and to dumbfound and humiliate those who could not.  We hear these riddles even now.

Have you heard this one?  “If God can do anything, then can He make a rock so big that even He can’t lift it?”  Then the mind turning begins.  “Sure, God can do anything.  Therefore, He can make a rock so big that He cannot lift it.  But wait, then that would make it something that He couldn’t do.  But God can do anything!”  And on and on and on. 

Or how about this one from the Middle Ages:  “How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?”  Now, you may think this is a ridiculous question, but there would be great debates and even fisticuffs over an issue like this! 

But that’s the danger!  When our minds get off the Scriptures, we veer away from the wisdom of God to the wisdom of our own resources.  We begin thinking in puzzles and in hypotheticals.  But Jesus would have none of that. 

Jesus listened to their hypothetical story.  And then He proceeded to cut right through the question to the basic premise and motive of why they asked the question to begin with. 

1.                  It is sad when one disregards the Scriptures.

In verse 24, Jesus tells them two reasons why there were wrong.  The first being this:  they did not know the Scriptures.  And how sad for those who were not only part of the people of Israel but also leaders of those people to not know the Scriptures.  For if they did, they would see some wonderful truths!

In verse 26 and 27, Jesus shows them the very Scriptures they were to defend.  And we need to see this very closely, for this will bring delight to all who hear.

And as for the dead being raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how God spoke to him, saying, 'I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'?  [27] He is not God of the dead, but of the living. You are quite wrong."

Just as the Sadducees appealed to Moses, so too does Jesus.  And He refers back to the most recognizable event of the Old Testament --- the encounter of Moses at the Burning Bush!  When God revealed Himself to Moses, He referred to Himself as the “God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” 

But notice the verse that God uses and that Jesus relays:  “I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’!”  When God spoke to Moses from the bush, we believe it to be somewhere in the 1400s B.C.  But Abraham, Isaac and Jacob lived approximately 600 to 700 years prior to that.  Yet, God spoke as if He still was their God, implying that they still existed!  He was still their God!  But where were they?  They were with Him in heaven! 

What an encouragement!  God told the Pharisees that there is an afterlife!  His covenant love continued for them and it will continue for us.  In 1 Corinthians 15:42-44, we read about the people of God’s resurrection when Christ returns for His people:

So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable.  It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power.  It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 

We will still have a body in heaven.  It will be a new body, but will also be one that is recognizable!   Remember in Mark 9 when Jesus took Peter, James, and John on the Mount of Transfiguration, Jesus’ brilliant glory shown all around and He was soon accompanied by Moses and Elijah.  Well, Peter, James and John immediately recognized them.  To me, this is one example of many that we will know one another in heaven.

Will there be any difference?  Yes, according to Jesus.  We will be “like the angels in heaven.”  Does that mean we will have wings?  And if there is no marriage, will there still be that male/female designation?  

We will be like the angels in that we will be eternal --- still humans, but humans who have been glorified and redeemed fully.  And the only union we will have in heaven is our union with the Bridegroom Jesus Christ. 

What a blessing that is!  I cannot tell you how many times I have been asked that question at a funeral:  “Will I know my spouse, my child, my parents who have died when I get to heaven?”  The question comes from those who hear we will have new bodies but fear they will be unrecognizable.  But we shall be know and be known in heaven.

When I served in Clewiston, FL, a young boy named Chris was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 13.  Not long after, Chris died.  But just before he did, one of the senior adults at the church named Don told Chris, “You make me a promise, OK?  If you make it to heaven before I do, will you promise me that you’ll wait at the entrance for me?  And I promise if I go first, I’ll wait for you.”  This is not merely sentimental talking, but the truth about how we will be recognized. 

The Scriptures are clear --- how sad when we do not see what the Scriptures say about the afterlife and the resurrection!

2.                  It is sad when one denies the power of God.

This was part two of Jesus indictment of the Sadducees.   We forget all about the power of God and instead regulate God to that of one who is a superhuman, a Santa Claus dispensing spiritual goodies, or just simply a Good-ol-Boy God who desires to be buddy-buddy with us and won’t hurt our feelings or intervene in our lives.

How sad it was for the Sadducees to deny the resurrecting power of God.  Paul tells us about this power on display when God rose His Son from the dead.  In 1 Corinthians 6:14, the Bible tells us, “And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power.” 

