The Pharisees’ spies tried to entrap him, the Sadducees tried to refute him, but Jesus silenced them all. No one spoke but a lone scribe, a Bible scholar, saying, “Teacher, you have spoken well” (20:39). It’s heard as a compliment but given what Luke reveals about the murderous intentions of both the Pharisees and Sadducees, it’s hard not to question the man’s motives. Did he genuinely mean it? Perhaps. Or was the man’s compliment a kind of way to express his authority as a scribe, a compliment couched in self-regard? While we do not know for certain, I don’t think it is a coincidence that Jesus’ warning in our passage today is of this man and his kind. And what a warning it was!
Tag Archives: Sadducees
The Lord Who Is Lord
In the two preceding passages, Jesus silenced his inquisitors. First, it was the Pharisees’ spies who asked him an entrapping question about the Roman tax. Second, it was the Sadducees who posed a theoretical scenario to disprove the resurrection. Neither were successful. Jesus stumped them both and silenced them all.
He Is God of the Living
Brothers and sisters in Christ, there are indeed beautiful things about this life. But we need not deny the blessings of God today to fix our hearts on the pleasures of heaven. This is the day the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it (Ps. 118:24). And we rejoice and are glad in it, because God is “preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (2 Cor. 4:17). Amen.
