By Ken Yates
Introduction
From time to time, I hear someone teach the strange idea that unbelievers cannot seek God. Now, left solely to mankind’s devices, that would certainly be the case. But God loves and reaches out to the whole world. Because of His initiative, unbelievers can indeed seek Him.
Acts 17:27 is one of many passages that show this is true. Paul is preaching to a group of unbelievers and tells them that God has placed all men in their locations and times so that they “should seek” Him. God has arranged His creation so that, as Paul states, all men “might find Him.”
I don’t think anybody would disagree with the notion that believers can seek God. Believers who want to know more about the Lord can seek to learn what is still lacking in their knowledge of Him. Writing about believers, the author of Hebrews says that God rewards those who diligently seek Him (Heb 11:6).
We could say that Heb 11:6 is a general principle that applies to all men and women. The person who seeks the Lord, believer or unbeliever, will find Him. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that the Lord will find them.
Mark 12:35-37 records an example of both an unbeliever and a group of believers seeking the Lord. Not surprisingly, He reveals Himself to all of them. No matter who we are, we should find encouragement in this account.
An Unbeliever Seeks the Lord
Immediately before Mark 12:35-37, there is an unbeliever who comes to the Lord. He is a scribe, and the Gospel of Mark has nothing good to say about this group of men. They oppose Christ. Eventually, they will play a pivotal role in putting Him to death.
But the Lord has reached out to them. For three years He has taught in various places in Israel. He has performed many miracles, all demonstrating that He is the Christ. In Mark 12, He is teaching in the temple. The scribes are present and can hear the things He says. As a group, they reject Him.
But this scribe is different. He reaches out to the Lord. He has listened to Jesus and concluded that He is a wise teacher of the Scriptures (12:28, 32). When Christ answers a question posed by this man, the man concurs, saying that the Scriptural truths Jesus has pointed out are more important than the sacrifices going on in the temple. Coming from a respected Jewish religious leader, that was quite a statement in light of the fact that his religion was based on those sacrifices. He admits that what Jesus has said is greater than his most cherished beliefs.
The Lord is reaching out to this man who is sincerely seeking the truth. Because of his willingness to seek the truth, Jesus tells him that he is “not far from the kingdom of God.”
The scribe began to see that the Law and its sacrifices could not give him life. He was seeking answers from the Lord. If he kept seeking, the Lord would tell him that eternal life would be his if he believed that Jesus was the Christ who would give it to him (John 20:31). The scribe was already moving in the right direction.
Our wonderful Lord continues to reach out to this man. It is another example of His wonderful grace toward all men.
More Revelation to This Unbeliever
In 12:35, the very next verse, we see that the Lord continues teaching. He is still in the temple and brings up what the scribes say about the Christ. The unbeliever who is seeking truth from Him is one of those scribes. Mark clearly connects the account of the seeking scribe with what the Lord says about the scribes as a group. The seeking scribe is still listening to what the Lord is saying.
What does He tell this scribe?
The scribe needed to know that Jesus was the Christ. He needed to know the majesty of the Christ. The Lord points out that the Christ would be a descendant of David, just as the scribes taught. The Christ would bring in the kingdom that was promised to David. It would be an eternal kingdom.
But the Lord then quotes from Psalm 110 to show that Christ is greater than the scribes realized. Christ is David’s Lord.
I wonder what this unbelieving scribe thought as he was listening to Jesus. He had already acknowledged that Jesus accurately explained the Scriptures. He had begun to realize that the Lord had more insight into spiritual things than had been afforded him by the religious traditions he was taught. As this wise Teacher explained Psalm 110:1 to him, he realized that the scribes (like himself) had misunderstood who the Christ was. Did the scribe come to realize that this Teacher was the One of whom David spoke? Did he realize that this was why He had such wisdom? Did he see that Jesus was the Son of David, who would one day bring in that eternal kingdom? Maybe he deduced that this was why He had been able to perform all the miracles he had heard about.
