Matthew 22:23-33

Scripture Reading: Luke 20:29-38

Introduction

Our Text this Morning is All about One of My Favorite Topics:

Resurrection

All of My Life…

I’ve Heard So Much about the Christian Hope…

Of Dying & Going to Heaven

Only When I Started Studying the Scriptures for Myself…

Did I Notice that the Authors of Scripture…

NEVER Talk about that

The Scriptures Teach Nothing Remotely Close…

To a Hope of Dying & Going to Heaven

The Scriptures Speak Explicitly & Solely…

Of the Hope of Resurrection

That is:

The Spirits of the Departed…

Being Reunited with Their Bodies

God Created Humanity to Live a Physical Embodied Existence…

And that’s Exactly What He’s Going to Restore to Us Through Jesus

Matthew 22:23-33

We’re on Tuesday of the Final Week of Jesus’ Mortal Life

He’s Being Approached By Different Jewish Religious Leaders

Last Time, He was Approached By the Pharisees & Herodians

They Tried to Trap Him with a Political Question about Taxes

Now He’s Going to Be Approached…

By Another Jewish Sect Called the Sadducees

And They’re Going to Try to Trap Him with a Religious Question

Matthew 22:23 (NASB95)

23 On that day some Sadducees (who say there is no resurrection) came to Jesus and questioned Him,

Let’s Pause Here for Just a Minute

Before We can Look at Their Question…

We Need to Ask/Answer a Question of Our Own:

Who are the Sadducees?

The Sadducees were a Sect of the Jews, Like the Pharisees

But They had Several Differences from the Pharisees

We Don’t have a Lot of Information on Them…

But What We’re at Least Somewhat Sure of is…

Where the Pharisees were More Popular Among Common People…

The Sadducees were More Popular…

Among the Socially Elite, Wealthy Aristocrats, & High-Priesthood

As it Pertains to Their Teaching/Beliefs…

We Know They Didn’t Get Along with the Pharisees

The Pharisees Didn’t Just Hold to the OT Scriptures

They Also Held to Written/Oral Traditions…

That had Been Passed Down Through the Years

But the Sadducees were More Conservative

They Rejected These Traditions…

And Only Held to the Scriptures

And They May have Only Held…

To the Pentateuch (Gen. - Deut.)…

Also Called the Torah (“Law”)

If They Did Consider the Rest of the OT as Scripture…

They Definitely Seemed to Favor the Pentateuch…

And Only Formed Their Teachings/Doctrines from it

Acts 23 Tells Us that They Didn’t Believe in Angels or Spirits

And, Along with Acts 23, Matthew Tells Us…

They Didn’t Believe in Resurrection

They Didn’t Believe that Some Day All of God’s People…

Will Be Resurrected to Live Forever

A 1st Century Jewish Historian, Named Josephus, Tells Us…

They Believed When the Body Dies, So Does the Soul

Essentially, Once You Die, You’re Gone

There is No Life After Death

And if There’s Nothing After Death…

Then There’s No Punishment/Reward After Death

And if There’s No Punishment/Reward After Death…

Then God isn’t Really Concerned with How We Choose to Live

The Pentateuch Teaches Positive & Negative Consequences

But They’re Consequences for this Life

Obey & You’ll Be Blessed

Disobey & You’ll Be Cursed

As for Punishments/Rewards in Some Sort of Afterlife…

The Pentateuch Doesn’t Explicitly Teach Such a Thing

Therefore, Due to Their Rigidly Literal Reading of the Pentateuch…

The Only Reason to Obey the Law of Moses…

Was to Obtain God’s Favor/Blessings in this Life Only

And After this Life is Over…

You’re Gone Forever

Paul Told the Corinthians (Who were Doubting Resurrection)…

“If Jesus Only Gives Us Hope in this Life…”

“We’re the Saddest Group of People in the World”

The Sheep Song from VBS is Making a Lot More Sense Now, Isn’t it?

“I Don’t Want to Be a Sadducee”

Why?

“Because They’re So Sad, You See”

No Life Beyond this One

No Ultimate Punishment for the Wicked

No Ultimate Reward for the Faithful

No Resurrection to Eternal Life

These are the Beliefs of the Sadducees

Matthew 22:23–24 (NASB95)

23 On that day some Sadducees (who say there is no resurrection) came to Jesus and questioned Him, 24 asking, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies having no children, his brother as next of kin shall marry his wife, and raise up children for his brother.’

What They’re Referring to is Known as the Levirate Law

It’s Found in Deut. 25:5-6

If a Husband Dies Before He has Children with His Wife…

Then the Husband’s Brother should Marry His Widow…

And have a Child with Her

That Child would then Be Considered the Child of the Deceased Brother…

So His Name/Lineage Won’t Be Cut Off

They Remind Jesus of this Law to Set the Stage for Their Question

Matthew 22:25–28 (NASB95)

25 “Now there were seven brothers with us; and the first married and died, and having no children left his wife to his brother; 26 so also the second, and the third, down to the seventh. 27 “Last of all, the woman died. 28 “In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had married her.”

They Present Jesus with a Story Concerning Levirate Marriage

A Woman Marries 7 Brothers…

And They All Die Before She can have a Child with Any of Them

Since They were All Rightfully Married to Her…

Which Brother will Be Her Husband in the Resurrection?

It’s an Interesting Question

But, We Know They aren’t Asking it in Sincerity

They Don’t Believe in Resurrection

Their Goal is to Use this Extreme Scenario…

To Reveal How Ridiculous the Belief in Resurrection is

“See How Silly Resurrection is?”

“Let’s See Him Come Up with an Answer to that One!”

