My Walk Through the Book of Matthew by Annette Godtland

The Sadducees: What About the Resurrection? (Matthew 22:23-33)

23The same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him and asked Him, 24saying: "Teacher, Moses said that if a man dies, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother. 25Now there were with us seven brothers. The first died after he had married, and having no offspring, left his wife to his brother. 26Likewise the second also, and the third, even to the seventh. 27Last of all the woman died also. 28Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had her."

29Jesus answered and said to them, "You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God. 30For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven. 31But 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." 33And when the multitudes heard this, they were astonished at His teaching.

Jesus addresses two issues here. The first being the marriage relationship after resurrection. It sounds like what Jesus is saying is that in heaven there is no marriage relationship. This is a difficult concept for me. I know I will leave all my material possessions behind when I die, but I had always hoped that we would be reunited with our loved ones in heaven. But what will our relationships be in heaven?

Back in Matthew 19:4-6, it says:
4And He answered and said to them, "Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning "made them male and female,' 5 and said, "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'? 6So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate."

Joined in marriage, a man and woman become one flesh. I had always thought of this relationship as sacred and will always exist. But even though it says what God has joined together, let not man separate, it doesn’t say what God will do with this relationship in heaven. This may only be an earthly relationship.

Back in Matthew 6:19-21, it says
19"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Is the marriage relationship another treasure on earth that I will not have in heaven with me? Just as Jesus says of the Sadducees, I do not know the power of God or what it means to be like angels in heaven. I can only assume that the wonderful union that God creates on earth for man and woman is as nothing compared to the perfect relationships that God has waiting for us in heaven. Even though I cherish my marriage relationship, maybe I shouldn’t hold it so strongly that I feel disappointment that it will not be there in heaven. God has much more in store for us, the power or beauty of which, like the Sadduccees, I cannot grasp.

The other point that Jesus addresses with the Sadducees is their unbelief in the resurrection. Footnotes in my Bible say the Sadducees only believed in the first five books of the Old Testament. And that in the first five books of the Old Testament they didn’t see any evidence of the resurrection.

But here Jesus is quoting scripture from Exodus where God says “I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” He does not say “I was the God of”, but “I am the God of” This is implying that even though Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had passed from this earth, they are still living. God is God of the living, not the dead. Therefore, scripture is indicating that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob have been resurrected. So if the Sadduccees had known their scripture, even if it were just the first five books that they claimed to believe, they should know that the resurrection is real.

It is amazing how easily Jesus is able to answer these questions put to Him. The answers are there for all of us in the Bible.