We have not been told how the scribe responded. But we do know a couple of things. This man was seeking the Lord. And the Lord was seeking him. We hope he continued seeking the truth from the One whom he acknowledged as a wise Teacher of God’s Word. I will not be surprised if we see him in the kingdom.
But the Lord was also reaching out to other unbelievers in the temple that day. As He brought His teaching to a close, a crowd was listening to Him. Many in the crowd would have been unbelievers. Mark tells us that these people “heard Him gladly.” Undoubtedly, some, like the scribe, were looking for the truth from this Galilean Teacher. He was reaching out to them.
But unbelievers weren’t the only ones who were seeking answers from the Lord. Some believers were as well. He was seeking them too.
Believers Seeking the Lord
The disciples were with Jesus when He was reaching out to the scribe. Except for Judas, they were believers. They had not only believed in Christ for eternal life, but had also made the decision to follow Him. They did so in order to learn more about Him. For three years they had done just that.
But they still had much to learn! They knew He was the Christ, but they did not know the extent of His dignity and power. When He calmed the sea during a storm, they wondered how He could have done such a thing (4:41). When the Lord told them He was the Christ but that He was going to die, Peter—speaking for the whole group—rebuked Him (8:32). They thought they knew more about His destiny than He did!
To their credit, despite displaying their ignorance about the Person of the Christ, they continued following Him. One could say that they were seeking to know more about Him. They kept plugging along.
When the Lord explained Psalm 110:1 to the seeking scribe and the people in the crowd, the disciples—who also didn’t know what David had said about the Christ in Psalm 110—heard Him as well. After He had taught the people, Mark tells us that He “called His disciples to Himself” and taught them even more (12:43).
The Lord’s teaching may have caused the scribe to understand that He was the Christ who would give him eternal life––something the sacrifices in the temple could not do. But hopefully, as the disciples considered what the Lord said, they too would see Him in a different way. Of course He could calm the sea. He was God. He was more than the physical descendant and Son of David. He was David’s Lord. His words were true, even if they challenged their preconceived ideas of what the Messiah would do. When He said He would suffer and die, He knew whereof He spoke. When He told them that they would have to suffer as well if they wanted to be His disciples, they could believe Him. After all, He would soon be sitting at the right hand of God the Father in the heavens.
Conclusion
The Scriptures show us that during Christ’s earthly ministry, He met people where they were. He revealed God’s truth to people, and that revelation was different depending on what each person needed.
To an unbelieving scribe who was seeking the truth, the Lord revealed that his religious traditions were ineffective in producing life and that his understanding of the Christ was defective as well. By showing His wisdom and knowledge of the Scriptures, He pointed the man to the fact that He is the Christ.
At the same time, using the same Scripture, the Lord shows the believers who were seeking to know more about Him that He was greater than even they knew. They were struggling with the idea that the One in Whom they had believed could suffer such a cruel death and that He was calling them to follow Him on that path. Psalm 110 showed them that the suffering Christ was infinite in power and glory. As believers, they should believe what He was saying to them.
No matter who we are, the Lord’s teaching in the temple that day provides us with a valuable lesson. If you have never believed in Jesus as the Christ who gives eternal life, seek the truth. I recommend that you use the Gospel of John. Read about how He interacted with various unbelievers and revealed the truth to them.
If you are a believer who wants to know more about Him, ask Him to reveal more of Himself to you in His Word. We all have a lot to learn!
One thing is sure: If you seek Him, you will find Him. He will find you. Such a search will be rewarded in ways we cannot imagine.
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Ken Yates is a retired Army chaplain (Lt. Col). He has many theological degrees, including a Ph.D. from D.T.S. in New Testament. He leads the GES international ministry, cohosts the daily podcast, and assists Bob in all aspects of the GES ministry. His new book, Elisabeth, is a powerful testimony to the power of God manifested in a Christ-centered family. He and his wife, Pam, live in Columbia, SC.