Matthew 22:29 (NET)

29 Jesus answered them, “You are deceived, because you don’t know the scriptures or the power of God.

“You Think You Just Hit a Home Run…”

“But You’re Not Even in the Ballpark!”

You are Completely Deceived/Led Astray/Mistaken

Why?

Because You Don’t Know the Scriptures

Because You Don’t Know the Power of God

You Don’t Know What God has Said

You Don’t Know What God is Capable of

Matthew 22:30 (NASB95)

30 “For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.

Jesus Answers Their Question Quite Frankly:

“There will Be No Marriage in the Resurrection”

Those Resurrected will Be Like the Angels

He Doesn’t Say They’ll Be Angels, But Like Angels

How So?

Like Angels, We’ll have No Need for Marriage/Procreation

The Sadducees Seem to Think that the Doctrine of the Resurrection…

Essentially Teaches that God is Going to Just Show Up…

And Bring His People Back to Life…

And Not Change Anything Else

But Jesus Indicates that the Age to Come…

Will Be Different from this Age

One Difference will Be:

We Won’t Need Marriage Anymore

Why Did God Create Marriage?

“It’s Not Good for Man to Be Alone”

God Also Wanted Humans to Multiply & Fill the Earth

In the Age to Come, We Won’t Be Alone

We’ll All Be Together as God’s Children…

With God Our Father Dwelling with Us

In the Age to Come, There’ll Be No More Reason to Multiply & Fill the Earth

The Moment Jesus Returns…

All of His People will Be Resurrected…

And All Creation will Be Filled with God’s Family

But the Thought of No More Marriage…

Still Makes Some of Us Sad, Doesn’t it?

Those of Us Who are Deeply in Love with Our Spouses…

And Enjoy the Special Bond We have with Them…

Don’t Like the Thought of Losing it

But There’s One Important Thing We Need to Remember:

The Age to Come is Going to Be Better Than this Present Age…

In Every Single Conceivable Way

That Means:

Our Relationships aren’t Going to Be Less Than They are Right Now

They’re Going to Be So Much More

As Great as Relationships can Be in this Age…

Their Going to Be Infinitely Greater in the Age to Come

Matthew 22:31–33 (NASB95)

31 “But regarding the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God: 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.” 33 When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at His teaching.

Jesus Told Them that They were Deceived…

Because They Didn’t Know the Scriptures

Well, Now He’s Directing Their Attention to the Scriptures…

To Prove the Reality of the Future Resurrection

He Quotes an OT Passage that Says:

‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’

Then He Says:

“He is Not the God of the Dead But of the Living”

Boom!

Take that Sadducees!

There’s Your Proof of the Resurrection!

Does that Seem Like Undeniable Proof of the Resurrection to You?

If You Didn’t Believe in the Resurrection…

Would that Passage Change Your Mind?

Probably Not

But, When the Crowds Heard Him Say this…

They were Astonished

That Tells Us They’ve Understood Something…

That the Rest of Us Just aren’t Getting

What was so Astonishing about the Text Jesus Quoted?

He Quoted from Exodus 3:6…

A Text from the Pentateuch that the Sadducees would Accept

This is Where God Speaks to Moses from the Burning Bush

He Tells Moses:

“I Am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob”

What’s so Significant about that?

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had Been Dead for Centuries

And God isn’t the God of Dead Things

He’s the God of Living Things

Even Though They’re Dead…

God’s Not Done with Them Yet

Death Cannot Break His Covenant Relationship with Them

Application

The Sadducees’ Thinking was like that of the Thessalonian Christians

They Believed Their Siblings Who had Already Died…

Would Miss Out on Jesus’ Return…

And the Renewal/Inheritance of All Things

But Paul Assures Them:

1 Thessalonians 4:14–17 (NLT)

14 For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died. 15 We tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet him ahead of those who have died. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves. 17 Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever.

The Promise of Resurrection, Everlasting Life, & Inheritance…

Doesn’t Just Belong to Those Still Alive at Jesus’ Return

All the Faithful will Receive These Blessings

The Same Concept is Found in Hebrews 11

The Hall of Faith is Full of Faithful Men/Women…

To Whom God had Made Promises

But Notice What the Hebrews Author Says:

Hebrews 11:39–40 (CSB)

39 All these were approved through their faith, but they did not receive what was promised, 40 since God had provided something better for us, so that they would not be made perfect without us.

When God Makes a Promise…

Not Even Death can Stop Him from Keeping it

He Made Covenantal Promises to His People

He Promised Blessings & an Inheritance

But They All Died Without Receiving its Fullness

Does that Mean that God Doesn’t Keep His Promises?

No

It Means that God Wants All His People…

To Receive the Great Inheritance Together

Death Cannot Stop God’s Covenantal Love for Those Who Belong to Jesus

Romans 8:38–39 (CSB)

38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

What was the First Thing Paul Mentioned…

That Cannot Stop God’s Covenantal Love for Those in Christ?

Death

Do We Trust that God is Going to Keep His Promises to Us?

Do We Believe that When Jesus Returns:

That He’ll Resurrect His People…

And Give Us Brand New, Glorious, Weakness-Free, Immortal Bodies?

That God will Fully Adopt Us into His Family…

And that He’ll Dwell with Us Forever?

That All Things will Be Made New & Perfect Forever?

The Sadducees Didn’t Believe that

Why?

Because They Didn’t Know the Scriptures

Because They Didn’t Know the Power of God

What Do We in Order to have Hope in the Resurrection?

We Need to Know What God has Said

We Need to Know What God is Capable of

Are You Living for Jesus?

God Keeps His Covenant…

With Those Who Keep Their Covenant with Him

Let the Hope of God’s Promises Becoming a Reality…

Motivate/Drive You to Surrender Your Life…

In Faithful Obedience to King Jesus