Questions About Resurrection

Scripture: Matthew 22:23-33 (Click link for scripture in Bible Gateway)

23 That same day Jesus was approached by some Sadducees—religious leaders who say there is no resurrection from the dead. They posed this question: 24 “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies without children, his brother should marry the widow and have a child who will carry on the brother’s name.’ 25 Well, suppose there were seven brothers. The oldest one married and then died without children, so his brother married the widow. 26 But the second brother also died, and the third brother married her. This continued with all seven of them. 27 Last of all, the woman also died. 28 So tell us, whose wife will she be in the resurrection? For all seven were married to her.” 29 Jesus replied, “Your mistake is that you don’t know the Scriptures, and you don’t know the power of God. 30 For when the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage. In this respect they will be like the angels in heaven. 31 “But now, as to whether there will be a resurrection of the dead—haven’t you ever read about this in the Scriptures? Long after Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had died, God said, 32 ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ So he is the God of the living, not the dead.” 33 When the crowds heard him, they were astounded at his teaching. (Matthew 22:23–33 NLT)

The Sadducees and Pharisees didn’t agree on much, but they agreed that Jesus was a threat to the status quo and needed to be eliminated. The Sadducees only accepted the books of Moses as authoritative. They read the books of history, poetry, and the prophets but didn’t consider them “inspired.” So because there is no clear teaching on resurrection in the Books of the Law, they believed death is the end. When they posed their “foolproof question” Jesus rebuked them for not accepting all the Scriptures and for making their God too weak to resurrect the dead! Jesus answered the Sadducees from their own “Bible” (Exodus 3:6) and told them they really didn’t have a clue about heaven and about how powerful God really is!

Here’s the message for me (and I hope, for you) today: We shouldn’t reject truth just because we don’t understand how it works. Nor should we waste time and energy trying to figure out how everything is and will be in the unseen, eternal realm, based on how things are here and now. These things are knowable by revelation, not reasoning. And they’re revealed at God’s pleasure, not ours.

Prayer:

Father, Thanks for truth revealed and faith for what we don’t understand! May we learn to love the truth you’ve given us and trust you for everything else! In Jesus’ name!