This is an excerpt from my book “40 Moments From Christ’s Final Days.” Click here to get it from Amazon using my affiliate link.
Find this moment in: Mt. 22:23-33, Mk. 12:18-27, Lk. 20:27-40
On that day some Sadducees (who say there is no resurrection) came to Jesus and asked Him a question (Matthew 22:23)
The Sadducees were another influential group in Jewish life. They were a group of wealthy Jews who were rather fond of Roman rule and the power it granted them. From Acts 23:8, we know that they didn’t believe in the resurrection of God’s people to eternal life or God’s enemies to eternal punishment, nor did they believe in other spiritual realities like angels or spirits. This belief that the world was purely natural, containing no afterlife, makes their question a bit amusing.
saying, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘IF A MAN DIES HAVING NO CHILDREN, HIS BROTHER AS NEXT OF KIN SHALL MARRY HIS WIFE AND RAISE UP A SEED FOR HIS BROTHER.’ Now there were seven brothers with us; and the first married and died, and having no seed, he left his wife to his brother; so also the second, and the third, down to the seventh. And last of all, the woman died. In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had married her.” (Matthew 22:24-28)
They obviously weren’t interested in puzzling through such a difficult situation. They intended to show why the resurrection made no sense by referencing a law in Deuteronomy 25:5. Without realizing it, they were trying to turn God’s own word against Him.
But Jesus answered and said to them, “You are mistaken, not understanding the Scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. But regarding the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, ‘I AM THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, AND THE GOD OF ISAAC, AND THE GOD OF JACOB’? He is not the God of the dead but of the living.” And when the crowds heard this, they were astonished at His teaching. (Matthew 23:29-33)
Jesus doesn’t say much in response, yet His reply is loaded with truth.
First, He points out their complete ignorance of God’s word. Many Old Testament prophets pointed forward to a new, glorious life for God’s people, and the Sadducees would have known this if they had studied God’s word. Likewise, Christ points out how little they think of God’s power to assume that He couldn’t grant eternal life after death.
Second, He hints that the purpose of marriage will end after this life. Ephesians 5:22-32 gives greater clarity, pointing out that God created marriage as a picture of Christ and His church. The incredible blessing of marriage is a shadow of something greater. Marriage will be unnecessary upon death, especially in the resurrection, because Christ will have completed His goal of saving His people.
Third, He says we’ll be like the angels in Heaven. Many misunderstand this statement to mean two things: we become angels, and angels can’t get married. Regarding becoming angels, we must simply look closer and see that we’ll be like angels, meaning our behavior regarding marriage will be similar to theirs. Second, we know angels can get married (and produce offspring) by reading Genesis 6:1-4. Jesus likely means that we aren’t incapable, but rather that as obedient followers of God, we’ll have no desire to marry (and, by extension, reproduce).
Fourth, we see Him turn God’s word right back on them. Jesus references the words God spoke to Moses in Exodus 3:6, pointing out that God said He was still the God of these men, which would be impossible if their existence ceased at death.
In a few short sentences, Jesus not only avoids another sad trap by His enemies but directs them, and His audience, to the importance of accurately understanding God’s word.
Stop and think: The Sadducees didn’t accurately understand the Bible. They knew some things it said but didn’t understand how it all fits together. They knew something about the Bible but didn’t truly know the Bible. What do you do every day, or every week, to truly know and treasure the Bible?
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