The Desire of Ages
by Ellen G. White
Chapter 66: Controversy
This chapter is based on Matt. 22:15-46; Mark
12:13-40; Luke 20:20-47.
The priests and rulers had listened in silence to Christ's
pointed rebukes. They could not refute His charges. But they were only the more
determined to entrap Him, and with this object they sent to Him spies,
"which should feign themselves just men, that they might take hold of His
words, that so they might deliver Him unto the power and authority of the
governor." They did not send the old Pharisees whom Jesus had often met,
but young men, who were ardent and zealous, and whom, they thought, Christ did
not know. These were accompanied by certain of the Herodians, who were to hear
Christ's words, that they might testify against Him at His trial. The Pharisees
and Herodians had been bitter enemies, but they were now one in enmity to Christ.
{DA 601.1}
The Pharisees had ever chafed under the exaction of tribute
by the Romans. The payment of tribute they held to be contrary to the law of
God. Now they saw opportunity to lay a snare for Jesus. The spies came to Him,
and with apparent sincerity, as though desiring to know their duty, said,
"Master, we know that Thou sayest and teachest rightly, neither acceptest
Thou the person of any, but teachest the way of God truly: is it lawful for us
to give tribute unto Caesar, or no?" [602] {DA 601.2}
The words, "We know that Thou sayest and teachest
rightly," had they been sincere, would have been a wonderful admission.
But they were spoken to deceive; nevertheless their testimony was true. The
Pharisees did know that Christ said and taught rightly, and by their own
testimony will they be judged. {DA 602.1}
Those who put the question to Jesus thought that they had
sufficiently disguised their purpose; but Jesus read their hearts as an open
book, and sounded their hypocrisy. "Why tempt ye Me?" He said; thus
giving them a sign they had not asked, by showing that He read their hidden
purpose. They were still more confused when He added, "Show Me a
penny." They brought it, and He asked them, "Whose image and
superscription hath it? They answered and said, Caesar's." Pointing to the
inscription on the coin, Jesus said, "Render therefore unto Caesar the
things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's." {DA 602.2}
The spies had expected Jesus to answer their question
directly, in one way or the other. If He should say, It is unlawful to give
tribute to Caesar, He would be reported to the Roman authorities and arrested
for inciting rebellion. But in case He should pronounce it lawful to pay the
tribute, they designed to accuse Him to the people as opposing the law of God.
Now they felt themselves baffled and defeated. Their plans were disarranged.
The summary manner in which their question had been settled left them nothing
further to say. {DA 602.3}
Christ's reply was no evasion, but a candid answer to the
question. Holding in His hand the Roman coin, upon which were stamped the name
and image of Caesar, He declared that since they were living under the
protection of the Roman power, they should render to that power the support it
claimed, so long as this did not conflict with a higher duty. But while
peaceably subject to the laws of the land, they should at all times give their
first allegiance to God. {DA
602.4}
The Saviour's words, "Render . . . unto God
the things that are God's," were a severe rebuke to the intriguing Jews.
Had they faithfully fulfilled their obligations to God, they would not have
become a broken nation, subject to a foreign power. No Roman ensign would have
waved over Jerusalem, no Roman sentinel would have stood at her gates, no Roman
governor would have ruled within her walls. The Jewish nation was then paying
the penalty of its apostasy from God. {DA 602.5}
When the Pharisees heard Christ's answer, "they
marveled, and left Him, and went their way." He had rebuked their hypocrisy
and presumption, [603] and in doing this He had stated
a great principle, a principle that clearly defines the limits of man's duty to
the civil government and his duty to God. In many minds a vexed question had
been settled. Ever after they held to the right principle. And although many
went away dissatisfied, they saw that the principle underlying the question had
been clearly set forth, and they marveled at Christ's far-seeing discernment. {DA 602.6}
No sooner were the Pharisees silenced than the Sadducees
came forward with their artful questions. The two parties stood in bitter
opposition to each other. The Pharisees were rigid adherents to tradition. They
were exact in outward ceremonies, diligent in washings, fastings, and long
prayers, and ostentatious in almsgiving. But Christ declared that they made
void the law of God by teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. As a
class they were bigoted and hypocritical; yet among them were persons of
genuine piety, who accepted Christ's teachings and became His disciples. The
Sadducees rejected the traditions of the Pharisees. They professed to believe
the greater portion of the Scriptures, and to regard them as the rule of
action; but practically they were skeptics and materialists. {DA 603.1}
The Sadducees denied the existence of angels, the
resurrection of the dead, and the doctrine of a future life, with its rewards
and punishments. On all these points they differed with the Pharisees. Between
the two parties the resurrection was especially a subject of controversy. The
Pharisees had been firm believers in the resurrection, but in these discussions
[604]
their views in regard to the future state became confused. Death became to them
an inexplicable mystery. Their inability to meet the arguments of the Sadducees
gave rise to continual irritation. The discussions between the two parties
usually resulted in angry disputes, leaving them farther apart than before. {DA 603.2}
In numbers the Sadducees fell far below their opponents, and
they had not so strong a hold upon the common people; but many of them were
wealthy, and they had the influence which wealth imparts. In their ranks were
included most of the priests, and from among them the high priest was usually
chosen. This was, however, with the express stipulation that their skeptical
