The Christ and the Critics

Bible Book: Mark 12 : 13-27

Subject: Jesus; Christian Critics; Questions for Jesus; Salvation

Introduction

Questions came to our Lord Jesus Christ from all quarters. Throughout His earthly ministry he fielded many leading and loaded questions. As we discover in Mark 11:27-12:12, they questioned His authority. Mark 12:13-34 reads, “Then they sent to Him some of the Pharisees and the Herodians, to catch Him in His words. When they had come, they said to Him, ‘Teacher, we know that You are true, and care about no one; for You do not regard the person of men, but teach the way of God in truth. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? Shall we pay, or shall we not pay?’ But He, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, ‘Why do you test Me? Bring Me a denarius that I may see it.’ So they brought it. And He said to them, ‘Whose image and inscription is this?’ They said to Him, ‘Caesar’s.’ And Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.’ And they marveled at Him.

Then some Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him; and they asked Him, saying: ‘Teacher, Moses wrote to us that if a man’s brother dies, and leaves his wife behind, and leaves no children, his brother should take his wife and raise up offspring for his brother. Now there were seven brothers. The first took a wife; and dying, he left no offspring. And the second took her, and he died; nor did he leave any offspring. And the third likewise. So the seven had her and left no offspring. Last of all the woman died also. Therefore, in the resurrection, when they rise, whose wife will she be? For all seven had her as wife.’ Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Are you not therefore mistaken, because you do not know the Scriptures nor the power of God? For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 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.

‘Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, ‘Which is the first commandment of all?’ Jesus answered him, ‘The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.’ So the scribe said to Him, ‘Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth, for there is one God, and there is no other but He. And to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.’ Now when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, He said to him, ‘You are not far from the kingdom of God.’ But after that no one dared question Him.”

Allow me to share three types of questions Jesus the Christ answered.

I. We find a divisive question about the limitation of financial responsibility.

From Mark 12:13-17 we read, “Then they sent to Him some of the Pharisees and the Herodians, to catch Him in His words. When they had come, they said to Him, ‘Teacher, we know that You are true, and care about no one; for You do not regard the person of men, but teach the way of God in truth. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? Shall we pay, or shall we not pay?’ But He, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, ‘Why do you test Me? Bring Me a denarius that I may see it.’ So they brought it.

And He said to them, ‘Whose image and inscription is this?’ They said to Him, ‘Caesar’s.’ And Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.’ And they marveled at Him.”

Dr. Henry Allen Ironside (1876-1951) writes, “The question of the tribute money was a live one throughout Palestine. To pay this tax was a tacit acknowledgment of Rome’s authority, something that was thoroughly repugnant to Jews of strong nationalistic feeling. The Herodians and some others advocated this recognition of the imperial government because of special favor they hoped to get by their subservience.”[1]

Dr. John Phillips (1927-2010) explains, “The Herodians accepted the Roman yoke and sought ways to cooperate with the occupying imperial power. The Pharisees bitterly resented the Romans. The two parties squabbled incessantly. The fact that they were acting in concert would not be lost on the Lord, who was a skilled reader of men's thoughts.”[2]
Jesus answered this divisive question with divine wisdom. The Pharisees and the Herodians were being hypocritical. They asked a clever question and received a clear answer from Jesus. Jesus’ expanded His answer to include our responsibility to God.

Don Fleming, a prolific author and Bible teacher from Belmont, Queensland, Australia, writes, “If Jesus replied 'Yes', the Pharisees would accuse him before the Jewish people of being a traitor. If he answered 'No', the Herodians would accuse him before the Roman authorities of treason. Jesus replied that duty to God and duty to civil authorities are not in opposition. People owe to each a debt for the services and benefits they receive. They should give to civil authorities that which is due to them, and give to God all that they owe him (Matt 22:18-22; Luke 20:23-26).”[3]

Dr. Ray C. Steadman (1917-1992) shares, “This was an astonishing answer to them, just as it was for a brilliant young American lawyer who saw it for the first time. Someone had given him a New Testament, and as he was reading it through he came to this account, which he read with great interest because he was involved in a similar type of legal dilemma. He said that he could not read it fast enough and that when he saw Jesus' answer he was so astonished, he actually dropped his Bible, exclaiming, ‘That's the most amazing wisdom!’”[4]

II. We find a disingenuous question about the duration of marital relationships.

The term “disingenuous” means, “Not straightforward or candid; insincere or calculating”.[5]

From Mark 12:18-27 we read, “Then some Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him; and they asked Him, saying: ‘Teacher, Moses wrote to us that if a man’s brother dies, and leaves his wife behind, and leaves no children, his brother should take his wife and raise up offspring for his brother. Now there were seven brothers. The first took a wife; and dying, he left no offspring. And the second took her, and he died; nor did he leave any offspring. And the third likewise. So the seven had her and left no offspring. Last of all the woman died also. Therefore, in the resurrection, when they rise, whose wife will she be? For all seven had her as wife.’ Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Are you not therefore mistaken, because you do not know the Scriptures nor the power of God? For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 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.”

