Seeds for 12/21/2023 - Matthew 22:23-33
Scripture: That same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him with a question. “Teacher,” they said, “Moses told us that if a man dies without having children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for him. Now there were seven brothers among us. The first one married and died, and since he had no children, he left his wife to his brother. The same thing happened to the second and third brother, right on down to the seventh. Finally, the woman died. Now then, at the resurrection, whose wife will she be of the seven, since all of them were married to her?”
Jesus replied, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God. At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. But about the resurrection of the dead—have you not read what God said to you, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead but of the living.”
When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at His teaching.
Observation: Why are people who disbelieve in resurrection asking about resurrection? They desire to catch Jesus in a trap, of course. What their hypothetical is referencing was known as Levirate marriage. Its purpose was two-fold. First, in a world where a woman’s “social safety net” depended on the men in her life—father, husband, son—a dead man’s brother taking her as a wife kept her from falling into a vulnerable situation by not leaving her connectionless. Second, if there were no children from their union, this was a way to provide the deceased brother with an heir via his wife. It’s not how we handle this situation today, but it’s how they did.
It’s easy to see how the Sadducees thought they had created a “gotcha” scenario for Jesus. Their hypothetical didn’t make sense to them, so surely there’s no way for Jesus to respond. Knowing everything sure has a way of making us incurious.
Parsing out the specifics of Jesus’ teaching on the status of marriage at the resurrection is beyond our scope here since this practice is about focusing on what we observe in the text without reference to commentaries and other reference works. So, the most important aspect to me here is the dynamic between Jesus and the Sadducees, not their doctrinal dispute (though that is, of course, important).
Jesus questions the premise that marriage will carry over into the resurrection and asserts that they are ignorant because they “do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.” Ouch. The Scriptures are critical because they are the inspired, authoritative self-revelation of God. They bear witness to the nature, character, and will of God. The power of God is our personal experience of the God whom the Scriptures reveal. If the Sadducees are ignorant of these things, they have completely missed the boat!
What about us? One of the reasons that we practice reading the Bible through close observation and well-grounded reflection is that we may “know the Scriptures,” unlike those Sadducees. This a worthy and lifelong pursuit. God has made Himself known. Think about that for a moment. Why would we not avail ourselves of this book?!?
How to know the “power of God?” For that, we must pray. For God has not only made Himself known, He has made Himself available. When we “know the scriptures and the power of God,” then we approach Jesus, not in an attempt to lure Him into a tricky position, but to listen to His teaching. Like the crowds, we’ll be astonished over and over again.
Application:
What have scripture and prayer meant to your walk with Jesus this far? How is God calling you to grow in them in the coming year?
What else might the Holy Spirit be speaking with you about in the text today?
Prayer: Lord, ground me and grow me in your Word. Release your power in and through my praying. Do this all for your glory. Amen.
“But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” (Matthew 13:23)
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