opinions should not be made prominent. On account of the numbers and popularity
of the Pharisees, it was necessary for the Sadducees to concede outwardly to
their doctrines when holding any priestly office; but the very fact that they
were eligible to such office gave influence to their errors. {DA 604.1}
The Sadducees rejected the teaching of Jesus; He was
animated by a spirit which they would not acknowledge as manifesting itself
thus; and His teaching in regard to God and the future life contradicted their
theories. They believed in God as the only being superior to man; but they
argued that an overruling providence and a divine foresight would deprive man
of free moral agency, and degrade him to the position of a slave. It was their
belief, that, having created man, God had left him to himself, independent of a
higher influence. They held that man was free to control his own life and to
shape the events of the world; that his destiny was in his own hands. They
denied that the Spirit of God works through human efforts or natural means. Yet
they still held that, through the proper employment of his natural powers, man
could become elevated and enlightened; that by rigorous and austere exactions
his life could be purified. {DA
604.2}
Their ideas of God molded their own character. As in their
view He had no interest in man, so they had little regard for one another;
there was little union among them. Refusing to acknowledge the influence of the
Holy Spirit upon human action, they lacked His power in their lives. Like the
rest of the Jews, they boasted much of their birthright as children of Abraham,
and of their strict adherence to the requirements of the law; but of the true
spirit of the law and the faith and benevolence of Abraham, they were
destitute. Their natural sympathies were brought within a narrow compass. They
believed it possible for all men to secure [605] the
comforts and blessings of life; and their hearts were not touched by the wants
and sufferings of others. They lived for themselves. {DA 604.3}
By His words and His works, Christ testified to a divine
power that produces supernatural results, to a future life beyond the present,
to God as a Father of the children of men, ever watchful of their true
interests. He revealed the working of divine power in benevolence and
compassion that rebuked the selfish exclusiveness of the Sadducees. He taught
that both for man's temporal and for his eternal good, God moves upon the heart
by the Holy Spirit. He showed the error of trusting to human power for that
transformation of character which can be wrought only by the Spirit of God. {DA 605.1}
This teaching the Sadducees were determined to discredit. In
seeking a controversy with Jesus, they felt confident of bringing Him into disrepute,
even if they could not secure His condemnation. The resurrection was the
subject on which they chose to question Him. Should He agree with them, He
would give still further offense to the Pharisees. Should He differ with them,
they designed to hold His teaching up to ridicule. {DA 605.2}
The Sadducees reasoned that if the body is to be composed of
the same particles of matter in its immortal as in its mortal state, then when
raised from the dead it must have flesh and blood, and must resume in the
eternal world the life interrupted on earth. In that case they concluded that
earthly relationships would be resumed, husband and wife would be reunited,
marriages consummated, and all things go on the same as before death, the
frailties and passions of this life being perpetuated in the life beyond. {DA 605.3}
In answer to their questions, Jesus lifted the veil from the
future life. "In the resurrection," He said, "they neither
marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven."
He showed that the Sadducees were wrong in their belief. Their premises were
false. "Ye do err," He added, "not knowing the Scriptures, nor
the power of God." He did not charge them, as He had charged the
Pharisees, with hypocrisy, but with error of belief. {DA 605.4}
The Sadducees had flattered themselves that they of all men
adhered most strictly to the Scriptures. But Jesus showed that they had not
known their true meaning. That knowledge must be brought home to the heart by
the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit. Their ignorance of the Scriptures and the
power of God He declared to be the cause of their [606]
confusion of faith and darkness of mind. They were seeking to bring the
mysteries of God within the compass of their finite reasoning. Christ called
upon them to open their minds to those sacred truths that would broaden and
strengthen the understanding. Thousands become infidels because their finite
minds cannot comprehend the mysteries of God. They cannot explain the wonderful
exhibition of divine power in His providences, therefore they reject the
evidences of such power, attributing them to natural agencies which they can
comprehend still less. The only key to the mysteries that surround us is to
acknowledge in them all the presence and power of God. Men need to recognize
God as the Creator of the universe, One who commands and executes all things.
They need a broader view of His character, and of the mystery of His agencies. {DA 605.5}
Christ declared to His hearers that if there were no
resurrection of the dead, the Scriptures which they professed to believe would
be of no avail. He said, "But as touching the resurrection of the dead,
have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, I am the God of
Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the
dead, but of the living." God counts the things that are not as though
they were. He sees the end from the beginning, and beholds the result of His
work as though it were now accomplished. The precious dead, from Adam down to
the last saint who dies, will hear the voice of the Son of God, and will come
forth from the grave to immortal life. God will be their God, and they shall be
His people. There will be a close and tender relationship between God and the
risen saints. This condition, which is anticipated in His purpose, He beholds
as if it were already existing. The dead live unto Him. {DA 606.1}
By the words of Christ the Sadducees were put to silence.
