Matthew 22:23-33[1]
As preached at Rolling Hills Church on Resurrection Sunday, April 23rd, 2011
He is Risen!
Do you ever start conversations with God by trying to trap Him with His own Words? Do you wrangle with Him from a position of unbelief and yet expect answers to belief-requiring prayers?
Let's go to a conversation between Jesus and some men known as the Sadducees. It was the Tuesday before Jesus was crucified on Friday. He had gone to the temple to teach, and the chief priests and the elders challenged his authority. He quieted them with a question about John's authority, and then told them several parables showing them to be unfaithful to God in rejecting the Son of God. The Pharisees, a weaker political/spiritual rival group to the Sadducees, took their shot at the Lord, trying to trap him about not paying taxes to Caesar. He took the coin, asked them who's inscription was on it, and quelled that foolish assault. Then these Sadducees took their turn at trying to expose a flaw or weakness in the doctrine of our Lord Jesus. The conversation was interesting, because they proposed a 'what if' scenario that was rigged to trap Jesus. Let's see how this went. Matt 22:23-33
23 The same day Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection, and they asked him a question,
24 saying, "Teacher, Moses said, 'If a man dies having no children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up children for his brother.'
25 Now there were seven brothers among us. The first married and died, and having no children left his wife to his brother.
26 So too the second and third, down to the seventh.
27 After them all, the woman died.
28 In the resurrection, therefore, of the seven, whose wife will she be? For they all had her."
29 But Jesus answered them, "You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God.
30 For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.
31 And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God:
32 '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."
33 And when the crowd heard it, they were astonished at his teaching.
Here is the message from this text today, church family: God, Jehovah (Yahweh), Creator of the Universe – He is The God of the Living.
Now these men weren't the first to try to lure God into some divulging some contradiction in the Scriptures, and they certainly weren't the last. They were not the only people who have taken a teaching/tradition of the Bible and used it as a wedge against faith in God. Let me tell you just a bit about these Sadducees…
The Sadducees, including the high priest Caiaphas (A.D. 18–36), were primarily of wealthy, priestly families in Jerusalem. They were [said to be] unfriendly—even to one another—and unpopular (Jewish War 2.166; Jewish Antiquities 13.298). They could be cruel judges (Josephus, Jewish Antiquities 20.199; Mishnah, Sanhedrin 7:2; Makkot 1:6). When Jesus disrupted their financial interests in the temple, he was arrested and condemned (Mark 11:15–19; 14:53–65). James, the brother of the Lord, was later killed by a Sadducean high priest (Josephus, Jewish Antiquities 20.200).
The Sadducees rejected the extra-biblical traditions of the Pharisees, and probably only believed Genesis-Deuteronomy to be Scripture (Josephus, Jewish Antiquities 13.297; 18.16). This narrow canon may explain why they did not believe in the general resurrection of the dead (Mark 12:18; Acts 4:1–2; 23:6–8), since it is not explicitly mentioned in the Pentateuch. Jesus, when arguing for the resurrection (Mark 12:18–27), meets the Sadducees on their own ground by showing the implications of Exodus 3:6 instead of appealing to a more straightforward passage (e.g., Dan. 12:2).[2]
These men were nasty; their last encounter with Christ before this was in Matthew 16 when they came demanding a sign from heaven. Because they were negative, arrogant, and often attacking the doctrine of the resurrection, people used to say, "They don't believe God raises people from the dead: so they're sad, you see" (it was funny the first time I heard it). But let's consider first what they attempted to do.
They tried to disprove Jesus' beliefs about resurrection from the Scriptures. Using the deadly tool of ridicule was their weapon – not serious argument[3]. Here is the verse they referred to… Deut 25:5 "If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the dead man shall not be married outside the family to a stranger. Her husband's brother shall go in to her and take her as his wife and perform the duty of a husband's brother to her. This law was given because the inheritance of land and home were given through the son; a widowed woman with no children was staring destitution in the face. Personally, I thank God this one isn't New Covenant. They took a law Moses taught and attempted to show how foolish it would be if a resurrection occurred. To their credit, there is no overt, explicit teaching about resurrection of the dead in the Pentateuch; but it seems there was something they missed.
