Avoiding Deception

Notes for the Ekklesia Meeting
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Today’s Date: February 26, 2006

Avoiding Deception
by Dan Trygg

"But Jesus answered them, ‘You are deceived, not knowing either the Scriptures nor the power of God.’” Matthew 22:29

Earlier in this same day (Tuesday of Passion Week), Jesus was confronted by a group of Pharisees, chief priests, and elders of the people. When He rebuffed them, the Pharisees sent their best students, along with some of Herod’s sympathizers, to attempt to entrap Him in His teachings. When that also failed, after an interval of time the Sadducees also tried their shot at Him. They did not believe in angels or spirits, or even a resurrection of the dead (that’s why they were sad-you-see), so they employed a scenario which they felt exposed the foolishness of the idea of the resurrection of the dead. They told about a man, one of seven brothers, who married a woman, but then died before having a child. According to the provisions of OT law (Deut. 25:5-10; e.g., Gen. 38), it was the duty of the next oldest brother to take the widow as his wife. Their first child would be treated like the son of the deceased older brother, and would become heir to his estate. It was a way of providing for widows, preserving the name and memory of the deceased brother, and keeping wealth more evenly distributed in ancient Israel. In the scenario (actual or hypothetical) described by the Sadducees, the first brother died, leaving no heir, and so did all the others, each in turn taking the woman as wife. Finally, the woman herself died. The punch line, or set-up question, by which the Sadducees hoped to trip up Jesus, at least to embarrass Him, was, “In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will she be? For they all had her.”

Earlier in the day, Jesus did not do as the other groups had anticipated, …nor did He take the bait here, and get pulled into a useless debate (cf. Tit. 3:9). He met them head on with a clear statement that they were wrong, and why it was that they had been deceived. “You are misled, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.” The Greek word translated as “you are misled” can also mean “you have gone astray” or “you have wandered off”. They did not stay with the truth because they did not adequately know the scriptures or what God was capable of. Actually, the Sadducees prided themselves in being faithful to preserve the scriptures. Jesus was saying that they had not carefully and thoroughly studied the very scriptures they guarded and valued, …at least not enough to recognize the truth. If it was not the scriptures they were following, what was it? They were guilty of doing what so many theologians have done through the centuries. They were building their theological understanding more on their own rational thought and experience than upon the revelation of God. Because the primary source of their information was their own reason and experience, they were filtering the scriptures through that lens, rather than informing their understanding from what the scripture declares. If it didn’t make sense to them, they explained it away as myth or story, rather than permit the plain revelation to speak for itself.

We may think we are not guilty of that same offense, but we would be surprised to see how many of us do not clearly understand the scriptures, and how we tend to treat God as if we did not really expect Him to be living, active, and powerful, …able and willing to intervene in our lives to support us, or to discipline us. Instead of being steeped in the scriptures, our minds and expectations are informed by our culture and the media we are bombarded with every day. The messages and world view we grew up with, and those which we are surrounded by, more profoundly color and shape our understanding of reality, morality and God than any other source. We may be the most free and privileged people to ever live on this planet, but we are also the most programmed. The bombardment of media messages, chosen and unchosen, is relentless and ubiquitous. There is no public place you can go where there is not music being played, or where your eye does not see advertisements and signs purposely placed there to direct and channel our thinking. If that were not enough, now the prevalence and popularity of portable CD players, radios and ipods have extended the reach of media even more into our waking hours. Do you think that all of these songs, advertisements, and messages do not affect your view of life? Do you think they do not color your expectations and your focus of what your life is to be about? The programming is so subtle and unconscious we don’t begin to see what is happening. Do you think Jesus might say to you, “You are misled, not knowing the scriptures or the power of God”? I think He could say those words to every one of us, and be right every time, to some degree. I have been studying the Bible daily for 35 years, and I am still seeing how I have been programmed and deceived by the input that I have received in my life. I am also old enough to see how the change in our media culture has desensitized and shaped me in ways that I would not have believed, had you asked me 30 years ago. The world in which my kids have grown up is vastly different than mine was. The question is, “How much is my thought process, understanding and expectations affected and informed more by our non-Christian culture than by what God has revealed to us in the scriptures?” If I have been compromised in those areas, how will I ever get my bearings?

