An exercise in missing the point
Matthew • Sermon • Submitted
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ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Welcome
We’re back in Matthew. Phil Shimer opened it back up last week.
And we’re in chapter 22… so go ahead and turn there if you brought a Bible… if you don’t have a Bible, there should be one in front of you — and you can have that as our gift to you.
22:23-33
If you’re able, please stand with me for the reading of God’s Word.
The same day Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection, and they asked him a question,
saying, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies having no children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother.’
Now there were seven brothers among us. The first married and died, and having no offspring left his wife to his brother.
So too the second and third, down to the seventh.
After them all, the woman died.
In the resurrection, therefore, of the seven, whose wife will she be? For they all had her.”
But Jesus answered them, “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God.
For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.
And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God:
‘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.”
And when the crowd heard it, they were astonished at his teaching.
So again, context is important. Where are they? Where does this fit within all of Matthew?
Jesus was doing a lot of his ministry outside of the city of Jerusalem… in the countryside and the towns outside the big city… But as Matthew begins to come to a close, Jesus makes his way back to the city where he will eventually be unjustly crucified.
He’s back in Jerusalem. And last week, in verses 15-22, the Pharisees (one of the 4 major Jewish groups) questioned Jesus about taxes.
In verses 23-33, the Sadducees (one of the 4 major Jewish groups) questions him about the Resurrection.
It’s an oversimplification, but the major difference between the Pharisees and the Sadducees is:
the Pharisees were more conservative, tried to hold to the OT Law perfectly, and were by-and-large opposed to Roman rule.
the Sadducees were more liberal, had abandoned the supernatural elements of their faith, and were siding with the Romans on many things, trying to make the best of their situation…
As I mentioned, the Sadducees abandoned many of the supernatural aspects of their faith — resurrection of the dead being one of them.
So… here they are questioning Jesus about it and trying to catch him in a trap!
The big idea of Jesus’ message today is: There is more to life than this.
There’s an old Switchfoot song called Meant to Live and the refrain of the song is just that: it’s this lament & prophetic reminder of the fact that “we were meant to live for so much more...”
If we just read the word of this passage without taking what’s happening around it, we might miss the entire point Jesus is making...
The Sadducees reject the resurrection of the dead… they are slowly becoming more and more like the culture and less and less like God’s righteous people.
Jesus boldly responds with: THERE IS MORE TO LIFE THAN THIS.
What are the Sadducees talking about? (vs. 23-28)
The same day Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection, and they asked him a question,
saying, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies having no children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother.’
Now there were seven brothers among us. The first married and died, and having no offspring left his wife to his brother.
So too the second and third, down to the seventh.
After them all, the woman died.
In the resurrection, therefore, of the seven, whose wife will she be? For they all had her.”
The Resurrection of the Dead
One of the clearest passages of the OT that speaks of life after death is
And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
But we have to start by recognizing that first century Jews had a different perspective on the afterlife than we do.
They were less concerned about personally spending the afterlife in heaven and more about honoring their family line and legacy.
But there was this idea of the resurrection of the dead, as we see referred to in .
But the Sadducees rejected all the writings that weren’t found in the Torah (first five books in the Bible — Genesis — Deuteronomy)
So they rejected writings such as the book of Daniel.
[I like how theologian Craig Blomberg puts it] The Sadducees bring Jesus a “worst-case scenario”
The New American Commentary: Matthew 1. True Discipleship versus Harsher Condemnation for the Jewish Leaders (19:1–22:46)
But the Sadducees do not couch their question so directly; rather, they try to ridicule the notion of resurrection with a worst-case scenario.
The Sadducees misuse and to refer to a law about marriage.
The New American Commentary: Matthew 1. True Discipleship versus Harsher Condemnation for the Jewish Leaders (19:1–22:46)
a brother is responsible for marrying a deceased brother’s widow who has had no offspring in order to try to perpetuate the family line
SO they use a ridiculously extreme example… a women who goes through seven husbands, all brothers… and has no children.
And then they ask:
matt 22:
In the resurrection, therefore, of the seven, whose wife will she be? For they all had her.”
Jesus responds to the Sadducees question. (vs. 29-33)
But Jesus answered them, “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God.
For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.
And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God:
‘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.”
And when the crowd heard it, they were astonished at his teaching.
Tough Situation
The Sadducees are making fun of Jesus...
They call him “teacher” but they do so as a way to mock him...
And the specific issue they are poking fun at is this idea of the resurrection.
They use this absurd scenario of a women marrying seven different brothers and bearing no children…
As a result, not only do they mock Jesus, but they misunderstand the entire aim of the Bible… They come off as complete fools.
The Challenge:
But Jesus answered them, “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God.
