Morning Moments

NOT KNOWING!

Matthew 22:29 Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.

In the larger context of this verse three groups attempted to entrap Jesus in His words: the Pharisees, the Herodians, and the Sadducees. These were "lettered" men of the day, the scholars, but Jesus did not refute or rebuff their knowledge but exposed their ignorance. You see, it doesn't matter how much we know there are things about which we are still ignorant. Nobody knows it all! It is usually that which we do not know that causes us to err, rather than that which we know.

It is this "not knowing" but thinking we know or assuming we know that sometimes leads us to a dogmatism that is both inconsistent with Scripture and the power of God. Consider the three questions asked Jesus:

1. Do we pay taxes?
2. What kind of resurrection will it be?
3. What is the greatest commandment?

These questions were not being asked because those asking wanted to know. They already had their minds made up about the answers and they all believed that their answers were Biblical. After all, these were to Bible Scholars of Jesus' day. Let me begin by considering each group asking the questions.

PHARISEES - The term had one of the following possible origins:
A. “To be separate.” This group developed during the Maccabean period. (This is the most widely accepted view.)
B. “To divide.” This is another meaning of the same Hebrew root. Some say it meant an interpreter.
C. “Persian.” This possibility is taken from an Aramaic root. Some of the doctrines of the Pharisees have much in common with Persian Zoroastrian dualism.
They developed during the Maccabean Period from the “Hasidim” (“pious men”). Several different groups like the Essenes came out of the anti-Hellenistic reaction to Antiochus IV Epiphanes. The Pharisees are first mentioned in Josephus’ Antiquities of the Jews 8:5:1–3.
Their major doctrines:
A. Belief in Coming Messiah, which was influenced by inter-biblical Jewish apocalyptic literature like I Enoch.
B. God active in daily life. This was directly opposite from the Sadducees. Much of Pharisaic doctrine is a theological counterpoint to the Sadducees’ doctrines.
C. An after-life based on earthly life which involved reward and punishment. This may have come from Dan. 12:2.
D. Authority of the OT and the Oral Traditions (Talmud). They were conscious of being obedient to the OT commands of God as they were interpreted and applied by rabbinical scholars (i.e. Shammai, the conservative ad Hillel, the liberal). The rabbinical interpretation was based on a dialogue between rabbis of two differing philosophies, one conservative and one liberal. These oral discussions over the meaning of Scripture were finally written down in two forms: the Babylonian Talmud and the incomplete Palestinian Talmud. They believed that Moses had received these oral interpretations on Mt. Sinai. The historical beginning of these discussions being written down was Ezra and the men of the “Great Synagogue” (i.e. later called the Sanhedrin).
E. Highly developed Angelology. This involved both good and evil spiritual beings. This is revealed from Persian dualism and inter-biblical Jewish literature.

Herodians
The term is derived from their association with the ruling family of Herod.
The Herods were an Idumaen (Edom) family of rulers starting with Herod the Great. At his death several of his sons divided his kingdom. All the Herods were supporters of the Roman government. Their followers wanted to keep the political status quo. They preferred the rule of the Herods to direct Roman rule. This group was strictly political. They did not officially identify with the theology of the Pharisees or Sadducees.

Sadducees
This was a religious /political sect of the Jews in Jesus’ day. They were mostly of the wealthy, priestly segment of the Jewish elite in Jerusalem. They were often the theological antithesis of the Pharisees. They only accepted the writing of Moses (Gen.-Deut.) as authoritative. For the most part they rejected supernatural theology (1) they did not believe in a literal, physical resurrection (cf. Acts 23:8); and (2) they rejected the active involvement of angels in daily life. Their focus was on the “here and now,” not the “hereafter.” This sect did not survive the fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70.

SOURCE: Utley, R. J. D. (2000). Vol. Volume 9: The First Christian Primer: Matthew. Study Guide Commentary Series (184). Marshall, Texas: Bible Lessons International.

Always compliment before you criticize. RIGHT? So typical of the world's way of setting someone up. Then flatter Him to fault Him. They verbally build Him up but for the ulterior motive of tearing Him down. I detest these silly kinds of games people play when they seek to appear so smooth and smart but are so cunning and crafty. All three groups had the same objective - GET HIM!

Question One - Regarding Taxes

We live in the world but we are not of it. "Taxes" exist, not to benefit the kingdom of God, but the world in which we live as sojourners. Paul instructs us to obey every ordinance of man, which is to say that we are not to live as law breakers AS LONG AS THE LAWS OF MAN DO NOT VIOLATE THE LAWS OF GOD. The question as it relates to us is simply this: Does the taxing of a government of its people violate the commandments of God and the answer is no! So, Jesus said, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's.

Question Two - Regarding Resurrection

This group did not even believe in the resurrection of the dead, so their motive could not have been pure, yet here they are quoting Moses. They concoct this hypothetical situation of seven brothers who had all married the same woman (not at the same time) and died. Whose wife would she be in the resurrection?

Now folks, hold onto your hat, because 9 out of 10 of you think the same way these folks thought. "Oh, my darling wife is up there waiting on me." "I know mama's on the other side just waiting for all us children to come home." I'm sorry, but this is not consistent with what we KNOW from Scripture and there is much WE DO NOT KNOW.
We can speculate but once again, we must be very careful about our dogma. I'm not saying we won't know each other, but we will not know each other in the same relationship that we know each other here and apparently we will all know each other without having to learn each other’s name - "We shall know as we are known." The fact is that for a large percent of us, the thought of continuing up there the relationship we have had down here would be hell, not heaven (present company excluded, of course).

I have a thousand question about this whole thing that the Bible simply DOES NOT address, so I just trust God with it. My wife and I lost a baby girl between our two boys. Will she appear grown? Give me a break! We all have questions and there are no answers for some of them. Rather than being dogmatic about what we do not know but have come to believe by tradition, etc, let's just trust God with it. That is the point. However it works, it will be just right. If all who believe are children of God, will we not have a brother/sister relationship? I don't know!

Question Three - The Greatest Commandment

LOVE! The rabbis had asserted that there were 248 positive and 365 negative commandments in the writings of Moses (Gen. - Deut.) for a total of 613 commands.

God gave Moses their answer but they had to have commentary on it to such an extent that loving God and loving your neighbor developed into quicksand into which theology had sunk.

It is strange to me that we can split churches over "reform theology" or a hundred other "dogmas" but we have a hard time loving the brethren as our own selves. It is because we do NOT love God as we should. We are often just like these groups who missed the whole point of Scripture and the POWER OF GOD by embracing their "interpretation" of Scripture above the COMMANDMENT to LOVE.

BLESSINGS!