'Sadducees approached him, saying that there is no resurrection. They put this question to him, saying, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies without children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up descendants for his brother.’ Now there were seven brothers among us. The first married and died and, having no descendants, left his wife to his brother. The same happened with the second and the third, through all seven. Finally the woman died. Now at the resurrection, of the seven, whose wife will she be? For they all had been married to her.” Jesus said to them in reply, “You are misled because you do not know the scriptures or the power of God. At the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage but are like the angels in heaven. And concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead but of the living.” When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at his teaching (Mt. 22:23-33).
The Sadducees were conservative and did not believe in resurrection because it was not explicitly revealed in the Pentateuch. The Pharisees believed in the resurrection of the body. The question asked of Jesus stems from the issue of Levirate Marriage (Deut. 25:5-6) and conflating it with a passage from Genesis; “Then Judah said to Onan, “Have intercourse with your brother’s wife, in fulfillment of your duty as brother-in-law, and thus preserve your brother’s line (Gen. 38:8).” 'The Sadducees were trying to show the flaw with the belief in resurrection. Jesus told them that their knowledge of God is insufficient. They must have faith in God, “For God all things are possible (Mt. 19:26). “For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength (1 Cor. 1:25).” Jesus plays upon the belief of the Pharisees by explaining that at the resurrection they will be, “like the angels in heaven (v. 30).” Jesus then addresses the Sadducees to show that teaching about the resurrection can be found in the Torah by using the verse, “I am the God of your father, he continued, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob (Ex. 3:6).” He explained that the patriarchs are immortal, so both the Pharisees and the Sadducees were silenced.
Almighty God, through his resurrection Jesus showed that there is life after death and told his followers that all who live and believe in him will never die. We believe in the promise of life in Christ Jesus and live in the hope that our knowledge of God will increase and our faith strengthened. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen!
References
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Faculty of the University of Navarre. The Navarre Bible: New Testament Expanded Edition. Expanded Edition, Four Courts / Scepter, 2008.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
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