Matthew 22:23-33

Matthew 22:23-33

In that day Sadducees – who say that the resurrection is not to be – drew near to Him and they inquired of Him while saying, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If someone should die without having children, his brother will marry his wife and he will raise up seed for his brother.’  Now seven brothers were from us.  And after the first married, he died.  And while not having seed he left his wife for his brother.  And likewise, the second and the third up to the seventh.  And last of all of them, the woman died.  Therefore, in the resurrection, of which of the seven will the wife be?  For all had her.”  And after answering Jesus said to them, “You wander off the path having not known the scriptures nor the power of God.  For in the resurrection there is neither marriage nor being given into marriage – but they are similar to the angels in heaven.  And regarding the resurrection of the dead, did you all not read that which was being spoken to you by God while 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 rather of the living!”  And after the crowd heard they were astounded upon His teaching.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Once more we see a trick.  The Sadducees employ deception in this passage.  They do not believe in the resurrection, but they come and ask Jesus to teach about the resurrection.  Once more they don’t care about the answer.  Rather, they want to hear Jesus teach about the resurrection so that they will have a reason to denounce Him.  This is a horrible trap.  Anytime we feign interest just to get another person talking so that we can accuse them it is completely wrong.

Have you ever got someone talking just so you could argue with them?  Have you ever been the victim of such a ploy?  Why is this wrong?  How does this situation make you feel?

Second Thought:

Jesus illustrates two problems with the logic of the Sadducees.  The first problem is that they do not know scripture.  To be fair, one of the things that made the Sadducees unique is that they only felt it necessary to obey written scriptural law and not any oral tradition that went with scripture.  In this stance, I find common ground with the Sadducees.  The written word of the Bible is significantly more important than the human traditions and assertions that revolve around it.  Because of this, however, Jesus uses scripture and not logic to make His point.  Jesus cites Exodus 3:6, which is the place where God identifies Himself to Moses in the burning bush.  Jesus uses the voice of scripture to remind us that although Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are clearly dead from a human perspective that God perceives them as still living.  After all, how can one be the God of someone who is dead if there is no life after death?

Why is it important to be able to read and use scripture in spiritual discourse?  Why is it neat to hear Jesus use a scriptural reference when debating with a group that lifted written tradition above oral tradition? 

Third Thought:

However, Jesus is not content simply meeting the Sadducees on their level.  He challenges them about what they don’t assert, too.  Jesus tells them that not only do they not know the scripture, they also don’t know the power of God.  They don’t understand that God will take us after this life and bring us into eternal life with Him.  They don’t know that God will make us similar to the angels.  We will not be angels, but we will be like them in that while we are in the presence of God in life eternal we will be satisfied by His presence.  We will have no need for arrangements like marriage.  We will simply bask in life with God and the other people of God who are likewise focused on their life with God.  What a glorious day that will be!

Do you know the power of God?  Do you long for the day when God’s power is on full display and we are no longer distracted by the things of this world?

Passage for Tomorrow: Matthew 22:34-40