“Jesus replied, ‘You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God’” (Matthew 22:29).
SCRIPTURES AND POWER
Jesus found the Sadducees wanting in two areas: they were unsound in doctrine and unspiritual in nature.
When we read the Scriptures we recognise that they are inspired by the Holy Spirit: “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Tim 3:16–17).
There are some modern professors of Christianity who cast doubt on the veracity of the writings that God has graciously given us. The Scriptures don’t fit in with the desires of their fallen nature so rather than come to the light to expose human sinfulness they attempt to downgrade the Scriptures by choosing to believe what is acceptable to them and leave what isn’t.
A look through Psalm 119 will give us the importance of God’s Word to humanity. The one theme of this psalm is the Word of the Lord. The psalm stands tall in the Scriptures.
Psalm 117 is the shortest psalm, Psalm 118 is the middle chapter in the Bible, containing the middle “verse” in the Bible, which is "It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man" (Ps 118:8).
Then comes Psalm 119, which is the longest psalm, and to echo the point of trusting in the Lord rather than man, Psalm 119 lays down the absolute importance of God’s Words.
CH Spurgeon says of Psalm 119: “Those who have carefully studied each line of this divine hymn are amazed at the variety, insight, and depth of thought. Using only a few words, the writer has produced variations and combinations of meaning that display his holy familiarity with his subject and the sanctified ingenuity of his mind. He never repeats himself, for if the same sentiment occurs, it is used in a fresh way and exhibits another interesting shade of meaning. The more one studies it, the fresher it becomes.”
So we see that when we come to the Scriptures with an open and humble heart, sitting at the feet of our great Master, drinking in the Word of God so that we may know its insight and its power, we grow in understanding and in power. Something the Sadducees didn’t do.
The Sadducees had a materialistic view of the world, cutting out the power of supernatural spiritual realities. They were natural, not supernatural, and there are people today who only see the world around them, they know nothing of the “hidden man of the heart” (1 Pet 3:4).
“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Cor 4:18).
Although these days, when people feel the forces of darkness acting upon the human race, it’s hard to deny the existence of spiritual beings. Yet even so some people hold on to their unbelief.
Even with the judgements of God beginning to appear we read that, “Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts” (Rev 9:21).
We don’t know if any of the Sadducees who heard Jesus repented, but we pray that we will always be ready to know God’s Word and the power of God at work in our hearts and recognise his power at work in the world.