The Death of a Sentimental, Romanticized, Fairy-Tale Heaven

Mark 12:18-27

Do you know you can purchase—and I quote—"a huggable,

washable...talking Jesus...doll."?

-it’s pretty cool, too...for $15.95, you can get a 12” tall Jesus who

sports fuzzy dreadlocks and a satin-esque beard.

--Talking Bible Dolls, the innovative leader in faith-oriented toys

says their Jesus recites "actual scripture verses to introduce

children of all ages to the wisdom of the Bible."

When you squeeze the red heart on its left arm, the Jesus doll says

things like: "I love you, and I have an exciting plan for your life,"

-and, "Your life matters so much to me."

--of course, those “inspirational sayings” aren’t exactly from the

Bible...in fact, only one of the 7 is an actual Scripture quote

---the company’s website has a fine-print disclaimer

explaining that what they advertise as “inspiring words,

biblical wisdom, and actual Scriptures” are really very

free and loose paraphrases of the Bible

But if you want a soft, cuddly Jesus...one you can hold tight during a

thunderstorm...one you can look in the eye when you talk to Him...

one who will tell you what you want to hear...one you can chuck

against a wall when you are angry...I suppose you’re in luck

I’m being exceptionally sarcastic to emphasize a point

-if you’ve been paying any attention at all these last 16 ½ months as

we’ve looked at Jesus’ life in the Gospel of Mark, then you will

understand where I’m coming from

--no, I’m not criticizing the entire faith-based doll-and-toy industry

or even the shameless, capitalist marketing of all that is sacred

Instead, I’m just saying that the Jesus of the Bible—

-isn’t soft~n~cuddly or safe...but He is strong and valiant, good,

kind, true, faithful

-isn’t Someone we cling to like some spiritual pacifier or a good luck

charm...instead He holds on to us

-and He won’t always tell us what we want to hear...but He will

always tell us what we need to hear

The real problem is that far too many people—Christians and entire

churches included—have reduced Jesus to a cute doll

-and our theology is so weak we don’t realize it’s a cheap knock-off

-so then when we actually encounter the real Jesus...the Jesus

who says and does things that can pretty much irritate and

convict us, then we don’t recognize Him

--that’s why it’s so difficult to conceive of a Jesus who demands

holiness, who tells us we can’t serve both God and money,

who plainly states that we can’t follow Him if we love anything

or anyone (including our family) more than we love Him

---and too many preachers try to blunt the edge of Jesus’

radical teaching by qualifying it—“That’s what Jesus said,

but that’s not what He really means”—and we water it

down to the point that there’s nothing left of the real

gospel nor the real Jesus

-as you may have already noticed, this won’t be an easy message

—neither to hear nor to preach—but we can’t skip it

Rejoining Jesus outside the Temple, we find Him mired in the middle

of several trick questions intending not only to trip Him up, but to

catch Him in some blasphemy (so they could arrest Him)

-the last time, some Pharisees and Herodians gave it their best shot

--they had asked Him about paying taxes to Rome, but Jesus’

answer amazed them (Mark 12:12-17)

-since Jesus hit the first one out of the park—so to speak—they

now try sending in a couple of relief pitchers from the bullpen

--surprisingly, these guys are Sadducees...and that’s kinda’

shocking because Pharisees normally don’t get along very

well with them because of some key doctrinal differences

---it’s kinda’—but not quite exactly—like the Sadducees and

Pharisees are rival Jewish denominations

--but here they are working in tandem for the common purpose

of finally putting an end to this Jesus of Nazareth

The Sadducees are a strange bunch

-they are super conservative—they believe only the first 5 books of

the O.T. are inspired Scripture (so not: Psalms, Isaiah, Amos, etc.)

--but like many theological liberals—they deny the supernatural

--their reality is comprised of only the here and now

-so they go on to reason that because the “First Five” (a/k/a the

Torah or the Pentateuch) don’t mention life after death or heaven

or hell, therefore they must not exist

--Josephus, the premier first-century, Jewish historian, wrote à

The Sadducees hold that souls perish along with bodies.

--and that’s confirmed in Mark 12:18 [Read]

And what’s so funny (in an ironic way, not in a funny-ha-ha way) is

that these Sadducees ask Jesus a question about—guess what?—

life after death!

-that’s like me asking you, “Do you think the Loch Ness monster is

a boy or girl?

--do you get it?

---I’d love to go to Scotland, but since I don’t believe the Loch

Ness monster is real, its alleged gender is immaterial

-still, the Sadducees ask the question anyway...and it’s a doozey

Read Mark 12:19-23

Some Bible students have suggested that the Sadducees often used

this same question to stump the Pharisees, and now they’re letting

Jesus take a stab at it

-regardless, it’s clear they don’t give a hoot about Jesus’ reply

because they aren’t going to believe it anyway—they simply want

to make Jesus look foolish

--any guesses who’s going to end up looking like a fool?

Read Mark 12:24-27

Jesus says, “You don’t oida the Scriptures or the power of God.”

-He chooses a word, oida, that means “to know with perception”

--the Sadducees had all the “book learning” in the world, but they

still did not understand

---intelligence and education do not always add up to wisdom

Jesus first tells them they don’t even comprehend the 5 books they

do hold as inspired Scripture—there is no marriage in heaven

-Jesus isn’t teaching that we will become angels in heaven; rather,

that we will be like them in this particular respect

-I realize it’s a nice sentimental, romantic thought—that Carla and I

will be married forever—and as popular as that may be, it’s much

closer to Mormon or Jehovah’s Witness doctrine than the Bible

--believe me, after this last week, it would be a wonderful thing to

imagine my Grandma and Grandpa now settling into their new

home together

--I don’t intend to be disrespectful to my grandparents, both of

whom I am convinced are in heaven at this moment...but they

are not there as husband and wife—that bond was broken by

death...and, trust me, I know that sounds harsh, but hang with

me for a few moments

-this is one of many heavenly misconceptions we have

--people think heaven will be boring, or that we’ll just sit on clouds

and play harps for eternity, or that those who are in heaven are

looking down on us or are here with us [another sermon series!]