Rev. Matthew Poole (1624-1679) explains, “The Sadducees most probably derived their name from one Sadoc, scholar to Antigonus Sochaeus. It is said that the occasion of their heresy was their master's teaching them, that they must not serve God as servants for rewards. Upon which they builded their notion, that there is no resurrection, no rewards nor punishments in another life. They denied the immortality of the soul, and the resurrection of the body, and angels, and spirits, Ac 23:8; attributed all to free will, denying fate and destiny; they rejected traditions, and owned no Scriptures but the five books of Moses. They seemed to be a kind of rational divines, that would own and believe nothing but what they could fathom by their reason, or was obvious to their sense; and their doctrine was excellently suited to men's lusts, who desire not to be troubled with any thoughts of a world to come. Nothing more shows the degeneracy and debauchery of human nature than this, that to gratify their sensual appetites more freely in the things of this life, they will be content to think of annihilation, (which nature not debauched abhors), and of quitting all hopes of eternal life and happiness, that they may have a principle to warrant their living like beasts. They come to our Saviour, thinking to flout him and his hearers out of the doctrine of the resurrection, as having insuperable difficulties to clog it. But he that takes the wise in their own craftiness, shows these wise men, that all their wisdom was but folly, and their argument wholly proceeded ex ignoratione elenchi, from their not understanding the thing they would philosophize about.”[6]
The Sadducees created a hypothetical situation using the Law of the kinsman redeemer as we read in the Book of Ruth. Jesus answered this disingenuous question with discerning facility. Again, Jesus expanded His answer to include the Scriptures [the Word of God] and the power of God. Dr. Edward Bickersteth (1814-1892), dean of Lichfield, and Rev. Prof. John Radford Thomson (1837-1918) share the following in The Pulpit Commentary, “These Sadducees erred in two ways: (1) They did not know or remember the Scriptures, such as that in Job (Job 21:25), ‘I know that my Redeemer liveth,’ etc., or in Isaiah (Isaiah 26:19), ‘Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise;’ or in Daniel (Daniel 12:2), ‘Many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake,’ etc. (2) They did not know the power of God, namely, that he can raise the bodies of the dead again to life, even as at first he created them out of nothing; for a greater power is required to make that to be which was not, than to make that again to be which once was. But then the resurrection life will be a new life, spiritual, glorious, eternal, like that of the angels.”[7] It is interesting to note, since the Sadducees only accepted the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible), Jesus cited Exodus 3:6, related to God’s continuing relationship with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, long since dead.

III. We find a difficult question about the interpretation of scriptural regulations.

From Mark 12:28-34 we read, “‘Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, ‘Which is the first commandment of all?’ Jesus answered him, ‘The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.’ So the scribe said to Him, ‘Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth, for there is one God, and there is no other but He. And to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.’ Now when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, He said to him, ‘You are not far from the kingdom of God.’

But after that no one dared question Him.” Dr. Landrum P. Leavell (1926-2008) former president of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, comments, “Out of the crowd came a fairminded scribe who knew that Jesus had answered every question honestly and with greatest insight. In his openness to the truth of God, Jesus said this man was not far from the Kingdom. This did not mean he was saved, but that his openness could lead to saving faith.”[8] Dr. R. Kent Hughes comments, “This was also a warning. Though he was close, he was decisively separated. It is possible to be within an inch of Heaven, yet go to Hell!”[9]
Dr. William Barclay (1907-1978) explains, “The whole profession of the scribes was to interpret the law in all its many rules and regulations.”[10]

Jesus answered this difficult question with different summation. Dr. William Barclay explains, “Sammlai had taught that Moses received 613 precepts on Mount Sinai, 365 according to the days of the sun year, and 248 according to the generations of men. David reduced the 613 to 11 in Ps 15. . . Isaiah reduced them to 6. (Isa 33:15.). . .
Micah reduced the 6 to 3. (Mic 6:8.) . . . Once again Isaiah brought the 3 down to 2. (Isa 56:1.) . . . Finally Habakkuk reduced them all to one. (Hab 2:4.)”[11]

Jesus Christ held the door of hope open for salvation to the one who posed this question. Jesus warned in Matthew 7:13-14, “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” Earlier, on another occasion Jesus said, “When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, ‘Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels’” (Mark 8:34-38).