Acts 2:24 says, “God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.” 

First Corinthians 15:22-23 says, “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.  But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.”

This is where God’s power was most on display --- not at creation, not at the Exodus, but at the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.  And that same power that raised Jesus physically from the dead raises us spiritually from the dead. 

Turn with me to Romans 5.  In verses 6-8, we see this key passage:

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.  For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 

Christ died on the cross for our sin.  He served as a blessed and perfect substitute to atone for our sins.  He died for the ungodly --- the worst of the worst!  Let’s go down to verse 18:

Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.  [19] For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous.  [20] Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,  [21] so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 5:18-21).

The ‘one trespass’ was committed by Adam in the Garden of Eden when he as the father of all humanity disobeyed God’s Word and power and brought the curse of sin into the world.  The ‘one act of righteousness’ was committed by Jesus Christ.  Through His obedience going through with His death on a cruel cross for our sins, we see He obeyed His Father’s Word and will --- and was then raised in power three days later, defeating sin’s ultimate result --- death! 

But the power of God in our lives is seem by the power of God’s grace.  Through the power of God raising Christ from the dead, that power takes a sinful, rebellious heart and makes it righteous!  Sin is powerful, isn’t it?  Its temptations seem to overtake us continually.  And sin is so powerful, that James 1:14-15 says:

But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.  Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

This is powerful!!!  But Romans 5:20 says, “Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more!”  So God’s grace in Christ Jesus, demonstrated and applied through the power of His resurrection, is even more powerful than sin’s effects.

How sad when one denies the power of God --- it is a power that is more powerful than any other!  You see, those who have wandered from the faith are those who do one of these two things Jesus mentioned:  they turn away from the Scriptures or they deny the power of God.  When these are denied, then our witness is destroyed.  Remember in Acts 1:8, Jesus tells us:

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." 

The Holy Spirit takes residence in the heart of a Christ, and thus God’s power is granted as well.  Resurrection power!

Conclusion

Chuck Colson in his book “Kingdoms in Conflicts” reminds us of what happens when world bodies deny all things supernatural:

The United Nations complex sits on sixteen acres of New York City's choicest real estate, bordering the East River and  Manhattan. The lean, immense Secretariat building rises into the sky, the sun reflecting off its window walls. Bright flags of the nations of the world fly in the breezes off the river; the most prominent is the blue and white UN flag, its two white reeds of olive branches surrounding the world. A visitor is immediately struck by the grandeur of the building, stirred by the sight of dignitaries stepping out of black limousines to cross the massive plaza. He realizes that if this place represents the powers of the world, one might well want to see the place of worship, where the nations bow before the One under whose rule they govern. The information personnel are bemused. "The chapel. We don't have a chapel. If there is one, I believe it's across the street."

The visitor darts across the thoroughfare, dodging New York's taxis, and successfully arrives at the opposite building's security-clearance desk.

"Well, there's a chapel here," responds the officer, "But it's not associated with the UN." He thumbs through a directory. "Oh, I see, all right, here it is. It's across the street--and tell them you're looking for the mediation room." Again the visitor dashes across the pavement. An attendant tells him that the room is not open to the public; it's a "nonessential area," and there has been a personnel cutback. But a security guard will escort the visitor through long, crowded hallways and swinging glass doors. Again, there is the pervasive sense of weighty matters being discussed in the noble pursuit of world peace.

The guide pauses at an unmarked door. He unlocks it and gingerly pushes it open. The small room is devoid of people or decoration. The walls are stark white. There are no windows. A few wicker stools surround a large square rock at the center of the room. It is very quiet. But there is no altar, rug, vase, candle, or symbol of any type of religious worship. Ceiling lights create bright spots of illumination on the front wall. One focuses on a piece of modern art: steel squares and ovals. Beyond the abstract shapes, there is nothing in those bright circles of light. They are focused on a void. And it is in that void that the visitor suddenly sees the soul of the brave new world.

This is our ‘new world’ and it’s a sad world.  When world bodies come together and see value only in what they see rather than in the Word of God and the power of God (basically calling it ‘non-essential’) we are in for dire days indeed.

Put your trust in the Word of God and the Good News it brings.  Jesus Christ died, was buried, and rose again according to the Word of God in the power of God.  When those things have gripped your heart, then you won’t be sad, you see!  Your heart will be glad and full of joy!