Matthew 22:23-33 That same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him with a question. “Teacher,” they said, “Moses told us that if a man dies without having children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for him. Now there were seven brothers among us. The first one married and died, and since he had no children, he left his wife to his brother. The same thing happened to the second and third brother, right on down to the seventh. Finally, the woman died. Now then, at the resurrection, whose wife will she be of the seven, since all of them were married to her?” Jesus replied, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God. At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. But about the resurrection of the dead—have you not read what God said to you, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead but of the living.” When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at his teaching.
We see the Sadducees asking the above question. They are the sect of the priests that believe very little that is supernatural. They probably could be classified as religious agnostics, not willing to believe anything until they could experience it with their senses. They denied the immortality of the soul, the bodily resurrection after death, and the existence of angelic spirits. Consequently, their question about whose wife will she be of the seven, since all of them were married to her? was nothing more than a theoretical question. Since they did not believe in an afterlife or immorality, their intention for asking this question is to trap Jesus in saying something that might be contradictory or confusing to the people. The crowd was listening carefully, for when Jesus finished his answer to the Sadducees’ insincere question, they were astonished at his teaching. This kind of question comes from hypocrites who do not want to accept the truth of the Bible. Instead, they want to skirt the deeper things that point to a spiritual reality. They consider anything that depends on faith as foolishness. To the Sadducees the spiritual world was irrelevant. Paul said such people were always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth. (2 Timothy 3:7) The Sadducees entertained unprofitable surmising, considering something they did not even believe: the afterlife. With Jesus they involved him in intellectual musing, without a desire to actually learn something. Titus reminds people to avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless. (Titus 3:9) He goes on to say that such people are divisive, warped, and sinful, willing to destroy people’s faith rather than build people up in the faith. The Sadducees were wicked in their intentions about Jesus; they intended to kill him, and eventually they helped put him on the cross. They sanctimoniously wore their long robes with their broad phylacteries on their arms, looking holy, but inside, as with the Pharisees, they were full of hypocrisy and sin. (see Matthew 23) They, more than the Pharisees, denied the transforming power of God in people’s lives. Their lifestyle was fixated on the things of this world. To maintain their position of preference with the people, and to put this popular man in his place, they asked this insincere, pretentious question, void of any real situation. They were blind guides, straining at a gnat in the truth of the law, but swallowing a whole camel of unbelief. (see Matthew 23:24)
I was blind but now I see, exclaimed the healed blind man to the priest. Sadly the Sadducees were not only blind to Jesus’ messiahship, they were also blind to the scriptures and God’s power. Jesus addresses their question after first referring to their blindness, their ignorance in their area of expertise, the Pentateuch. The Sadducees read only the Pentateuch, for they considered the first five books in the Bible as the only reliable scriptures. You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God. The Jews esteemed the Sadducees and knew them as the elite in society. They were wealthy, well-educated leaders in the secular and religious world in Israel; therefore, implying their ignorance attacked their power and control over the Jewish people. The Sadducees’ question was of interest to the Jews because land in Israel was initially allotted to each tribe based on the number of males in each clan. If a woman lost her husband through death, her husband’s land passed to the eldest brother. To reclaim the dead brother’s rightful inheritance of land, the elder brother married the woman, providing her with sons, to inherit her dead husband’s land. Since women were much like property, passed down from father to husband and so forth, women had little authority. So the Sadducees questioned Jesus on who had responsibility for a woman with many husbands. Whose wife will she be of the seven? Jesus does not answer that question directly; He tells them they are ignorant of the afterlife and God’s power. He says after death she would be free from the patriarchal system instituted by the Jews. At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. On the earth for thousands of years males had dominated the relationship between male and female, but Jesus says, this is not what will be in heaven. We see on Pentecost, the Spirit falling on both genders. Peter speaks of this situation of male and female knowing God. In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. (Acts 2:17-18) When Cornelius was baptized, the whole house was baptized with the Spirit. When Paul and Silas were freed from their chains through an earthquake, the jailer feared for his life. Paul assured him not to fear, for none of the prisoners had escaped. Then, at that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and ALL his household were baptized. (Acts 16:33) Jesus tells the Sadducees women will be free from the domination of males, free indeed! These disbelievers in the afterlife were criticized by Jesus because of their failure to read the scriptures carefully. Have you not read what God said to you, I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? He is not the God of the dead but of the living. Of course Jesus knew they had read this passage many times; He knew they probably had it memorized; but they did not understand what God said to Moses at the burning bush. Their preconceptions, their unbelief, overrode understanding the word. Jesus tells them that God’s words to Moses were that He was the God of the living and that the Patriarchs were presently with him. He is not the God of the forever deceased, but He is the God of the forever living souls. He criticizes them for not knowing the power of God, not understanding that the God of the universe exists beyond their perceptions, their senses. They boxed God into their fleshly understanding of the reality of the world, so they thought they had a very difficult question for Jesus. But Jesus answers it by stressing the spiritual reality of the human soul, something they rejected. But the wisdom of Jesus’ answer confounded them, silenced them.
The interaction between Jesus and the learned Sadducees shows Jesus’ words undermining the wisdom and knowledge of their foundation. Jesus spoke of the eternal Rock of Ages, God himself; they talked about their perceptions of life on earth. Their minds were captivated by darkness, based on what their senses revealed. Even their spiritual understanding and interpretation of the Torah was limited by their understanding of what was real and what was not. Jesus knew that they were blind to the power of God, ignorant of spiritual truth. As Christians today we should not be ignorant of spiritual truth, for Christ has given us his Spirit to teach us all things. The Lord’s words should be real to us; they should be words that direct our daily lives. Peter tells us, in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. (1 Peter 3:15) We are to be prepared to testify of God’s wonderful grace and to express with joy the salvation that has been given to us freely. However, we should also be able to give a coherent explanation of our hope. The Sadducees knew the scriptures but had not heard what they were saying. Jesus informed them that they were ignorant of the scriptures. We are not to be ignorant of the word of God. Our testimony will open the eyes and ears of people around us to the reality of God. Being able to open the scriptures to them will provide a path for the unbeliever to come to God in faith, for the scriptures go beyond one individual’s life. Being rich in faith is important; equally important is to be rich in the scriptures. That is why we need to be reading the scriptures daily. Memorizing scripture is good, but for those less capable in memorizing, we should hold onto the truths in the Bible. We should paraphrase these scriptures. Documenting our paraphrases can come later if we need to do that. Jesus knew the Sadducees had no real foundation for their lives other than their senses. Their spiritual eyes were blind, and spiritual blindness can lead to horrible consequences: chaos, disobedience, sinfulness and uncertainty. Lives without a foundation can spiral downward quickly and eternally. Titus explains this when he says, At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. (Titus 3:3) The Sadducees were caught in this kind of lifestyle. They even wanted Jesus murdered. Without truth in a person’s life, there is no stopping point for sin. The Sadducees disappeared from existence as a sect when the Temple was destroyed. Their world view could not hold them. But Christians know if heaven and earth pass away, the Spirit of God will hold us, for He is present with us at all times. God saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. (Titus 3:4-7) The Sadducees could not believe that life could exist after death; consequently, they had to mine everything they could out of life for death ended their existence. Jesus said, You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God. We who are alive IN CHRIST know the power of God—eternal life is ours. Amen!
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