They could not answer Him. Not a word had been spoken of which the least
advantage could be taken for His condemnation. His adversaries had gained
nothing but the contempt of the people. {DA 606.2}
The Pharisees, however, did not yet despair of driving Him
to speak that which they could use against Him. They prevailed upon a certain
learned scribe to question Jesus as to which of the ten precepts of the law was
of the greatest importance. {DA
606.3}
The Pharisees had exalted the first four commandments, which
point out the duty of man to his Maker, as of far greater consequence than the
other six, which define man's duty to his fellow man. As the result, [607]
they greatly failed of practical godliness. Jesus had shown the people their
great deficiency, and had taught the necessity of good works, declaring that
the tree is known by its fruits. For this reason He had been charged with
exalting the last six commandments above the first four. {DA 606.4}
The lawyer approached Jesus with a direct question,
"Which is the first commandment of all?" The answer of Christ is
direct and forcible: "The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O
Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with
all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy
strength: this is the first commandment." The second is like the first,
said Christ; for it flows out of it, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as
thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these." "On
these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." {DA 607.1}
The first four of the Ten Commandments are summed up in the
one great precept, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy
heart." The last six are included in the other, "Thou shalt love thy
neighbor as thyself." Both these commandments are an expression of the
principle of love. The first cannot be kept and the second broken, nor can the
second be kept while the first is broken. When God has His rightful place on
the throne of the heart, the right place will be given to our neighbor. We
shall love him as ourselves. And only as we love God supremely is it possible
to love our neighbor impartially. {DA 607.2}
And since all the commandments are summed up in love to God
and man, it follows that not one precept can be broken without violating this
principle. Thus Christ taught His hearers that the law of God is not so many
separate precepts, some of which are of great importance, while others are of
small importance and may with impunity be ignored. Our Lord presents the first
four and the last six commandments as a divine whole, and teaches that love to
God will be shown by obedience to all His commandments. {DA 607.3}
The scribe who had questioned Jesus was well read in the
law, and he was astonished at His words. He did not expect Him to manifest so
deep and thorough a knowledge of the Scriptures. He had gained a broader view
of the principles underlying the sacred precepts. Before the assembled priests
and rulers he honestly acknowledged that Christ had given the right
interpretation to the law, saying: {DA 607.4}
"Well, Master, Thou hast said the truth: for there is
one God; and there is none other but He: and to love Him with all the heart,
and [608]
with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength,
and to love his neighbor as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and
sacrifices." {DA
607.5}
The wisdom of Christ's answer had convicted the scribe. He
knew that the Jewish religion consisted in outward ceremonies rather than
inward piety. He had some sense of the worthlessness of mere ceremonial
offerings, and the faithless shedding of blood for expiation of sin. Love and
obedience to God, and unselfish regard for man, appeared to him of more value
than all these rites. The readiness of this man to acknowledge the correctness
of Christ's reasoning, and his decided and prompt response before the people,
manifested a spirit entirely different from that of the priests and rulers. The
heart of Jesus went out in pity to the honest scribe who had dared to face the
frowns of the priests and the threats of the rulers to speak the convictions of
his heart. "And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, He said unto
him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God." {DA 608.1}
The scribe was near to the kingdom of God, in that he recognized
deeds of righteousness as more acceptable to God than burnt offerings and
sacrifices. But he needed to recognize the divine character of Christ, and
through faith in Him receive power to do the works of righteousness. The ritual
service was of no value, unless connected with Christ by living faith. Even the
moral law fails of its purpose, unless it is understood in its relation to the
Saviour. Christ had repeatedly shown that His Father's law contained something
deeper than mere authoritative commands. In the law is embodied the same
principle that is revealed in the gospel. The law points out man's duty and
shows him his guilt. To Christ he must look for pardon and for power to do what
the law enjoins. {DA
608.2}
The Pharisees had gathered close about Jesus as He answered
the question of the scribe. Now turning He put a question to them: "What
think ye of Christ? whose son is He?" This question was designed to test
their belief concerning the Messiah,—to show whether they regarded
Him simply as a man or as the Son of God. A chorus of voices answered,
"The Son of David." This was the title which prophecy had given to
the Messiah. When Jesus revealed His divinity by His mighty miracles, when He
healed the sick and raised the dead, the people had inquired among themselves,
"Is not this the Son of David?" The Syrophoenician woman, blind
Bartimaeus, and many others had cried to Him for help, "Have mercy on me,
O Lord, Thou Son of David." Matthew 15:22. While riding into Jerusalem He
had been hailed with the [609] joyful shout, "Hosanna to
the Son of David: Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord."
Matthew 21:9. And the little children in the temple had that day echoed the
glad ascription. But many who called Jesus the Son of David did not recognize
His divinity. They did not understand that the Son of David was also the Son of
God. {DA 608.3}
In reply to the statement that Christ was the Son of David,
Jesus said, "How then doth David in Spirit [the Spirit of Inspiration from
God] call Him Lord, saying, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit Thou on My right
hand, till I make Thine enemies Thy footstool? If David then call Him Lord, how
is He his son? And no man was able to answer Him a word, neither durst any man
from that day forth ask Him any more questions." {DA 609.1}
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"Woes on the Pharisees"
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