mark 12:13-37 october 20, 2019ammark 12:13-37 misdirection october 20, 2019am read mark 12:13-37...

Mark 12:13-37 Misdirection October 20, 2019am

READ Mark 12:13-37 KIDS What were the three misdirections that the Jews brought to Jesus?

I can remember as vividly as if it happened yesterday. I was a

member of a team of high school students in my church who went out weekly to share our faith and invite the community to church. We had gone

through several sessions of training (basically to make sure that we did not act like high school students while we were representing our church), and

we headed out into surrounding neighborhoods where we would knock on doors and talk to people in the neighborhood.

One man that my friend and I were talking to seemed so interested. He was new to the area; a few things had happened in his life where he

started thinking about his relationship to God; and in his own words, he was open to getting back in church. After so many times of getting a door

slammed in our face, my friend and I started getting excited that we might be able to share our testimonies of how Christ had worked in our life and

tell a little about our church.

Corey M. Minter Page of 1 12

www.newhopefwbc.com 1285 New Hope Road J o e l t o n , T N 3 7 0 8 0 6 1 5 . 7 4 6 . 6 4 0 3


But then, he said it. “I just have one question for you guys. It’s one that in my study of the Bible, I have never gotten peace over. Where did

Cain get his wife?” We knew the answer. We had been warned of these type of

questions by some of our mentors, but the quick shift in sincerity to pettiness really had us reeling. After a few seconds of us trying to get the

conversation back to what really mattered, we realized the conversation was over, and we headed out.

Misdirection is an art that some of us have mastered to keep us from focusing on what really matters. Maybe we accidentally do it, but more

often than not, my experience is that it is just a ploy in yet another of our games of spiritual chess where we try to keep Jesus at arms length.

In the Bible, the Pharisees were masters of misdirection…or so they thought. Dozens of times the Gospel accounts record a group of these

spiritual leaders approaching Jesus and trying to trap Him in His answers. Every time, Jesus does not falter or fail. He answers their misdirected

questions, but He often times goes one step further and asks them a question which leaves them thinking. To their misdirection, He directs them

to Truth. There is no greater example of misdirection throughout Scripture than

Mark 12 where it seems that several (normally feuding) groups have formed an alliance among themselves with the sole purpose of taking Jesus down.

The groups are the Pharisees, the Herodians, the Sadducees and the scribes, and they will ask Jesus questions about politics, doctrine and society in a

hope to trap Him and deliver Him to the authorities for punishment.



This morning we will be taking this passage of Scripture from 30,000 feet in the air and looking at each of these issues in an overview of

subjects that often times distract us from the main thing: Jesus. Pharisees and Herodians: A Political Misdirection

Verse 13 starts off the bout by introducing the Pharisees and the Herodians:

Mark 12:13 Then they sent to Him some of the Pharisees and the Herodians, to catch Him in His words. Most scholars suggest that

these groups were all sent by the Sanhedrin (the Jewish court). 14 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? In order to get the full weight of what they were asking Jesus, you

have to know a little about these two groups. I am going to spare you some of the boring details but suffice it to say that these two groups would

have made our members of Congress look like best friends. Our modern-day Republicans and Democrats who are constantly at each others throat

would not even hold a candle to these guys. The Pharisees were religious zealots bent on Israel keeping the

traditions of the Jews. They held up the Torah (first five books of the Bible) as their law and from it they gained their national, religious and personal

identity. The Herodians were (as their name suggests) of the class of Jews

like Herod who tried to straddle his Jewish nationality and Roman



allegiance for his own personal financial and political gain. Though Jewish, they were not religious at all, and they held to the idea of melding into the

culture of their day in order to survive and thrive. The issue that they bring to Jesus is cut and dry. Should the Jews

(who were under the provincial governance of Rome) pay taxes to Caesar or not? What is so unusual about these two groups and their coming

together to ask Jesus this question is that their own answers would have been polar opposites.

The Herodians would have had no problem in paying the tax to Rome. In fact, some of them had probably signed up like Matthew, one of

Jesus’s own disciples, to collect the taxes and make a profit from off their fellow Jews. The Pharisees saw paying taxes to any other entity aside from

the temple as treasonous to the throne of David, and therefore would have condemned them as being shunned by God. That is why you hear the

Pharisees railing against Jesus as One who eats with tax collectors and sinners.

15 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.” 16 So they brought it.

And He said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?” They said to Him, “Caesar’s.”

17 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.



