Matthew 22:23-46
The Sadducees: What About the Resurrection?
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.
The Scribes: Which Is the First Commandment of All?
34 But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. 35 Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, 36 "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?"
37 Jesus said to him, "'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."
Jesus: How Can David Call His Descendant Lord?
41 While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, 42 saying, "What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?"
They said to Him, "The Son of David."
43 He said to them, "How then does David in the Spirit call Him 'Lord,' saying:
44 'The LORD said to my Lord,
"Sit at My right hand,
Till I make Your enemies Your footstool"'?
45 If David then calls Him 'Lord,' how is He his Son?" 46 And no one was able to answer Him a word, nor from that day on did anyone dare question Him anymore.
The religious leaders of God’s covenant people came to Jesus with more questions to test Him as the Pharisees had done concerning submitting to their earthly governments and responsibilities toward them as citizens. Now the Sadducees, Scribes, and Pharisees all asked about the resurrection which some did not believe in, about what the most important law in the scriptures is, and who the Christ was to be. The Sadducees did not believe in a hereafter and so were eager to disprove the resurrection from death to life which Jesus spoke of and their rival Pharisees believed also. They tried to trap Jesus with what they thought was sound logic to prove the difficulties of life after death in the example of a woman who legally had multiple husbands who each died followed by her own demise. Who would be her husband in this heaven they asked. Jesus pointed out from the word of God they claimed to hold to that in the resurrection there would be no more need for marriage because they have a spiritual body similar to the immortal angels. He also went further to reason with them from their Law which clearly says how the Lord is the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob (Exodus 3:6, 14-15), the God of the living, not the God of the dead without hope of an eternal heaven. The afterlife was not a place to continue earthly pursuits and way of life as they mockingly suggested, but of being forever in God’s presence before His face as we now know (Revelation 21:3, 22:4-5). This clear statement about life after the resurrection in the kingdom of heaven astounded all who were listening, thwarting the intent of the Sadducees to discredit Jesus and His message.
This both upset the rival Pharisees who believed in a resurrection and also moved them to further come against Him. They sent a scribe from their religious tribe of the Pharisees to take his turn to question Jesus. This time they directly questioned the word of God as their father the devil did in the beginning (Genesis 3:1) to keep their followers who were in earshot from listening to Jesus and following Him in the truth. They did everything to keep control as we see again with the religious later throughout the Middle Ages which were the dark ages because of a lack of teaching the word of God, who tried to discredit Jesus Christ and His truth to keep control of others. They asked Him to pick out one Law that was most important, hoping to trap Him so they could point out another one which was better. They did not and could not have anticipated His divine answer of infinite wisdom which summed up all the laws into two that encompassed all the law. His answer was to love and serve God above all with one’s entire being and then to likewise love their neighbor as they did themselves. What an amazing answer that could not be refuted by anyone who studied and knew the scriptures! These two summed up all that the Lord had commanded His people from the beginning through the prophets He sent to bring His word to them. This also stopped their mouths (Isaiah 52:15, Romans 3:19-20) when confronted with the indisputable truth that their Law confronted them with.
Jesus then turned the conversation around to ask them whose Son the Christ (Messiah) is as they understood from the scriptures. They could only reply with the academic answer that He was to be the son of David which was true according to the flesh, but not the complete answer of the divine identity in their limited reasoning of understanding. Jesus again used the scriptures to point out that king David called the Messiah LORD by inspiration of God’s Spirit, the great I Am who is Yahweh revealed to them. He asked them directly and plainly, “If David then calls Him 'Lord,' how is He his Son?” They could not reason against the truth they were confronted with that Jesus gave them to face as it was written. We find then that all the answers of who the divine Jesus Christ is and His promise of a resurrection into the kingdom of heaven with Him which we include in the gospel of salvation from sin and a living hope in Him, all these are found in His word no matter what reasoning or denial or other narratives of others who do not know Him tell us to dissuade our faith in Him. We know that Jesus Christ is the way to God in His heavenly kingdom, He is the truth that all the scriptures point to, and He is the only life in eternity given to us by his work on the cross according to His promises. May all who listen hear His word and test all else they are taught against it as the faithful Bereans did in Acts 17:11 for our example. Knowing the truth sets us free!
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