“Does it really matter?” you might ask. “I mean, isn’t it OK to believe what I want? Is it all that serious?” Yes, it does matter. It is hugely important what a person thinks and believes, because it determines their destiny and direction in life. It matters because, knowingly or unknowingly, there is an ultimate reality. There is a standard by which we will all be measured, and that is not a matter of opinion or preference. Whether we like it, or not, we will have to give an account of our lives to God, and He will be measuring us by His standards, not ours or that of our culture (Acts.17:31; Matt. 25:31-46; II Cor. 5:10). The goal is not to fit in, or be successful, or be happy, or even be good. The goal is to accomplish His will for our lives. We are all individuals, so that will not look exactly the same, but that is not up to us to decide. It is up to us to discover and implement His plan and design for our lives.

In the overall general sense, our lives are not about the here and now. We are not to be living for this brief span of time between cradle and grave. We are aliens and strangers here (I Pet. 2:11). This is not our true, ultimate home. This is a temporary time and place we are passing through. So, don’t lay up your treasures here. Don’t live for here. What are we here for? We are not to simply maturate, accumulate, and procreate, though those may be part of what we do within the overall purpose. In the main, however, the question we will be asked and will be measured by, directly or indirectly, is “How many did you bring with you?” Jesus gave us a commission before He left: to make active, obedient Christ-followers all over the world (Matt. 28:19,20). People are blinded, deceived and held in bondage by Satan. Our primary objective is to plunder Satan’s domain by reaching people with the gospel, setting them free from bondages and ignorance to follow hard after Jesus. That is what life is all about. If we don’t see that, then we are “mistaken, not knowing the scriptures or the power of God”. Obviously, we can’t do that all by ourselves. We are to be part of a team that is about accomplishing that task. In the setting of that team effort, our individual abilities find their fulfillment. Jesus thought of that, too. He called it His “ekklesia”, His gathered-people, or church.

It has been said, “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.” Satan’s primary methodology is to use distraction to divert us from the main thing. He wants to confuse us so that we do not realize what we are here for, and we waste our lives on unimportant things. As long as we are distracted, we are no significant danger to him. The Bible clearly tells us that there is an intelligent, evil spiritual kingdom operating in our midst, attempting to draw people into hurtful, dangerous, and destructive behaviors (Eph. 2:1-3; II Tim. 2:26; I Pet. 5:8,9;.Rev. 12:9; Jas. 3:14-16). If our eyes are opened, and we see what is going on, we can escape his grasp (II Tim. 2:24-26). By devoting ourselves to knowing and living the truth of God’s word, we will be able to expose the lies in our lives, and escape the blindness and confusion in our minds. As we draw near to God, and put off our sinful behaviors, we will be able to resist the devil effectively, and he will flee from us (Jas. 4:7,8). Unfortunately, so many do not actively pursue an understanding of the scriptures, or do the hard work of learning and living out the word of God. They grieve the Spirit by their disregard of the things of God, and they are left to their own devices. God would warn them, like He did ancient Israel, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being My priest. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.” (Hos. 4:6).

The NT consistently encourages us to read and study the scriptures. They are uniquely given by God, and are profitable for teaching us, for exposing our errors, pointing us back toward the correct way, and training us in righteous living (II Tim. 3:16,17). When we are a new Christian, we should be taking it in like a baby drinks milk (I Pet. 2:2). As we grow, and become familiar with it, there are new depths of understanding to explore, and these are likened to spiritual meat (Heb. 5:11-14). If we want to know the truth and find freedom from bondages to sin, Jesus told us to continue in His word, which implies both study and obedience (Jn/ 8:32). Twice Jesus spoke of the certainty and inviolability of the word of God. It will never pass away, and it will never be broken (Matt. 24:35; Jn. 10:35). It is dependable, and will not change (Psa. 119:89). We must apply ourselves diligently (work hard) to know it and correctly understand it (II Tim. 2:15). To know God’s word is more desirable than fine gold, and God will reward those who walk in His statutes (Psa. 19:9-12).

Jesus’ answer entails two parts. First, the resurrected state will not be like our earthly lives. There will be no marriage there, nor death. We will be like the angels, being children of God through resurrection (Lk.20:36; cf. Rom. 1:4). Therefore, the entire scenario which they describe does not apply. Secondly, regarding the resurrection of the dead, Jesus brought them to Moses’ encounter with God at the burning bush, where God says, “I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob” (Ex. 3:15). Matthew’s account emphasizes the “I am” portion of that statement, stating that the verb shows that He remains the God of these people, who are still existing. He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. Luke’s account adds, “for all live to Him” (20:38).