What Do We Know?

“But Jesus answered them, "You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God.””

(Mat 22:29 ESV)

            Jesus was sometimes challenged by the religious leaders of the Jews.  They devised questions in an effort to trap him or to prove him wrong.  We see an example of this in Matthew 22.

            This question was posed by the Sadducees, a sect of Jews who didn’t believe in the resurrection.  Knowing that Jesus did believe in it, they challenged his belief.  According to Jewish practice, if a man died without having children, his brother was to marry his wife and conceive a child on his behalf. 

            They put forward a hypothetical situation where a man died, leaving no children.  So, the man’s brother married his wife.  But, before he could have a child with her, he too died.  This continued on until a total of seven men, all brothers, had been married to this woman.  They then asked Jesus: “In the resurrection, therefore, of the seven, whose wife will she be?”

            Jesus began his answer with the above statement.  He told them that they knew neither the Scriptures nor the power of God.  He then went on to explain that, in the resurrection, we will not be married.  In this sense, we will be like the angels in heaven.  And, based on Scripture, he assured them that the resurrection would, in fact, take place.

            Just as Jesus was challenged by the skeptics of his day, so too are we.  Those who don’t believe in Jesus bring to us questions in an effort to stump us.  They bring to us questions in order to prove us wrong.  And, just like the Sadducees, it’s clear that they know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God.

            However, as believers, we must consider something important: What about us?  Do we know the Scriptures and the power of God?  I don’t mean to imply that we should immediately know the answer to every question that comes our way.  But do we know the Scriptures well enough, and do we know the power of God well enough, that these questions fail to rattle us?

            Many of us are shaken up by these questions.  They can intimidate us or even cause us to question our faith.  However, if we’re people of the Word, and if we have a living faith in the Lord, they need not have this effect.

            If we are truly people of the Word, we’ll be able to recognize these deceptive questions for what they are and point our attackers to the truth.  And even if we don’t know all the answers, we’ll know that God’s Word answers our questions and doubts.  We’ll faithfully turn to his Word in order to resolve them.  And, because we know the Lord, we’ll realize that these questions don’t pose any real threat.