Conclusion

Dr. J. C. Ryle (1816-1900) explains, “We have seen in the former part of this chapter, how the enemies of our Lord endeavored to ‘catch Him in His words.’ We have seen how the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Scribes successively propounded to Him hard questions--questions we can hardly fail to observe more likely to minister strife than edification. The passage before us begins with a question of a very different character. Our Lord Himself propounds it. He asks His enemies about Christ and the meaning of Holy Scripture. Such questions are always truly profitable. Well would it be for the church if theological discussions were less about trifles, and more about weighty matters, and things necessary to salvation.”[12]

When we think of the amazing way Jesus answered the questions posed by the Pharisees with the Herodians, the Sadducees and the Scribe, it is helpful to remember, to do what Jesus did; we must do what Jesus did. Jesus relied upon the Holy Spirit, as He taught His disciples to do (Matthew 10:16-20). To be wise, we must do likewise.
We read in Mark 12:35-37, “Then Jesus answered and said, while He taught in the temple, ‘How is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the Son of David? For David himself said by the Holy Spirit: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, / ‘Sit at My right hand,
Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.’ Therefore David himself calls Him ‘Lord’; how is He then his Son?’ And the common people heard Him gladly.”

Dr. William Hendricksen (1900-1982) comments on Mark 12:36-37a, “It is as if Jesus were saying to his critics, ‘You have found fault with me for accepting the praises of those who called me 'the Son of David.’ Bear in mind, then, that I am the Son of David in the most exalted sense, for David himself called me 'my Lord.’ Therefore whoever rejects me is rejecting David's Lord.’ Yet, Jesus is not as yet openly telling the enemies that he is indeed the Christ. That will come a little later. See 14:61, 62.”[13]

When Jesus went before the Sanhedrin we read in Mark 14:61-62, “But He kept silent and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked Him, saying to Him, ‘Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?’ Jesus said, ‘I am. And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power; and coming with the clouds of heaven.’”

On Mark 12:37b, Dr. Hendriksen further comments, “The fact that just now Jesus had been criticizing the scribes did not seem to bother the large listening crowd. In fact, these people were enjoying what they heard. The statement is general, however. Throughout his ministry, whenever possible large crowds came to Jesus. At times they sought healing for themselves or for their dear ones; at other times they came mainly to listen to his words (Mark 1:22; 2:2, 13; 4:1 ff.; 6:34; 10:1; cf. Matt. 7:28,29). The two purposes were often combined (Luke 5:15; 6:17).

But enjoying a sermon or a discourse—any word whatever, coming, whether indirectly or directly, from the mouth of the Lord—is not the same as being spiritually benefited by it.”[14]

Dr. Warren W. Wiersbe writes, “All political questions (vv. 13–17) and hypothetical doctrinal questions (vv. 18–27) are chaff compared to the most important question of all: Is Jesus Christ your Lord (vv. 35–37) and do you love Him (vv. 28–34)?”[15]

Related to the issue of His Lordship, Jesus asks, “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46) and to those who say they love Him, Jesus says, “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15).

Jesus Christ has a question for you. In Matthew 16:13-17 we read, “When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, ‘Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?’ So they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter answered and said, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. ”

We know from Acts 15:5a there were “some of the sect of the Pharisees who believed.” Remember two prime examples, namely, Nicodemus (John 3; 7:45-53; and 19:38-42) and Saul, who became Paul the apostle (Acts 9:1-19; 22:6-21; and 26:12-18). This reveals it is possible to go from being a critic to being a Christian! May we remember this when we think about the Christ and the critics.

[2]John Phillips, The John Phillips Commentary Series – Exploring the Gospel of Mark: An Expository Commentary, (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Academic, 2003), 253.

[4]Ray C. Steadman, Expository Studies in Mark 8-16: The Ruler Who Serves, (Waco, TX: Word, 1976), 114.

[5]The Free Dictionary, “disingenuous,” Accessed: 09/07/12, http://www.thefreedictionary.com/disingenuous .

[8]The Teacher's Bible Commentary: A concise, thorough interpretation of the entire Bible designed especially for Sunday School teachers, eds., H. Franklin Paschall and Herschel H. Hobbs, (Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, 1972), 627.

[9]R. Kent Hughes, Preaching the Word– Mark, Volume II: Jesus, Servant and Savior, (Westchester, IL: Crossway Books, 1989), 116.

[10]William Barclay, The Gospel of Mark: The Daily Study Bible, (Philadelphia, PA: The Westminster Press, 1956), 306.

[11]Barclay, Mark, 307.

[12]J. C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark, (Ipswich: William Hunt, 1859), 266.

[14]Ibid.

[15]Warren W. Wiersbe, With the Word: The Chapter-by-Chapter Bible Handbook, (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1991), 663.

By Dr. Franklin L. Kirksey, pastor First Baptist Church of Spanish Fort 30775 Jay Drive Spanish Fort, Alabama 36527

Author of Don’t Miss the Revival! Messages for Revival and Spiritual Awakening from Isaiah and

Sound Biblical Preaching: Giving the Bible a Voice [Both available on Amazon.com in hardcover, paperback and eBook]