Come April, don’t you kind of wish that Jesus had answered a little differently? But seriously, Jesus cuts through all of the smoke that they are

blowing and says, “Pay the dumb tax.” But its how He tells them to pay it that is so masterful. He holds up that coin and asks whose picture is on it.

Caesar’s. Then give it to him. But the implication of His answer is “Whose image and inscription is on you?” Could I suggest that Jesus is implying

two verses of Scripture here: Genesis 1:27 So God created man in His own image; in the image

of God He created him; male and female He created them. Jeremiah 31:33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the

house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and

they shall be My people. It is as if Jesus (like He held up the coin and asked whose image an

inscription it bore) is asking “Whose image do you bear? Whose inscription is on your heart? God’s.”

More important than any political question that you will ever have to answer is this relationship question. Have you given yourself to God?

I have heard it several times throughout my pastorate. A person is so close to accepting Jesus as her Savior, and then out come the political

questions. One told me one time, “Well if I become a Christian and believe what the Bible says on certain topics then that means I am going to have

to change my politics.” Friend, listen to me. When you accept Jesus as your Savior,

EVERYTHING IN YOUR LIFE CHANGES. Political parties are so petty



compared to this. To my unbelieving friends who might be here this morning, you give your life to Christ…You give to God what is rightly His

(YOURSELF) and the things of this world will grow strangely dim. To my Christian friends who are here this morning, as humbly as I

can say it, with as much grace as I can muster, stop making politics the main thing. If we aren’t already there, we are about to be waylaid into a

political season like we have never seen. Every network on every medium is going to try and misdirect you for

their own financial and political gain. Turn it off, and open It up. Instead of gathering around the television, gather your family for devotions. Instead

of listening to talk radio in traffic (could there be a more unholy duo?!), listen to the Bible or the tens of thousands of FREE Christian resources that

everyday go undownloaded. Let’s get back to being pilgrims and sojourners in this world. We

seek a Heavenly country Whose Builder and Maker is God. Do not fall into the misdirection trap that politics is.

As petty an issue as politics was in a hope to misdirect Jesus, the Sadducees come in with a more absurd issue. They present a hypothetical

misdirection. Sadducees: A Hypothetical Misdirection

We could spend some time on asking who the Sadducees were, but we really already have everything that we need to know about them in

verse 18. Mark 12:18 Then some Sadducees, who say there is no

resurrection, came to Him…



The Sadducees were similar to the Pharisees in that they held to a traditional, literal view of the Old Testament. The two groups were both

affluent and influential, although it seems the Sadducees were probably the better well-off, more pedigreed. But they split over this one issue: the

after-life. The Pharisees believed that there was a resurrection…that there was life after death, but the Sadducees did not (I had a Sunday school

teacher who taught me that was why they were Sad-U-See?). They believed that the religious rites, rituals and laws were good for

mankind because it structured them into living a better life, but the notion of an afterlife…eternity…they would have held as nonsense.

That’s not too far from a conversation that I had with a friend of mine some time ago. He had been attending church, and we had already had

several talks about his relationship with the Lord, but each time, I just felt like something was missing. So I came right out and asked him one day,

“Do you believe the Bible?” His answer is one that some of you might give. “I think religion is

necessary in order to make people behave. I don’t believe everything in the Bible, but as long as it makes people live a better life, it’s ok.”

He wasn’t a Sadducee, but they had some things in common. The notion of an afterlife was absurd to the Sadducee. Live your best life now

because you don’t get anything else. That’s what makes their question to Jesus so strange. They reference

Deuteronomy 25 where Moses wrote that if a man dies and leaves his wife as a widow, then his next living brother should marry her and have

children with her. This practice served a dual purpose: it was a form of



welfare (a safety net) for the widow to be taken care of, and it made sure that the brother’s name was not struck from the record of the lineage of

Israel (which was very important for their hoping for a Messiah). Well, in verses 19-23, the Sadducees concoct a hypothetical

situation so absurd in a hope to make Jesus’s explanation of Mosaic Law look foolish. They tell the story of a woman who is widowed; so she marries

her husband’s next brother, but he dies; so she marries his next brother, but he dies; she she marries his next brother, etc. On and on until she

marries the seventh and final brother (I’m sure he knew what he was getting into…you guessed it); he died. Finally, she dies.

The question that the Sadducees pose is “In the resurrection (or in the afterlife), whose wife will she be? Certainly not all 7!” They think they

are so clever. You can hear the sarcasm, can’t you? But Jesus meets their hypothetical question with the very real reality

that they do not know their Scripture at all. Mark 12:25 For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry

nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. Basically, there is no marriage in Heaven. Why would there be?

