Know the Scriptures, and Know the Power of God

I know this is a familiar passage from Matthew 22, but read it again. Read it slowly, or out loud.

23That same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him with a question. 24"Teacher," they said, "Moses told us that if a man dies without having children, his brother must marry the widow and have children for him. 25Now there were seven brothers among us. The first one married and died, and since he had no children, he left his wife to his brother. 26The same thing happened to the second and third brother, right on down to the seventh. 27Finally, the woman died. 28Now then, at the resurrection, whose wife will she be of the seven, since all of them were married to her?"
29Jesus replied, "You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God. 30At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. 31But about the resurrection of the dead—have you not read what God said to you, 32'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is not the God of the dead but of the living."

These scholarly Sadducees get quite the comeback. Jesus -- and keep in view that Jesus is always acting in love -- tells them first that there fancy degrees aren't helping them. "You are in error."

Here's the key point I want every Bible teacher to take to heart: Error comes because we do not know the Scriptures or the power of God. If you want to avoid error, then humbly work at knowing the Scriptures (a life-long obligation) and experiencing the power of God (an eternity-long opportunity).

Let us encourage one another to be students of the Word, and mindful of God's power.