Matthew 22:23–33
When the Sadducees came to Jesus to test him about resurrection, Jesus identified two fundamental things that the Sadducees failed to grasp: Scripture and power (Matt 22:29).
The Sadducees were a small group of priestly elites in the upper echelons of Jewish society. They sat in the Sanhedrin (the highest ancient Jewish court of justice), held political and legal power, accepted only the Torah (the Pentateuch), and rejected the rest of the Hebrew Bible. They did not believe in the afterlife. So, for them, there was no resurrection, immortality, angels, nor a future judgement.
The Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection and wanted to justify their theological position. Our passage of concern is the second of three question-challenges posed to Jesus by the Sadducees (and the Pharisees). While the first question was socio-political (“Should we pay taxes to Caesar?”), the third question was socio-legal (“Which is the greatest commandment?”), the second challenge was socio-theological (“In the resurrection … whose wife will she be?”). These questions sought an “either/or” and “this-or-nothing else” answer, but Jesus rejected such an approach.
Consider the following structure of Matthew 22:23–33. Note how the unit is framed by narration in verses 23 and 33 (yellow circles). Within this frame, the first half of the passage comprises the words of the Sadducees (blue circles) and the second half contains Jesus’ response (red and green circles). The structure is symmetrical with the pivoting core at verse 29 (red circle). Both sets of speeches have three parts: an allusion to or citation of Scripture, an illustration, and a question or answer.
Rebuking the Sadducees, Jesus first pointed out that “in the resurrection, they [God’s people] neither marry nor are given in marriage” (22:30 ESV) and illustrated this by saying they are “like angels in heaven” (see Dan 12:2–3; Rev 1:20; the pseudepigraphal book 2 Baruch 51:10). Then he questioned them, “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” (22:31–32). This is a citation of the words of God in Exodus 3:6. Jesus quoted these words intentionally because the Sadducees were familiar with the Pentateuch but not other texts, including those which concern the resurrection of the dead (e.g., 1 Kgs 17; 2 Kgs 4; Isa 26; Job 19:25).
But how do we understand resurrection from verse 32: “‘I am [ego eimi] 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”?
There are several possible interpretations. First, Matthew’s use of the phrase, ego eimi (“I am”) is in the present continuous sense. So, to Matthew, the patriarchs were still in existence long after they were dead.
A second interpretation is less direct. For all three patriarchs, God opened the womb of their barren wives and brought forth children. So, it was as if Jesus was saying to the Sadducees, “Your story is childless and sterile! None of the patriarchs were able to provide a seed for the woman. But the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob can raise up children.” Life is in the hands of God!
A third way to understand verse 32 is that according to Jewish interpretation of this verse at the time of Jesus, the patriarchs continued to live. The first-century text 4 Maccabees 7:19 (NRSV) reads, “our patriarchs Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, do not die to God, but live to God.”
To understand how Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are alive, perhaps we can seek the help of 2 Corinthians 5:1–5. When we believe in Christ, we continue to dwell in an earthly tent, our bodies. At death, we leave our earthly tent and wait to be clothed with our heavenly and eternal dwelling, our resurrection body in the future. So, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were merely ‘unclothed’ after death, and this is why the Sadducees were wrong.
When the Sadducees rejected resurrection, they were holding on to only one part of Scripture to preserve their own interest and power. Scripture was a tool for self-validation and self-righteousness. But Scripture, in its fullness, points to the power of God in Jesus Christ, and life in him.
We must not forget that in church history, the knowledge of Scripture has been used and abused for earthly power and a tool to control how others live. With the rise of rationalism in the 17th century, the study of Scripture became a cerebral exercise and was unmoored from life and praxis. Now, we may not even give Scripture a say on how we ought to live.
In the immediate context of our passage of interest, the power of God is the power that raises the dead. But it is also the power that turns an unbeliever into a disciple of Christ; the power that causes a person to surrender everything to follow Christ.
Just as we cannot talk about faith without works, we cannot have Scripture without power, that is, life in Christ.
Jesus said, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life” (John 5:39–40 ESV).
The heart of our earthly struggles is our persistent dance with sin, the spiritual forces of evil, and death (Eph 6:12; 1 Cor 15:26). In contrast, the heart of true power is coming to life in Christ Jesus, triumphing over sin and death.
Jesus’ answer to the Sadducees also shows us a line of covenantal relationships between God and Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This line continues from one generation to the next so that whoever is in Christ, lives to God, even when they die. To this end, our training here at SBC is never Scripture alone per se (without rejecting the principle of Sola scriptura). But we are here to be equipped to raise another generation whose life is in Christ, through Scripture and power.
For Discussion
- What does it mean to have life in Christ Jesus? How does it look like in your life?
- The apostles devoted themselves “to prayer and to the ministry of the word” (Acts 6:4). Why?