A Reminder and an Encouraging Hope

I find a great reminder and encouraging hope in our Lord's "encounter" with the Sadducee over the issue of the resurrection. They thought that their religious pedigree as scholars and their impeachable logic using the illustration of the woman with multiple husbands would render this untrained rabbi from the backwoods speechless before them. They were, after all, the highly educated Old Testament scholars of their day. No one knew the books of Moses like they did.
The great reminder: Jesus replied to their arrogant intellectualism something like this--"You guys don't understand the Scripture at all. You never get it right. If you were in my Pentateuch 101 class, you would undoubtedly fail. You always err!" There are many today with all kinds of degrees behind their name, years of Bible study, masters of Hebrew and Greek, who haven't the faintest idea what the Bible teaches. What's missing? The Holy Spirit; they don't believe in Jesus as their Savior. As Paul says, "the natural man--the unregenerate man--has no chance of understanding God's Word. No chance! The thoughts of God need the Spirit of God to be understood." Don't be impressed by pedigree and supposed scholarship and the "logic" of the erudite. There are many country preachers with less than stellar education who know more of God's truth than many a "biblical scholar." No faith in Christ, no Holy Spirit, no chance of understanding. "They do always err." Don't be intimidated! You know God's Word better than many a so-called expert on the Bible.

The encouraging hope: Jesus put it this way--"I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I am not the God of the dead; I am the God of the living. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are alive today." Rejoice! Those that I love who have "passed away" are alive. Today. And with Him. And it's not that they are just still alive, they are more alive than they have ever been.

"I am the resurrection and the life. He that believes in me will never die!"

Have confidence in the indwelling Spirit to guide you into all truth. Rest in the confidence of your immutable hope. We serve the only Eternal Living God of the living.