The Resurrection of the Dead

As I was sitting here reading through the Scriptures, a couple verses stuck out to me in a way that they never have before. What I want to take a look at is Matthew 22:31-33;

³¹ But about the resurrection of the dead—have you not read what God said to you, ³² ‘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.”

³³ When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at his teaching.

To put this in context, this story starts off by a group of Sadducees (a sect of Jews active in Ancient Israel during the second temple period who filled various political, religious and social roles) coming up to Jesus and asking Him who gets to be married to a mans wife in heaven if he dies and then seven of his brothers end up marrying her and they die off also. They ask this question because Moses taught in Deuteronomy that "If a man dies having no children, his brother as next of kin shall marry his wife, and raise up children for his brother" (Deuteronomy 25:5). As this discussion progressed, Jesus began rebuking their question and showing them how foolish they were to think that they needed to marry in heaven. In fact, Jesus says that there will be no marriage in heaven; every need we have will be met completely by the glory of the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ.


So, Jesus took this opportunity that the Sadducees gave him and began speaking to them about the true resurrection [The Sadducees also said that there was no resurrection. And of course Jesus knew this]. What an incredible statement we see here by Jesus! These Sadducees were trying to trap Jesus by getting him to answer a question of theirs in a way that they only thought He would be able to. Their intention was to get Jesus to tell them something that was contrary to what the Lord already said (Matthew 22:15). This is something that all of us struggle with every day. We like to ask God for something, or to do something, but we place Him in this box - in the box of our own imagination of what God can say/do/think/etc. But you see, God knows all of that. Jesus took their question, that was full of sin and deceit, and caught them off guard by saying, "But regarding the resurrection..."
Jesus met them on their level, even though they were plotting against Him. This is how good the He is. Jesus wanted them to be saved. He says to them, "[God] IS the God of Abraham and IS the God of Isaac and IS the God of Jacob." What he is denoting here is that the Patriarchs are still alive! How can somebody that has been dead for hundreds of years still be alive if there is no resurrection? This is what Jesus was trying to pound into their heads! Yahweh is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. This is such an incredible message from the Lord. Jesus did not have to go out of His way to not only answer their question but give them reason for why God says what He says. No, He never had to do that. But the point is that He did. Jesus wants all to understand that there is something more out there for them; that after this life, we are going to be resurrected somewhere. He met them on their level, He reasoned with them using material that they would have known by heart, being Jewish and all (Exodus 3:6). What Jesus is saying is that physical death is not the final death, there is no final death. Our bodies are that of flesh and that of Spirit (soul), and the Spirit (soul) lives on to accompany a new body in the afterlife - we are immortal. 


The last part of this passage is what strikes me the most, "when the crowds heard this, they were astonished at His teaching." This is the reaction people have when the message of Jesus is taught. We do not know whether or not anyone in this crowd came to know Christ personally. Some could have been astonished that He was going against what the religious leaders of the day taught and decided to plot against Jesus all the more, and some could have been astonished that He was speaking with such authority that this message could only be from God and therefore true. We know that both of these actions are true reactions of other crowds in the Bible, but this one we do not know for sure. But this IS what we see even today when the message of Christ is proclaimed! People do not know what to think when such a provocative and authoritative message is taught to them. What we get from this passage is that we need to anticipate this reaction and meet people where they are at. If we encounter a Jew who hears the message of salvation through Jesus Christ and is receptive towards it, we need to meet him there. Likewise if we meet a Jew who is not receptive, we need to reason with Him as Jesus did here (and as Peter exhorts us to do in 1 Peter 3:15). This goes for anyone who is willing to hear the Word (that is, Jesus and the Scriptures) spoken. If Jesus could do this, and He says that we will do greater things than He (John 14:12), then we must look to His example when preaching the gospel of Salvation and proclaim the Word of God with authority, compassion, and zeal (Philippians 2:5 NASB).


God is good. He will look past your sin if you let Him. Take the gift that is right in front of you and then share it with the world. Start a revolution for the sake of Jesus, who, for the joy set before Him (that is, knowing of your salvation), endured the cross and the wrath of God so that you did not have to.