Some Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus and
put this question to him, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us, ‘If
someone’s brother dies, leaving a wife but no child, his brother
must take the wife and raise up descendants for his brother.’ Now
there were seven brothers…” Mark 12:18–20
And these Sadducees then go on to present to Jesus a long and
unlikely hypothetical scenario in which this woman eventually
married all seven brothers after each one died. And at the
conclusion of their hypothetical situation, the Sadducees ask
Jesus, “At the resurrection when they arise whose wife will she
be?” Of course, Jesus offers them the correct answer and then also
states something interesting. He tells the Sadducees that they “are
greatly misled.” Just prior to this conversation with the
Sadducees, the Pharisees had presented their own question to Jesus
in an attempt to trap Him. The difference seems to be that the
Sadducees had more sincerity in their pursuit of the truth whereas
the Pharisees were more obsessed with their own authority and
power.
The Sadducees were considered the more traditional of the religious
leaders, in that they accepted only the Torah, the first five books
of the Old Testament, as authentically revealed. They also did not
accept the afterlife or the resurrection of the dead because they
believed that the Torah did not explicitly teach those things. The
Pharisees not only accepted the Torah but also the rest of what is
contained in the Old Testament. The Pharisees also accepted what
was referred to as the “tradition of the elders,” which meant that
they paid much attention to the scrupulous multiplication of laws
and regulations that other Pharisees devised, and they sought to
impose those man-made laws upon the people.
In this Gospel passage, the problem with the Sadducees seems to be
scrupulosity and rigidity in their approach to the faith. They
clearly relied upon human reason, and they applied their human
reason to the Torah. And though human reason and logical deduction
are helpful and necessary in life, they attempted to solve every
matter of faith by their own effort by narrowly and rigidly
interpreting the Torah. They did not allow themselves to be open to
the deeper wisdom of God that floods one's human reason when one is
attentive to divine inspiration and revelation. Instead, they were
black and white in all of their deductions and practices. This
rigidity left them “greatly misled.”
In our own lives, we can also become greatly misled when we use the
gift of our human reason in a rigid and narrow way. We must never
overly simplify the faith, and we must never think that we will
easily be able to arrive at all the answers by our own effort. Our
constant goal must be to allow our minds to become fully immersed
in the deepest wisdom of God and all that He has revealed. The
teachings of the Church will guide us, keeping us on the straight
path, but it will be the voice of God, speaking to our minds in a
real and personal way, that will help us to understand the depth
and breadth of God’s Will, His Truth, and Wisdom.
Reflect, today, upon any tendency you have to be like these
Sadducees. Are you rigid? Or narrow minded? Do you allow yourself
to be misled into thinking you have all the answers? If so, seek
humility. Humble yourself before the awesome mysteries of Heaven.
Use your mind to probe the truths that God has revealed and be
ready to be drawn deeper and deeper into the life of God
Himself.
My Lord of infinite wisdom, You are Truth Itself, and You
continually reveal Yourself to us. Give me the humility I need to
always be open to all divine Truth in my life so that I will come
to know You and Your holy will as You desire. Jesus, I trust in
You.
Source of content:
catholic-daily-reflections.com
Copyright 2024 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved.
Used with permission via RSS feed.
Featured image above: The Sermon on the Mount By Guillaume
Fouace, via Wikimedia Commons
Kommentare (0)
Melde dich an, um einen Kommentar zu schreiben.