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23 The same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him and asked Him, 24 saying: “Teacher, Moses said that if a man dies, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother. 25 Now there were with us seven brothers. The first died after he had married, and having no offspring, left his wife to his brother. 26 Likewise the second also, and the third, even to the seventh. 27 Last of all the woman died also. 28 Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had her.” 29 Jesus answered and said to them, “You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God. 30 For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven. 31 But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, 32 ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.” 33 And when the multitudes heard this, they were astonished at His teaching. ~ Matthew 22:23-33
Today's passage takes place on the final Wednesday of the earthly life of the Lord Jesus. Then He was crucified on that Friday. This was a busy day for Him as He taught in the temple all day sparing with the Jewish religious community trying to trip Him up with their questions. Toward the end of that Wednesday, a certain element of the Jewish religious leaders, the Sadducees, came to the Lord Jesus with a hypothetical question. They accepted only the first five books of Moses as the word of God. In addition, they did not believe in angels, spirits, or the resurrection of the dead. When the Romans came in and destroyed Jerusalem in A.D. 70, the Sadducees ceased to exist.
In v.23-28 of today's passage we read, "23 The same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him and asked Him, 24 saying: 'Teacher, Moses said that if a man dies, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother. 25 Now there were with us seven brothers. The first died after he had married, and having no offspring, left his wife to his brother. 26 Likewise the second also, and the third, even to the seventh. 27 Last of all the woman died also. 28 Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had her.'"
The Sadducees tried to trip up the Lord Jesus in order to shatter His popularity among the people. Interestingly, the religious leaders of Israel continually tried to do this, all the while they really weren't interested in the truth. Ironically, their questions and the Lord Jesus' answers provide for us today great truths that we want and need to know. These truths pull back the curtain for us to see little bit more of the culture of God. They also give us a glimpse of heaven about which we aren't given a whole lot of information in the Scriptures.
The Sadducees asked this question in order to show how ridiculous they thought was the idea of the resurrection. That was when they presented a scenario to the Lord Jesus based on Deuteronomy 25 which called for a man to marry his brother’s wife in the event of his brother’s death. With this argument, they referred to a law in the book of Moses called the law of levirate marriage which was given by God in order to protect the widow, her land and the name of the family. And so a brother or a kinsman, a relative, could marry that lady, and then the family name would be preserved, and the inheritance would be passed on from generation to generation for that woman.
Trying to minimize the Lord Jesus, the Sadducees asked who would be the husband of the woman in heaven, especially since she had married so many times. Of course, they weren't on a journey to discover the truth, they were just trying to cause the people to no longer follow the Lord Jesus, especially since they benefitted the most from the sacrificial system at the temple. And, the Lord Jesus was a threat to that commerce based on what He had done in the temple a day earlier.
In v.29-30 of today's passage we read, "29 Jesus answered and said to them, 'You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God. 30 For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven.'"
In His answer the Lord Jesus made it clear that in heaven there will be no marriage. Notice the Lord Jesus did not say that in heaven we will be angels, but that we will be like the angels. We will be like the angels in that we will not cohabitate and reproduce. In addition, we will not die. So, there will be no need for reproduction in heaven. The Lord Jesus was quick to say marriage is a thing of this temporal world.
At this point the Lord Jesus directed the Sadducees attention to Exodus 3:6 in order to establish His point. This is important because He knew the Sadducees only accepted the first five books of the Bible as the word of God. It seems Exodus 3:6 doesn’t argue for the resurrection of the dead. But, when we consider that God made an everlasting covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob after they had died, it takes on a different meaning. Since God made an everlasting covenant with them, he will raise them from the dead so that they may see the fulfillment of His promises.
We will not die, and in this sense we are equal to angels. When we believed in the Lord Jesus, we received His life, eternal life. When we received His life we became the sons and daughters of the resurrection. There is a great principle being given here which I have found to be an encouragement down through the years, especially when it seemed that all hope was lost. The principle comes in the form of a quote which is: "God’s most striking victories come out of graves of apparent defeat."
In v.31-32 of today's passage we read, "31 But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, 32 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.'"
The Sadducees understood neither the Scriptures, which teach the resurrection of the dead, nor did they know the power of God, who can and will raise the dead to life. This was their problem, they were not accustomed to being defined by the God of the Bible. In 1 Corinthians 15 the Apostle Paul established this very important point: if we do not have the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, we do not have hope. I find it striking that group after group tried to trip the Lord Jesus up, yet He spoke the truth to them and in so doing He held out hope to each group. His has always been self-giving love which is a product of such hope. The Lord Jesus is the same with us. He knows the quickest way to our hearts is through our wounds. And, it is these wounds which create our skepticism or they can assist our ability to seek Him with our hearts. We are to some degree hard-hearted like these religious leaders, at times. And, yet, He keeps offering us hope. And, He rarely blesses us with only us in mind.
Hope must be garnered by us through the thicks and thins of life. We must admit that we, at times, struggle seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. This honest struggle is necessary for us to be develop an authentic walk with the Lord and to be found anchored to His hope. Amid all of the negativity that we will face out in the world today, let's be poised to hold out this hope which is based on the truth of the resurrection from the dead for all those, who like us, are struggling, too. Like him or not, Napoleon brilliantly once said, "Leaders are dealers in hope."
In v.33 of today's passage we read, "And when the multitudes heard this, they were astonished at His teaching."
The people were amazed at the teaching they received from the Lord Jesus. Unlike the religious leaders of Israel, they weren't turned off by His teaching resulting in them leaving Him. Without the resurrection of the Lord Jesus from the dead, we are all without hope. Our eternity with God is not a mere continuation of the life we know right now. In heaven, we will maintain our identities and know each other, but there will be no more sin and death. In heaven there will be no more tears, pain, sickness and lack. Then, we will live in a new earth without the interference of the evil one and his cohorts. We will astonishingly enjoy hearts and minds free from doubt and bodies free from disease.
