By Pastor Dave Farmer
The “Great Religious Debate” continues with a third group to approach the Lord in an attempt to humiliate Him publicly. Members of the Sanhedrin and the Herodians failed, now the Sadducees will attempt it.
The Text for this study is Matthew 22:23-33.
Who are the Sadducees? How they originated is difficult to determine, but what they believe is not and this is crucial to understanding their ridiculous question. An article in the New Bible Dictionary gives this review of the Sadducees:
In manner the Sadducees were rather boorish, being rude to their peers as to aliens, and counting it a virtue to dispute with their teachers. They had no following among the populace, but were restricted to the well-to-do. They were more severe in their judgment than other Jews. Many, but not all, priests were Sadducees; nearly all Sadducees, however, appear to have been priests, especially of the most powerful priestly families. In religion the Sadducees are marked for their conservatism. They denied the permanent validity of any but the written laws of the Pentateuch. They rejected the later doctrines of the soul and its after-life, the resurrection, rewards and retribution, angels and demons. They believed that there was no fate, men having a free choice of good and evil, prosperity and adversity being the outcome of their own course of action.1
This is a good summary, but it does contain a misleading conclusion. The inference is that they rejected the resurrection and the other doctrines because they are not found in the portion of the Bible they accepted as authoritative, Genesis through Deuteronomy. 2 But these doctrines can be found in the first five books as Jesus will shortly point out. They are not “the later doctrines” as the article suggests.
Let me summarize what we do know about the Sadducees:
The doctrine they denied and marked them was the resurrection. This was their greatest error. They did not believe in resurrection, so they are SAD-YOU-SEE. Paul says that if there be no resurrection we are people who should be pitied. [1 Corinthians 15:19] Their rejection of the resurrection led to a philosophy of life that stressed: “Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die."
The Approach of the Sadducees
23) On that day some Sadducees (who say there is no resurrection) came to Him and questioned Him,
24) saying, "Teacher, Moses said, 'If a man dies, having no children, his brother as next of kin shall marry his wife, and raise up an offspring to his brother.'
25) "Now there were seven brothers with us; and the first married and died, and having no offspring left his wife to his brother;
26) So also the second, and the third, down to the seventh.
27) "And last of all, the woman died.
28) "In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife of the seven shall she be? For they all had her."
Notice that they ask Him a question about the resurrection which they reject. This is where the study of the background is really important. Secondly, they quote from Deuteronomy 25:5, 6; that is, from the only portion of the Bible that they recognize as Scripture. The hypothetical case that they give is absurd. There was no case of this, and this had never happened before. They took a point of doctrine, twisting it and distorting it so that it became ludicrous.
The Trick Question 3
A man had seven brothers. He marries and dies leaving no children. The law required that this woman be cared for, not remain a widow or without any means of support [Deuteronomy 25:5-10]. So, one of the surviving brothers married her. But what happened? The second brother dies as well. So the third brother marries her, and he dies. So in our story, all seven brothers marry the same woman. Now the question is, "In the resurrection, which they do not believe in, whose wife is she?" In eternity all seven can claim her as their wife. Dan, Howard, Henry, Mike, George, John, and Butch were all married to the same woman. In eternity whose wife is she? This was a question they used in debate with the Pharisees. The Pharisees didn't know how to answer it. In fact, neither did they and that was the beauty of their question, according to them. It had no answer, that is until they asked Jesus. This was their way of denigrating the resurrection. The Bible Knowledge Commentary has this to say about Deuteronomy 25:5, 6:
In only one kind of circumstance was marriage to a close relative permitted. The brothers must have been living together (i.e., they inherited their father's property jointly), and the deceased brother must have died without a male heir. If both of these conditions were met, then levirate (from the Latin levir, "brother-in-law" or husband's brother) marriage was to take place. Levirate marriage thus would provide a male heir who in turn could care for the parents in their old age and prevent the alienation of family property. Furthermore the first son born from the levirate marriage was given the deceased brother's name so that his name would not be blotted out from Israel. In this way even though a man died before the Lord fulfilled the covenant promises made to Abraham and his descendants (Gen. 15:5, 18-21;17:19; 22:17-18; 28:13-14; 35:12); he could participate, in a sense, in the glorious future of Israel through his descendants. 3
The Answer of the Lord
29) But Jesus answered and said to them, "You are mistaken, not understanding the Scriptures, or the power of God.
We have a euphemism in this text. The KJV rightly translates PLANAO as "error." Unfortunately, the NASB choose a less acidic word "mistaken." Jesus plainly and dogmatically says they are wrong! There is a moral judgment associated with this word. They have forsaken the right path. They have chosen to wander down a path away from the truth. The present tense of this verb indicates they are constantly in error. He confronts the group that represents money, power, and privilege. He contends with the party of the High Priest and the Chief Priests without fear. He tells them plainly "you keep on being in doctrinal error."
Let us note an important principle. Our Lord Jesus Christ was a Bible believer. He believed every word of it. He based sophisticated arguments on the basis of it. What is our attitude toward the Word of God? The applications are numerous; such as, you will never be right until you know the Scripture. Sadly many Christians are living in error because they do not know the Bible. This nation cannot afford to have Christians a majority of Christians who are ignorant of the truths found in the Scripture.