“you go astray.”
That’s a hard rebuke from the Son of God.
Sometimes we’re just wrong… the way we think about the world… we mock God… we get confused… we become fools… and Jesus just responds so clearly to the Sadducees… “you are wrong.”
“you are deceiving yourselves.”
Theologian Leon Morris writes:
“you are deceiving yourselves.”
The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Gospel according to Matthew 1. Attempts to Trap Jesus, 22:15–46
The Sadducees are basing their line of reasoning on Scripture, but they have not taken up a genuinely scriptural position; therefore45 they are in error. They did not really know the Scriptures. It is one thing to be able to quote passages that one thinks support one’s preconceived position and quite another to understand and follow the teaching of Scripture. To understand and to yield oneself to what Scripture says is quite different from quoting passages in the way the Sadducees were doing. And just as they do not really understand Scripture, so they do not know the power of God. The question of the resurrection from the dead is not one to be solved by citing a convenient passage from somewhere in the Bible; it demands that we recognize God’s power to do what he wills.
We can end up being a lot like the Sadducees…
We do this when we take parts of the Bible we like…
or when we assume we understand something, and as a result,
we misuse it or take it out of context.
This was a foolish thing for the religious leaders to do.
These were supposed to be the leaders!
I wonder how often do we mock God by the way we misuse and intentionally misunderstand his Word?
But Jesus answered them, “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God.
The Scriptures
The big problem here started with their mishandling of the Bible!
Here’s the deal: The way we think about the Bible will ultimately impact the way we think about God!
Jesus said, “YOU KNOW NEITHER THE SCRIPTURES NOR THE POWER OF GOD.”
We can’t know the power of God if we don’t know the Scriptures!
This should be a caution to us… if we mishandle the Bible, we WILL have a distorted view of God.
The most basic form of rebellion against God is disbelief...
One of the most basic temptations of our age is to believe that “this is all their is...”
The big idea of Jesus’ message today is: There is more to life than this.
I don’t have time to get into the implications of what Jesus says about marriage in Heaven & I don’t think that’s the main thrust of his point, anyway.
GOD OF THE LIVING
matt 22:
And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God:
‘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.”
And when the crowd heard it, they were astonished at his teaching.
Jesus quotes … and we know that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are the Jewish patriarchs…
The lineage of the Jewish people is rooted in Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob…
Jesus is saying, “Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are not dead. They are not gone forever. I am NOT the God of the dead! I am the God of the living!”
Remember, the Sadducees religiously adhered to the Torah, which would’ve included ...
So Jesus skillfully caught them in their own trap!
They were astonished, because they knew it.
The Sadducees would have taught — they knew it by heart.
And Jesus is saying, “if you believe that, then you must believe in the Resurrection!”
There is more to life than this.
APPLICATION:
(1) As Christians, we need to cultivate a better understanding of God’s Word.
If we misuse God’s Word, we will miss God.
(2) As Christians, we need to cultivate a more robust understanding of heaven.
If you want to, go back to . Earlier in this chapter, what is Jesus talking about? HEAVEN. And these verses give us a beautiful vision of what heaven will be like!
That’s Jesus point about marriage in today’s passage...
If when we think about heaven, we think we’ll be missing something or that we’ll long for this world… we don’t have an accurate understanding of Heaven!
Nothing will be missing.
Nothing will be out of place.
None of our longings will be left hanging.
It will be the place of complete and utter satisfaction!
There won’t be any more unfinished stories!
There won’t be any more death… all pain will cease.
You will never have the feeling of missing out ever again!
There is more to life than this.
COMMUNITY GROUP REFLECTION:
Read . What is happening here? Why are the Sadducees mocking Jesus?
Read . What is the point Jesus is making in his response to the Sadducees? Are there any implications for us to consider?
COMMUNION
L: In the night in which he was betrayed, Our lord Jesus took bread,He gave thanks; broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying: Take and eat; this is my body, given for you.Do this for the remembrance of me.
L: Again, after supper,He took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it for all to drink, saying; this cup is The new covenant in my blood, shed for you and for all people for the forgiveness of sin. Do this for the remembrance of me.
Silent Reflection – to prepare our hearts toCome to the Lords table
L: Jesus' death brings us life and this meal reminds us that we are fed by Jesus and forgiven because of Jesus.
C: We rejoice that You have died, have risen, and are now with the Father advocating for us. Amen.
L: With our money, time, and talent we give generously, knowing that through Your Son, Jesus, You have generously given to us.
C: We rejoice that You have given everything and we joyfully give everything back to Your care. Amen.
L: If you believe Jesus died to forgive you your sins you are welcome to come,
L: Come for all is ready
BENEDICTION
Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
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