Absurd

Matthew 22:23-33

²³The same day Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection, and they asked him a question,

²⁴saying, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies having no children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother.’

²⁵Now there were seven brothers among us. The first married and died, and having no offspring left his wife to his brother.

²⁶So too the second and third, down to the seventh.

²⁷After them all, the woman died.

²⁸In the resurrection, therefore, of the seven, whose wife will she be? For they all had her.”

²⁹But Jesus answered them, “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God.

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

³¹And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God:

³²‘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.”

³³And when the crowd heard it, they were astonished at his teaching.

Between Malachi, the last book of the Old Testament, and Matthew, the first book of the New Testament, lies 400 years of history known by some as the “time of silence” because the voices of the prophets were silent. God had nothing to say during that time that was written down for us today. During that time the Jews are reestablished in Jerusalem albeit on a very small scale. They have rebuilt the Temple but it is a shadow of its former self. They are practicing Judaism but with a great deal of fear and probably a mixture of pagan religions. This is the soil out of which the Pharisees and Sadducees grow along with a few other sects of the religion. The Sadducees were the wealthy aristocracy of the Jews. They were a small group but held great power among the Jews. Theologically they had serious contentions with the Pharisees, holding only the first five books of the Old Testament (the Pentateuch) as actual Scripture and they did not believe in the resurrection or angels. This is the group that approaches Jesus during the last week of His life to ask Him this ridiculous question.

Again, Jesus is addressed as ‘Teacher’ rather than ‘Lord’. So we know immediately that they do not come to Jesus with any kind of faith or respect. They are there to set a trap. I always stumble a little when I read this passage as the scenario the Sadducees present is just so incredibly ridiculous. But Jesus graciously uses this stupid question to teach those around Him yet again, although the Sadducees don’t come out of the conversation very well. At this point in Jesus’ story He is pulling no punches. He strikes them right between the eyes. They don’t know the Scriptures and they don’t know the power of God. Pow! He affirms that there is indeed a resurrection and there are angels. God is the God of the living not the dead – so why are you asking me this? And since God is the God of the living not the dead He is also acknowledging that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are alive. So there is a resurrection after all. The Sadducees probably wander away wondering how their noses got bloodied and the people stand in amazement. So while the question itself was just ridiculous Jesus answer is astounding and profound.

Incidents like this one remind us that God is not worried about the notions of man. Just because someone says something is true doesn’t make it so. That only applies to God. When you actually know what God says in His Word the absurd ideas of man mean nothing. We need pay no attention to them. But that does mean we have to know what the Word says and that requires constant study and attention. Good thing that study is interesting, challenging, and uplifting.