5/5/2020 Just a thought

Yom tov (Good Day) and a Happy Cinco de Mayo to all.

Recently, I was reading a passage in Matthew, chapter 22 and thought I might share something from it.

The same day, the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him and asked Him, saying: "Teacher, Moses said that if a man dies, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother. Now there were with us seven brothers. The first dies after he had married, and having no offspring, left his wife to his brother. Likewise the second also, and the third, even to the seventh. Last of all, the woman dies also. Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had her." Matthew 22: 23-28

The Sadducees were less in number than the Pharisees, but they were the wealthier class and basically controlled the Jewish Sanhedrin, equivalent to today's Supreme Court. Sadducees believed that only the writings of Moses (Genesis - Deuteronomy) comprised the inspired word of God. Since they could not find a precedent for the resurrection anywhere in their inspired writings, they vigorously denied any possibility of a future resurrection of the dead. Their question to Jesus was not crafted at the time that it was asked, but was a popular argument often made against the larger group of Pharisees for their belief in a resurrection doctrine.

Of course, the question is hypothetical, but serves as a strong counter to the teachings of Jesus. Knowing that the Sadducees based their theology only on the five books of Moses, Jesus would provide an answer from those same sources. In this blog, I am not going to discuss the answer that Jesus gave, but I would like to point out just one comment He made. Maybe at some later date, we can look more deeply into our Lord's response.

"For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven." Matthew 22: 30. Jesus' response continues through verse 32, but verse 30 is most instructive. You see, sister Marie, the Sadducees denied the resurrection as they found no precedent for it in Moses, but they curiously also denied the existence of angels, when interestingly, angels are mentioned by Moses. Was Jesus sarcastically but deliberately 'calling out' the hypocrisy of the Sadducees for their 'picking and choosing' what part of Moses to believe?

Just a thought!

Pastor Chandroo