The remnant of Bible-believing, positive toward the Word, growing, learning, core of believers is shrinking. Do you love the Word of God? Do you spend time studying the Scripture? Are you in a church that teaches the Word of God? Let us all be like our Lord Jesus Christ. Enroll in the School of Christ and learn about Him. Devote yourself daily to the reading, studying, memorizing, meditating, and applying the Word of God in your life [Luke 11:28; Matthew 11:27,28].
Jesus continues:
30) For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.
The Lord with one simple thrust of His wisdom cuts to the heart of the problem and explains their flawed approach. The first error was to assume that God's marriage program in time is the same as in eternity. One change is found in the words "they neither marry nor are given in marriage." Some believe that Jesus' words here indicate that the marriage program will cease. Dr. Wiersbe explains:
Human marriage as we know it will not exist in the next life, but that people will be as the angels, that is, living in a spiritual world not controlled by human laws. (This does not mean that we shall be angels, but that we shall be like them in regards to marriage.4
Jesus says that this question presupposes that the marriage program in time, will be the same as in eternity. In eternity it will be different, and therefore your question is invalid. He sweeps away the controversy, but interestingly He never gives any details of the future relationship between husband and wives.
The hilarious picture they paint with their question: the wife in heaven having seven husbands each claiming, “She is my wife – I married her.” I can imagine that they all were laughing their way to the temple thinking all the time this question will shut Him up. But it didn’t!
Jesus cross-examines the Sadducee's
31) "But regarding the resurrection of the dead, have you not read that which was spoken to you by God, saying,
32) '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. "
The second error was their rejection of the resurrection. Jesus would not let this pass. He said they were wrong about the power of God. God can raise the dead. If by His very words He brought into existence the Universe, the power necessary for the resurrection is simple. If they hold the Book of Genesis as inspired and authoritative and in that book we see EI Shaddai "The Omnipotent One" creating light, sculpting matter into mountains, stars, and all forms of life, how hard is a resurrection? It seems quite inconsistent to believe in a God who has the power to create life out of nothing, but cannot resurrect life from the dead. God cannot be both infinite and unlimited in power and at the same time impotent when confronted with death.
Yet, their error persisted because they maintained that the Scripture did not teach that there will be a resurrection. We would say that is not true. Here are some of the places in the Old Testament which speak clearly about the resurrection: Daniel 12:2; Isaiah 26: 19; Job 19:26; Psalm 16:10-11; Isaiah 53:10. But do you see the problem? Where in the first five books do we have the resurrection? I point this out because Jesus quotes from one of the books they held trustworthy. He quotes from Exodus 3:6.
"You don't believe in a resurrection! Tell me, have you ever examined this verse," Jesus said. The place He refers to is God's words to Moses from the burning bush. God did not say to Moses, "I WAS the God of Abraham, but rather I AM the God of Abraham." Abraham had been dead for about 600 years. He had died, was buried, and by now his body was dust! Yet, when God spoke about Abraham to Moses, He stated his condition as if he was living. Jesus said, "God is not the God of the dead (that is of men completely obliterated by death) but the living (they are alive and in God's presence).”
Here is one of the strongest assertions of the resurrection in the Old Testament Scriptures and where did Jesus find it? From the very portion of the Bible, they held as true and reliable. He foiled their attempts to discredit Him before the people. On the other hand, His reproof was in public, and it was a slap in the face. They credited themselves with great spirituality and Biblical insight, but Jesus crushed their arrogance, and they hated Him for it.
The astonishment of the multitude
33) And when the multitudes heard this, they were astonished at His teaching.
Of course, what other response could there be? As many times as I have studied this passage, I still find myself admiring my Lord. Wow, what a Savior! What a Teacher!
Finally, let me state what may have been missed. Our Lord’s argument was based upon the tense of the word “EIMI.” If there was no resurrection, wouldn’t God have said to Moses, “I was the God of Abraham” because he is no longer with us.” Rather, Jesus emphasized the present tense of the absolute status quo verb EIMI. His skilled and expert exegesis of the passage was based on the parts of speech. Every verb has tense, mood, voice, number, and person. He parsed the verb and then concluded that the present tense teaches the resurrection. Again, Jesus’ view of the Bible was so meticulous that even the elements that construct words were significant and not to be overlooked.
I recommend the study in this magazine on “Jesus’ view of the Scripture.
Footnotes
1 The New Bible Dictionary, Wheaton, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. 1962.
2 The word “Pentateuch” means “five books” and is derived from the Greek word. In the Hebrew, the first five books are called “The Torah.”
3 The Sadducee's base their argument on ignorance. This approach in a debate consists of raising an objection that you cannot answer and conclude that what you cannot answer cannot be answered or cannot be true. When Copernicus promulgated the theory that the earth was a revolving sphere, the Catholic church objected. "It cannot be true, for if the earth were a revolving sphere, we do not know what would keep the water in the oceans from spilling out," they argued. "The water does not spill out. Therefore, the earth is not a revolving sphere," they concluded. This is reasoning based on ignorance.
3 Walvoord, John F., and Zuck, Roy B., The Bible Knowledge Commentary, Wheaton, Illinois: Scripture Press Publications, Inc. 1983, 1985.
4 Warren W. Wiersbe, Wiersbe's Expository Outlines on the New Testament, Wheaton, Illinois: Victor Books) 1992.