Because Ye Know Not
“And Jesus answering said unto them, Do ye not therefore err, because ye know not the scriptures, neither the power of God?” (Mark 12:24)
HIGH RESOLUTION IMAGE OF CHRIST
We have been going through the gospel of Mark in recent weeks with the stated purpose of “looking unto Jesus” (Hebrews 12:2) to acquire a “high resolution” image of Jesus Christ based solely on the testimony of scripture. In the sermons I have preached on Mark, I have mentioned that many people have a “low resolution” image of Jesus that is the result of the traditions of men or sentimental stories about the Lord that bear little resemblance to the Jesus Christ of the bible. Stated plainly, many professing Christians reject the Jesus of scripture. They explain away the miracles that are repeatedly set before us in scripture in deference to the “modern and sophisticated” sensibilities of a 21st century audience. They deny the virgin birth, miraculous healings, and the literal resurrection from the dead. Yet these things are clearly and repeatedly set forth in scripture in ways that are impossible to credibly dismiss. To deny these supernatural events is to deny the Jesus of the bible. One wonders how resurrection deniers could draw any comfort from an “unrisen" Christ. How could this effete Jesus raise them from the dead, let alone forgive their sins?
TWO CAUSES OF ERROR
Jesus mentions the source of such errors in his day and attributes them to two causes:
Ignorance of the scripture
Ignorance of the power of God
People in our time deny the miracles of Christ though they are repeatedly and plainly described in the New Testament. I suppose that some are so ignorant of the bible that don’t realize the magnitude of their denial. Simply put, a denial of the miracles is a flat out denial, yea, a full bore repudiation of the bible. I’m sure many would bristle at that characterization but I don’t see any reasonable alternative. Others see the miracles but choose to spiritualize the text to make it more palatable. Jordan Peterson regularly seeks to distill some social utility from the biblical narrative. But when asked, “Was Jesus literally resurrected from the dead?“ he insists, “It would take me 40 hours to answer that question.” One in possession of a “high resolution” image of Jesus Christ based on the text of the bible can answer that question in an instant: “He is risen.” (Matthew 28:6, Mark 16:6). Apart from the literal resurrection from the dead the Christian religion has no utility and Peterson’s distillation efforts are a fool’s errand. I suppose it’s no wonder that so many Christians who promote the unrisen Christ are enamored of a public intellectual who is willing to support this view as well. But all of this is foolishness. Without a risen Christ there is no Christian religion. Without a God that can speak the universe into existence out of nothing there are no moral absolutes and the entire substructure required to support Peterson’s utilitarian view collapses.
FINALLY
The church needs Christian men and women who boldly stand on the testimony of the word of God, who declare the literal resurrection of Jesus Christ, who do so without needing 40 hours to make the case, who know the power of God and who possess a “high-resolution” image based on the bible’s testimony of a risen savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
“Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.” (John 5:39)
- Elder Daniel Samons