Written by Paul J Bucknell on March, 20, 2024
Mark 12:24 Experiencing the Power of God: An Analysis of the Use of Scriptures
“Jesus said to them, ‘Is this not the reason you are mistaken, that you do not understand the Scriptures, or the power of God?’” (Mark 12:24).
There is so much to learn from Jesus. Just take these simple words. He is basically stating that those who read, study, argue, and memorize the scriptures can not understand them. This lack of understanding leads to insulation from the power of God, resulting in sterile, boring religious lives.
Jesus was speaking here of the Sadducees. No one questions their learned minds, but they lack the proper training. As a result, their understanding of the scriptures denuded their power. False understandings (doctrines) always display wide gaps in knowing God.
In their case, they denied the resurrection of the dead. They no doubt thought they were right, even though they were trying to argue with Jesus. Jesus states, “You are greatly mistaken!” (Mark 11:27).
Arguments From Jesus’ Words (Mark 12:24)
- We should be intolerant of false teaching. Though it is good to be compassionate, if we grant the plausibility of those false notions, they become a dead end to knowing God and gaining life. Any tolerance, then, becomes uncompassionate. Correction, in this case, offers life and hope. Silence encloses people in a stupor of ignorance and void of knowing the power of God’s Word. Correction highlights the truth and shows that we care enough about them to share it with them.
- It is possible for those who study and read God’s Word to miss the message. Disciplines of study are not to be equated with a ready heart to acquire God’s Word.
- Mistaken perspectives on life’s issues come from misunderstanding the scriptures. God revealed essential teachings through the scriptures to help His people. When public education was started in the United States, it was to understand the scriptures so people could intelligently vote and rightly live. Today, it is wrong for a teacher to have his Bible on his desk!
- The “power of God” is real. Our secular society disclaims God’s involvement in this world so that they can play the role of a charlatan. If we do not know the power of God, then truly we do not know the truth of God’s Words.
- The study of the scriptures is meant to shape our lives and convictions through the truth. The scriptures are not just another book, but the very means God ordained to instruct us and help us experience God’s power in our lives.
- True apologetics must get to the point of winning an argument so that all parties involved might further grasp the truth so that they want God’s involvement in their lives. Let not the sword of the truth only strike to destroy vestiges of falsehood but to implant the seed of truth.
- Our hearts should be regularly washed by the word so that God’s Word more easily penetrates our thoughts and minds to the degree that our confidence (think faith) grows in what God can and will do through His Word in our lives.
Summary
The longer I minister God’s Word, the more convinced I become of the world's foolishness. I am sometimes nauseated at how other believers affirm the world’s approach. Christians are far too willing to believe the world’s way is best because it wears a technological cloak. Science, in fact, (lit. knowledge), is the study of what God has made!
Did not God create these things that we spend many hours researching? We pirate God’s intricate software (bio-engineering) and take credit for our advances in medicine and other scientific studies.
We must study the scriptures in such a way that they will help us. Why worry when we can have peace? Why argue with your spouse when the power of God can help you experience oneness? Why allow thoughts of division to overwhelm the command to love one another? God’s way is always better!
Jesus was right. It’s not the familiarity with the scriptures that makes a critical difference in our lives, but their application. We must believe (i.e., faith) that they make a difference in our lives to do this. When we believe they are true, then we encounter the Lord and seek Him to wash, clean, and fastidiously tidy up our hearts and minds with the words of truth. Jesus wants us to know of His power at work but must build upon the proper understanding of the scriptures. May God’s Word so grapple with our hearts that we see the power of God at work around us.
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