March 5
today's reading: Mark 12: 18-37

Marriage at the Resurrection

¹⁸ Then the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him with a question. ¹⁹ “Teacher,” they said, “Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. ²⁰ Now there were seven brothers. The first one married and died without leaving any children. ²¹ The second one married the widow, but he also died, leaving no child. It was the same with the third. ²² In fact, none of the seven left any children. Last of all, the woman died too. ²³ At the resurrection whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?”

²⁴ Jesus replied, “Are you not in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God? ²⁵ When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. ²⁶ Now about the dead rising—have you not read in the Book of Moses, in the account of the burning bush, how God said to him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? ²⁷ He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken!”

The Greatest Commandment

²⁸ One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”
²⁹ “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. ³⁰ Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ ³¹ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
³² “Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. ³³ To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
³⁴ When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.

Whose Son Is the Messiah?

³⁵ While Jesus was teaching in the temple courts, he asked, “Why do the teachers of the law say that the Messiah is the son of David? ³⁶ David himself, speaking by the Holy Spirit, declared:

“‘The Lord said to my Lord:
“Sit at my right hand
until I put your enemies
under your feet.”’

³⁷ David himself calls him ‘Lord.’ How then can he be his son?”

The large crowd listened to him with delight.
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Vs 25: Now just think about this for a moment. Think about how much of life revolves around marriage.  Most everyone seems to desire it. It is a predominate subject of movies, advertising, books, and even plays a part in war and the building of nations.

vs 32-33: Surely the second is impossible without the first. When I can't seem to love all of humanity, I must need to work on loving God more! Now, how can I accomplish that?
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Wake Up , my little bride
I hold out this garment of .....repentance on the inside, forgiveness on the outside, all day long seven times seventy times for you. I've heard your excuses, I've seen your heart.
I know your thoughts:
"Do we need to do that much?Won't a little private ceremony over on a hill somewhere suffice? I've got a headache! You know, I'm really tired tonight.
I've had a hard week. Won't a blown kiss do for you?"
Please don't turn your back on me. Won't you publicly put on your wedding garment? Won't you walk down the aisle for Me? For all to see?
Won't you publicly declare your love for Me? Wont' you dance this wedding dance with Me?
Oh, Wake up my little bride!