Who Is the Christ?

Theme: Who Is the Christ?
 
SCRIPTURE
Mark 12:13-34
 
And they sent to him some of the Pharisees and some of the Herodians, to trap him in his talk. And they came and said to him, “Teacher, we know that you are true and do not care about anyone's opinion. For you are not swayed by appearances, but truly teach the way of God. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? Should we pay them, or should we not?” But, knowing their hypocrisy, he said to them, “Why put me to the test? Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.” And they brought one. And he said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said to him, “Caesar's.” Jesus 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.
And Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection. And they asked him a question, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies and leaves a wife, but leaves no child, the man must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. There were seven brothers; the first took a wife, and when he died left no offspring.And the second took her, and died, leaving no offspring. And the third likewise. And the seven left no offspring. Last of all the woman also died.In the resurrection, when they rise again, whose wife will she be? For the seven had her as wife.”
Jesus said to them, “Is this not the reason you are wrong, because you know neither 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. 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’? He is not God of the dead, but of the living. You are quite wrong.”
And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this:‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions.
 
LESSON
 
Each time election year rolls around in America, voters can witness debates between candidates for various offices. The goal is for the speakers to interact with one another’s ideas, clarify their views for the voters, and get at the truth. Unfortunately, what the listener often gets instead is a mixture of mud, whitewash, and soft soap!
 
The debate between Jesus and His enemies recorded in Mark, 12 succeeded almost in spite of itself. Israel’s religious leaders would have liked nothing better than to throw mud at Jesus, whitewash themselves, and softsoap the listening crowds. But if you look carefully at Jesus’ handling of the confrontation, nothing stands out so clearly as Jesus’ skill in turning His opponents’ questions into opportunities to deal with the crucial issues.
 
This will be the last time Jesus will engage in public debate with Israel’s religious leaders. The next time they meet will be at His trial, when they will arrange His death. The boldness with which Jesus makes His claim to be God the Messiah and with which He challenges His enemies springs from the heart of a man who is confident of His calling, certain that His divinely appointed hour has finally come.
 
STUDY QUESTIONS
  • What were the Pharisees biggest issue with Jesus? Do we have modern day Pharisees?
  • How does Christ teach us to interact with those who disagree with us? How can we be bold like Christ?

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