Scripture: The same day Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection, and they asked him a question, saying, “Teacher, Moses said, If a man dies having no children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother.’ Now there were seven brothers among us. The first married and died, and having no offspring left his wife to his brother. So too the second and third, down to the seventh. After them all, the woman died. In the resurrection, therefore, of the seven, whose wife will she be? For they all had her.”
But Jesus answered them, “You are wrong, because you know neither 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. And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God: I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not God of the dead, but of the living.” And when the crowd heard it, they were astonished at his teaching. Matthew 22:23-33 ESV
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Observation: Recapping yesterday’s Daily Focus, the Pharisees sought to entrap and incriminate Jesus as a Jewish or Roman law violator. Unctuously addressing Jesus as a true teacher of the law unswayed by opinions or appearances, they asked his thoughts on whether paying taxes to Caesar was lawful. Jesus, discerning their intent, called them out as hypocrites and ordered them to show him a denarius. He then questioned them regarding whose likeness was on the coin. They rightly answered, “Caesar’s.” As such, Jesus advised them to give Caesar what belonged to him and do likewise to God. The representatives of the Pharisees and Herodians were amazed and silenced by Jesus’ brilliant and show-stopping response.
As with much of the text of the synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke), today’s reading parallels Mark 12:18-27 and Luke 20:27-40. Its setting and time continue in the temple courts on the Tuesday of Passion Week, marking the religious leaders’ third attempt to incriminate Jesus as a heretic. This time, it’s the Sadducees’ turn. They go after Jesus about a Levitical law that addresses the familial duty of brothers to ensure their sibling’s line does not end with their widowed wife by impregnating her with a son (more on that below). So they pose a hypothetical question about this law and its outworking under the scenario where seven younger brothers fail to produce a son for the widow and all die. They then ask Jesus to whom this woman would remain wed at the resurrection (a morbid and bizarre story, given they do not believe in the afterlife).
Jesus gets to the point and calls them out for their lack of understanding of Scripture and the power of God. He clarifies that there are no marriage relations in the resurrection because the resurrected will be like angels (spirit beings). And addressing their à-la-carte faith that rules out the supernatural, he corrects the Sadducees on the afterlife by challenging them to reflect on what Scripture says about Yahweh: he is the God of the patriarchs, i.e., the God of the living.
Matthew concludes that the crowd heard all that was said and marveled at Jesus’ teaching. And after this humiliating defeat, the Sadducees skulk away and will not be heard from again.
Takeaway: While the Pharisees believed in the resurrection of the dead based in part on Isaiah 26:19 and Daniel 12:2, the Sadducees held both the body and soul perish at death, as confirmed by Luke (see Acts 23:8) and Josephus (Jos. Antiq. XVIII, 12–17 [i.3–4]). Ironically, the Sadducee sect and its unsubstantiated doctrine regarding the afterlife died out after Rome razed Jerusalem in CE 70.
In this story, similar to the Pharisees and the Herodians, the Sadducees approach Jesus with insincere respect, followed by a disingenuous question likely aimed at both Jesus and their rival sect, the Pharisees (to one-up them). So they appeal to Deuteronomy 25:5-6. As initially intended, this law sought to ensure no marriages outside the family to strangers (mainly foreigners). Its origin dates back to Judah commanding his son, Onan, to impregnate his widowed sister-in-law, Tamar. We see it later applied in part in the story of Ruth when Boaz redeems Ruth through negotiations with the closest kinsmen-redeemer of Naomi’s surviving cousins (see Ruth 4:1-22).
Nevertheless, the Sadducees ulteriorly sought to expose Jesus as a fraudulent teacher of the law who would fail to defend their shrewd question regarding the resurrection of the dead. But the Scriptures, as Jesus well knew, are clear about the resurrection, whether proclaimed by the revered prophets Isaiah and Daniel (see above links) or Job 19:25-27. So Jesus rebukes Sadducees with a key verse from the well-known story of Moses’ encounter with Yahweh at the burning bush (see Exodus 3:6) to expose their faulty thinking and hardened hearts.
So what’s our takeaway? First, the Son of God invites us to dive into his Scripture and discover its life-giving truth, wisdom, and authority. During my time in seminary, the dean, on one occasion, spoke to the younger seminarians during our chapel services. He encouraged them to appeal to Scripture when working through conflicts with their elders—not haughtily or arrogantly, but with humility and grace. Good advice for all of us! Secondly, when we struggle with doubts about the primary tenets of our faith, there is always room for questions, but we must also make space for the answers. And if we sincerely approach the Word of God with open minds and hearts, the Holy Spirit will confirm its veracity—whether through our private study or others.
Lastly, what are we to make of our angelic-like existence in heaven? Most evangelical scholars agree that we will be fully conscious of our loved ones (from our earthly existence) in heaven, but most importantly, of our precious Lord and Savior. In the words of his disciple John, “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2 ESV). Truly, he is our reality of the resurrection.
Prayer: Father God, we thank you for your Son, “the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25). And we thank you for the saints who, through two millennia, risked their earthly lives to ensure we would have the living Word that confirms in us that Jesus is our reality of the resurrection. Still, we sometimes struggle with doubts. So would you please help us to make space to lean into Scripture and submit to your Holy Spirit so we might grow in our knowledge and love of you and your Son? Amen.
Rev. Gordon Green, M.Div., M.A. Counseling
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