Scripture

Jesus replied, ”Your mistake is that you don’t know the scriptures, and you don’t know the power of God.”

Observation

The Pharisees and Herodians decide to trap Jesus. After buttering him up with flattery, they ask Him, is it right to pay taxes to Caesar? Jesus replies by telling them to give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to give God what belongs to God.

Later on the same day, the Sadducees decide to test Jesus also. The Sadducees do not believe in the resurrection of the dead. Their question concerns the law that says a wife whose husband dies should be cared for by his brothers. So, in the resurrection that they do not believe in, they ask, ”Whose wife will she be?”

Jesus’ response is quite blunt. These men neither know the Scriptures nor the God they claim to serve. The resurrection life is very different to this life, and so there is no marriage in heaven. Everything is at a whole different level of existence.

Application

There are many christians, including leaders, who know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God.

Some people, for example, see the church as a meeting place for good people. They have been saved by Jesus, and now live such holy lives that sinners are not welcome in their midst.

Some denominations teach that there is no place for spiritual gifts today. The completion of the New Testament rendered the power of the Holy Spirit outdated and irrelevant. These people deny the poser of god, but they also are ignorant of the Scriptures which do not teach anywhere that the Baptism of the Holy Spirit is a transient thing.

We must approach God and other people with humility. I do not have all the answers, and I do not lead a perfect life.

We should see the church not s a meeting place for righteous people, but rather as a collection of sinners redeemed by grace and always open to more redeemed sinners.

Prayer

Father, please set me free from all pride and arrogance. Help me to understand you more and to rejoice in your power to change lives. Amen.