Their attempt at public disdain of Christ would remind you of political radio commentators of our day; their rationalist, materialist views would remind you of those who openly began to disdain the Bible in the late 1700s. It seems easy to gather consensus against miracles today, and they thought it would be then. But they were, Jesus said, mistaken.
The word used here for mistaken (Planao) is translated elsewhere in the NT as led astray, deceived, wrong, wayward, wanders from the truth.[4] Depending on the context it could mean led astray or leading astray; here it seems these leaders were guilty of both. Here is why they were mistaken, wrong, led astray, according to our Lord…
Because they didn't know the Scriptures. Wouldn't this be sad to hear, when you studied them for a living? You prepared your arguments against the school of the Pharisees diligently and relentlessly; you had to know the Scriptures! But looking they never did SEE, and listening they never did HEAR, and reading, they failed to BELIEVE. Could that happen today, church? In churches that proclaim deep devotion to the Scriptures, could people be languishing in unbelief? Could we be guilty of explaining away the miraculous in the Bible? Could we look, listen, and read, but not see, hear, or believe? How many times had these men read Exodus 3:6 and yet had completely missed the obviously inferred resurrection teaching? "And he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." God didn't say I was, but I am; present tense; the patriarchs still live! When I read Jesus quoting this, didn't you think, 'of course!' But might that require meditation? Yes; seeing this might require prayer, listening, asking questions, and reading again. It might require a believing, humble approach to God's Word that seeks to know God, not just to develop arguments and sustain positions. When religious people don't know the Scriptures, where will the world hear them?
Because they didn't know the power of God. Resurrection after death requires life-giving, life-making power. Creation power! This renewing life is perfect work for the One who spoke life into existence! These Sadducees had grown cold toward any miraculous works of God; they didn't know of God's power and they obviously didn't fear God's power. How else could one speak so disdainfully of the God Who spoke the universe into existence and named the stars? How could a person doubt the One who makes a star (like our sun) that continually burns with un-measurable heat, - but doesn't burn up!? And these men apparently didn't read the papers a few weeks before this when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead – before many witnesses. They spoke disdainfully of resurrection to the One Who IS the resurrection and the life!
Because they didn't understand heaven. To their credit, not many others did either at this time; it was revelation to us all! There will be no marriage in heaven; love will be different, more complete somehow. Those who love their spouses can't fathom this, but we take the words of Jesus in faith, and we look to a sinless existence where pro-creation isn't necessary; only the chosen, the redeemed, only those who believed in Christ will be there and have this life that lasts forever, this love that blasts beyond the boundaries of our thinking. It will be incredible; we will be with God, face to face. While these men didn't understand the afterlife with God – it didn't stop them from making silly conjectures about it.
Sadducees. They didn't know the Scriptures. They didn't know the power of God. They didn't understand heaven. Could we be in that condition? Is that you today? Do you celebrate the resurrection of Christ out of tradition, family, or habit – or out of cheerful faith in the living God, who is The God of the Living?
Folks, let us bow before God; let us worship in Spirit and in Truth. Let us throw arrogance and ridicule of God's Word away from us like an open vial of anthrax – it will kill us!
Church, God raised Jesus from the dead on the third day. Slaughtered for our sin on Friday, raised from the dead on Sunday morning. We celebrate the anniversary of the resurrection of our Messiah!
Let us repent of unbelief! God help us to look and SEE the Christ in Scriptures, to listen and HEAR the gospel, to read and BELIEVE God saves all who call out to Him in repentance and belief in Jesus as Lord and Savior.
[1] All Scriptures, unless otherwise noted, are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (via E-Sword Software) © 2001 Crossway Publishing. All Rights Reserved. I paste them in red for distinction.
[2] From the article Jewish Groups at the Time of the New Testament, one of many resources in the ESV Study Bible, © Copyright 2008-2010 Crossway Publishing, All Rights Reserved.
[3] Good words from Albert Edersheim in his excellent volume The Life and Times of Jesus The Messiah, © 1993 by Hendrickson Publishers.
[4] Greek Lexicon tools available through www.blueletterbible.org
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