I. Jesus Answers The Liberal Theologians

A. The Sadducees V. 23

1. The Sadducees were formed during the intertestamental period
2. They were equivalent of modern day liberal theologians, i.e., The Jesus Seminar
3. Didn’t believe in the supernatural, angels, miracles, life after death: materialistic
4. They were rationalists: “Unless I can see it, I won’t believe it…”
5. They were guided by their minds and senses, and defined life that way
6. They accepted only the 1st five books of the Bible: The Torah
7. Wealthy & powerful, and came from the priestly line of ancestors
8. Could have been considered the deists or skeptics of their day
9. Keep in mind that these men are against Jesus; that is why they question Him

B. Their Questioning Of Jesus Vs. 24-28

1. Their questioning has a Biblical base. From Deuteronomy 25:5-10

a. A brother would marry his dead brother’s wife, raise up a son in his name
b. This would carry on the family name, and the ownership of family land

2. Though biblically based, it is misapplied, & not believed by the questioners
3. They took a biblical truth they didn’t believe, & took it to a ridiculous extreme
4. They didn’t believe “point #1” about this law, but extrapolated it out to nonsense
5. How foolish to make biblical arguments with Scriptures one doesn’t believe
6. Turn to 1 Corinthians 1:17-31; 2:13-16

C. Jesus’ Answer To Them

1. He Tells Them They Are Wrong V. 29

a. They were wrong because they didn’t rightly know God’s Word
b. They were wrong because they didn’t know the power of God
c. A person can have a high I.Q., be highly educated, well read, etc., and still be Biblically illiterate, and ignorant of God’s true nature
d. The Bible must be spiritually discerned. That requires the “new birth”.
e. Turn to John 3:1-8

2. He Corrects Their Error V. 30

a. There is no marriage in heaven
b. They assumed that heaven was a glorified continuation of life on Earth

3. Jesus Explains About The Resurrected Life Vs. 31, 32

a. Jesus quotes a text that they accepted: Exodus, the 2nd book of the Torah
b. God said, “I am….not….I was the God of Abraham,” etc.
c. God is the God of the living. Either we live here, or in the after life.
d. Turn to 2 Corinthians 5:1-9
e. The idea of “soul sleep” comes from the Jewish idiom of sleep = death
f. Physical death for the Christian is called sleep b/c it is not permanent

4. The Liberal Thinker needs to read & believe the Bible, & they need “new birth”
5. Liberal, materialistic thinkers need to not define life by their own senses/intellect
6. That kind of mindset defines life only as big as that person mind or experience
7. If they could ever admit that their “experience” has been wrong, then they ought to admit that life is bigger, deeper, grander, higher than their own mind & senses

II. Jesus Answers The Religious Legalists

A. The Pharisees V. 34

1. They were separatists- they considered themselves above all others
2. Extremely accurate & minute in all matters pertaining to the Law of Moses
3. Their religious creed was solid, but the substance of it was all outward form
4. They documented 613 commandments in the law (248 positive/365 negative)
5. Self righteous and proud; Jesus called them hypocrites: pretended to love God
6. They carefully kept the letter of the Law, but missed the spirit of God’s law
7. They controlled the synagogues, and had great public influence over the Jews
8. The way to God was through obedience to the Law of Moses
9. They accepted all of the Old Testament
10. Believed in angels, demons, Heaven, Hell, miracles, etc.

B. Their Questioning Of Jesus V. 35, 36

1. This is an example of asking a great question, but w/an insincere motive
2. Testing- for the purpose of causing Him to do or say wrong; disqualification
3. They thought by asking Jesus to choose just one law, He would show neglect for the rest of the Law, and look bad in some people’s eyes
4. Instead, Jesus summed up the intent of all the Laws of God

C. Jesus’ Answer To Them Vs. 37-40

1. The most important thing for any person to do is to love God

b. They will realize that they cannot keep the Law of God (Romans 3:10-20)
c. That will prompt sorrow, repentance, asking of forgiveness
d. That leads to being born again, saved, forgiven, filled w/ the Holy Spirit

2. The next most important thing is to love your neighbor as yourself
3. God’s expectation of man is summed up in these two verses
4. NOTE- Jesus tells these self-righteous “law keepers” that to love is more important than to do
5. The legalistic “Law Keeper” defines life by his own behavior to a written code

b. There is no love for man or God; just a self satisfaction of performance
c. There develops a looking down on others, and an exalting of self
d. Defining Jesus according to human standards, how the Law Keeper lives
e. They end up missing God’s love, grace, and mercy.

D. Jesus Seeks To Further Reveal Himself To Them Vs. 41-46

1. Jesus asked the most important question: “Who is the Christ”?
2. Christ: anointed one, chosen one, the Savior
3. The answer to this question determines one’s eternity
4. The Pharisees rightly, but incompletely, saw Jesus as the descendant of David
5. Jesus quotes Ps. 110:1, showing that Jesus both preceded and came from David
6. Revelation 22:16 I am the Root and the Offspring of David…
7. Jesus reveals that they misunderstood the nature & person of the Messiah
8. They measured Messiah through self-righteous eyes
9. They saw themselves as better than Jesus, therefore, they didn’t need Him
10. He is truly man and truly God, and can only be our Savior if He is both
11. In spite of un-debatable answers from Jesus, neither group turned to Him