Herschel Hobbs tells about a widow who approached him shortly

after he preached her late husband’s funeral

-“Will I still be my husband’s wife in heaven?”

--before he could reply, she went on, “Because if not, then I don’t

want to go to heaven.”

---[an incredible expression of the power of grief, by the way]

-Dr. Hobbs said that he didn’t want to dim her desire for heaven, so

he told her, “Well, we will know each other in heaven.”

--that seemed to satisfy her for the moment

-6 months later she re-married and never raised the question again

Again, I realize that sounds terribly harsh...especially when we have

godly men and women who are still grieving the loss of their spouse

-I don’t want to sound like I’m denying the fact marriage was God’s

idea in the first place...or that I’m failing to recognize that Jesus

and Paul both honored marriage...or that I’m trying to minimize

the significance of marriage or the joy it can give—I’m not

Part of our difficulty with this concept is that our family or marriage is

often the closest we ever come to unconditional love on earth

-therefore it’s natural for us to take the best thing we know and

transfer it to our notion about heaven

Jesus is trying to let them and us know that not only will things be

different in heaven...they will be light years better—so much so that

our language cannot give adequate expression to the beauty, the

perfection, and the nature of the world where Christ is King

-we read earlier from 1 Corinthians 15...a passage that clearly

teaches we will have new bodies in heaven

--not just better...not just taller, slimmer, more “buff”...but new

-Revelation 21:4b-5 à ...the old order of things has passed

away. He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making

everything new.”

-heaven does not reflect an improved reality, but it is a completely

different and new reality...nothing here on earth compares

Imagine trying to explain a tropical beach to a remote Inuit tribe who

has never had any contact with the larger world

-how could you explain “hot sand” if you can’t explain “warm”, much

less “hot” to people who know only snow, ice, and frozen tundra?

-how could you describe the sensation of the waves as they thump

against your body?

-how could you describe colorful fish or palm trees or dolphins?

You would almost have to approach it by explaining what’s not there

-no polar bears, no ice burgs, no snow, no bitter winds

--that’s what Jesus is doing regarding marriage in heaven

--John, in Revelation 21, does the same thing à no temple, no

sun or moon...no sin...no death, no mourning, no crying, no pain

-think about that...imagine heaven as a place where à

--Lindley’s goes out of business

--Hedrick Medical Center closes its doors

--pink slips are given to CPD, DFS, and EMTs

--all service men/women are honorably, permanently discharged

--we have no need for Kleenex or chemo, walkers or wheelchairs,

Tylenol or Zoloft

--and most importantly, where we will see face-to-face, and

worship the One who died for us

--1 Cor. 2:9 à No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has

conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him.

Here’s the most critical part...it’s how Jesus addresses and defends

the second part of his answer: do you remember what it is?

-the first was—You don’t oida (know) the Scriptures

-the second is—You don’t oida (know) the power of God

It’s so important how Jesus justifies his answer

-He doesn’t refer to Old Testament verses like Isaiah 26:19, Daniel

12:2, Job 19:26, or others that teach there is life after death

--instead He sticks to the Torah (so the Sadducees could not

argue based on the text Jesus cites)

-more importantly, Jesus appeals to the very character and being of

God Himself—He is the God of the living, not the dead

--and as if Jesus is saying, “Look, you guys only have five books

to study, how can you mess this up? This is as basic as it gets.”

--then Jesus refers to a story they’ve all been taught since infancy:

how God reveals Himself to Moses in the burning bush

God is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob...the Jewish patriarchs,

the Big 3, the super-heroes of the faith...but they are all quite dead

-and they have been dead for hundreds and hundreds of years

--yet the living God is still Lord of them...meaning they must be

alive...meaning life, not death, will be the destiny of all of those

who are inseparably linked to Him by His grace through our

faith...and as the living King, He will reign over living people

John 11:25-26 à I am the Resurrection and the Life. He who

believes in Me will live, even though he dies. And everyone who

lives and believes in Me will never die.

In Our Greatest Gift, Henri Nouwen tells a parable of twins–a brother and a sister–talking to each other in their mother's womb:

The sister said to the brother, "I believe there is life after birth."

Her brother protested vehemently, "No, no, this is all there is. This is a dark and cozy place, and we have nothing else to do but to cling to the cord that feeds us."

The little girl insisted, "There must be something more than this dark place. There must be something else, a place with light where there is freedom to move." Still, she could not convince her twin brother.

After some silence, the sister said hesitantly, "I have something else to say, and I'm afraid you won't believe that, either, but I think there is a mother."

Her brother became furious. "A mother!" he shouted . "What are you talking about? I have never seen a mother, and neither have you. Who put that idea in your head? As I told you, this place is all we have. Why do you always want more? This is not such a bad place, after all. We have all we need, so let's be content."

The sister was quite overwhelmed by her brother's response and for a while didn't dare say anything more. But she couldn't let go of her thoughts, and since she had only her twin brother to speak to, she finally said, "Don't you feel these squeezes every once in a while? They're quite unpleasant and sometimes even painful."

"Yes," he answered. "What's special about that?"

"Well," the sister said, "I think that these squeezes are there to get us ready for another place, much more beautiful than this, where we will see our mother face-to-face.

1 John 3 & 1 Cor 13 à How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!...and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when He appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is...now we see but as a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face.