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Christ Confounds His Enemies
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Ideas of God Mold Character
Their ideas of God molded their own character. Just as, in their
view, He had no interest in mankind, so they had little regard for
one another. Refusing to acknowledge the influence of the Holy
Spirit, they lacked His power in their lives. They boasted of their
birthright as children of Abraham, but they were destitute of the
faith and kindness of Abraham. Their hearts were not touched by
the needs and sufferings of others. They lived for themselves.
By His words and works, Christ bore witness to a divine power
that produces supernatural results, to a future life, to God as a Father
of the human family, always mindful of their true interests. He
taught that God moves on the heart by the Holy Spirit. He showed
how wrong it was to trust in human power to transform character,
when only the Spirit of God can do it.
In seeking a controversy with Jesus, the Sadducees felt confident
that they could damage His reputation, if not condemn Him. The
resurrection was the subject on which they chose to question Him.
If He would agree with them, He would offend the Pharisees. If He
would differ with them, they intended to hold His teaching up to
ridicule. The Sadducees reasoned that if the immortal body is to be
composed of the same particles of matter as it was in its mortal state,
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then it must have flesh and blood and resume in the eternal world
the life interrupted on earth. Husband and wife would be reunited,
marriages formed, and all things go on the same as before death.
In answer to their questions, Jesus lifted the veil from the future
life. “In the resurrection,” He said, “they neither marry nor are given
in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven.” The Sadducees
were wrong. “You are mistaken,” He added, “not knowing the
Scriptures nor the power of God.” He did not charge them with
hypocrisy, but with error in their beliefs.
He declared their ignorance of the Scriptures and the power of
God to be the cause of their confusion of faith and darkness of mind.
Christ called on them to open their minds to those sacred truths that
would broaden the understanding. Thousands become unbelievers
because they cannot understand the mysteries of God. The only
key to the mysteries that surround us is to acknowledge in them
the presence and power of God. People need to recognize God as