There is no need to have children. The symbolism of marriage (Christ and the church) is kind of unnecessary because we will see Christ face to face.

And every human relationship that we have on earth will pale in comparison to the rich, saintly relationship we will have around the throne

worshipping God. But Jesus cuts even closer to the heart of the matter. In spite of their

wanting to talk about hypothetical situations in a hope to confuse and



detract from Jesus’s ministry, Jesus says “Forget about the hypothetical relationship this woman might have with her seven husbands, let’s talk

about your relationship with the Living God.” Mark 12:26 But concerning the dead, that they rise, have you not

read in the book of Moses, (since they hold Moses up to so high a standard) in the burning bush passage, (Exodus 3) how God

spoke to him, saying, I am (not was) the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’?

27 He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. You are therefore greatly mistaken.”

The hypothetical that you’ll come across today might be something like “If God is all-powerful…Can He create a rock so big that it’s too heavy

for Him to lift?” The answer of course is “If God can do anything (and He can), we don’t have any need for ‘Can God…’ questions. We ought to ask

“Will God? Will God create a rock so big that He can’t lift? No because God doesn’t play games.”

The person who tries to play hypotheticals with God is one who is just trying to misdirect their own attention from the fact that God is the God

of the living, and as such, you will one day have to give an account for living in His world.

One after the other they come. The Pharisees, the Herodians, the Sadducees, and one after the other, Jesus directs them back to God being

their Creator and God being their Judge. Finally, here comes a scribe (one of the religious leaders tasked with knowing and recording Scripture), and

right off the bat, I suggest that there is something different about him. He



seems…more genuine. Matthew records that he is still testing Jesus, but I think he has heard the previous questions, more importantly, he has heard

Jesus’s strong answers and now he plays his role just by reading off of the pre-approved script as he asks…

Scribes: A Biblical MisdirectionMark 12:28 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?”

He’s not asking a history or chronological (first law) question. He’s asking what is the most important law.

29 Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.

30 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. 31 And the second, like it, is this: You shall love your neighbor as

yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” Love God. Love others. That’s Jesus’s reply. Loving God the way you

ought, will make you love others the way you should. The scribe hears this, and he celebrates Jesus’s answer.

32 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.

33 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.”

What I think is implied in the scribe’s response though (particularly when he reaffirms the whole “there is One God” portion) is that he is

struggling with Jesus’s claim to be the Son of God…equal with God. How could Jesus rightly answer such a Biblical question about loving the One

True God and still claim to be God Himself? I imagine He was asking Himself. Jesus sees the wheels turning in the man’s head, so He urges him

a little more. 34 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.

So Jesus brings it home. Already, He has directed them back to the Truth that God created them and inscribed His laws on their hearts.

Already, He has affirmed that God is alive and judging the living. They are responsible to Him for that law that He inscribed on their hearts. Already,

He has affirmed what that overarching law is: Love God supremely. Love others sacrificially.

Now, in their own language and through their own understanding of Scripture, Jesus is going to relay the fact that He is God. He is the Chosen

One. He is David’s seed. Mark 12:35 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?

36 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.” ’ 37 Therefore David himself calls Him ‘Lord’; how is He then his

Son?” And the common people heard Him gladly.

There are some cultural nuances here that we can talk about later, but basically, Jesus finds common ground with every sect of Jews there

was by bringing up David. To the Pharisees, David was the man after God’s own heart. To the Herodians, he was the most powerful ruler that

Israel had ever seen. To the Sadducees, he represented a life well-lived. And to the Scribes, he was one of the very authors of Scripture.

To give you the paraphrase of what Jesus is pointing to its this: “You all know that the Messiah is going to come from David’s lineage, but David

called this coming Messiah, his Lord…his Master…his Adonai… How is it that David would call one of his sons God?

And what I think is implied is that this Master Carpenter who was born of Mary (a descendant of David) and had the shroud of rumor about

Him that He had been conceived by the Holy Spirit and was the Son of God…the Chosen One.

With all the misdirection in this world that you comes at you (political, hypothetical, even Biblical) what it all comes down to is WHAT DO YOU

THINK OF JESUS. Don’t miss Him. Don’t fall into these lesser distractions and arguments. He’s the One…Chosen before the foundations of the earth

was laid to take my sin and yours on the cross for our good and His glory.


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