From Matthew 22:23-33 / A Crypt with Two Doors

The Judaism of Jesus’ day, like today, was not monolithic. There were four major groups, each with further nuances within them. There were the Zealots, the Essenes, the Pharisees and the Sadducees.

The Zealots: According to Josephus, they tie their origin with a man called “Judas the Galilean.” In 6 AD, he led a revolt against Roman rule. His party continued, and even one the 12 – “Simon the Zealot” (Luke 6:15) is listed as having been a part of them, at least at some point. They were more politically and nationalistically oriented. Not so much theologically focused.

The Essenes were an influential separatist sect who appear to have gathered mainly around the Qumran district, though not exclusively. More of their written material exists today than any of the major four from that period. They lived a very strict lifestyle with some communal aspects. They had a strong view of an afterlife with rewards and punishments, and of divine intervention in human affairs.

The Sadducees probably took their name from Zadok, the high priest during the reigns of David and Solomon. They were a wealthy sect (whereas the Essenes saw all wealth as corrupting), and at the time of Jesus, the ruling class in the Temple. They show up in the inter-testamental period as more politically motivated. But they also had a distinctive theological base. Josephus says their predominating marks were: emphasis upon human free will a denial of divine action in the world, and a rejection of any notion of an afterlife. They believed and taught the soul perished with the body. Annas, the high priest was a Sadducee. They rejected anything not strictly found in the five books of Moses.

The Pharisees. The were the popular “evangelicals” of the Judaism of that day. They were serious about serving God. Rigorous in their study of Torah, rich with the oral traditions, faithful to a strict lifestyle. Like the Essenes, they held to strong notions of an afterlife and a resurrection from the dead with rewards and punishments. They were Jesus’ main antagonists.

While it is true that the Old Testament does not emphasize the realities of the resurrection and afterlife, the New Testament, especially from the lips of Jesus – places much weight upon it. The truth is, there were always strains of Judaism from the beginning who made much of the afterlife and strains which did not. But the topic comes to the fore in the preaching and teaching of Jesus as this passage evidences.

Note first: Those who wish to debate theological issues often use absurdisms right out of the gate to prove their point, rather than simply going to the Scripture. Hence Jesus’ first response – “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures…”

Note second: When one rejects part of Scripture rather than taking it as a whole – we cannot help but form skewed views. The Bible must be read as a whole. And this is where the Sadducees made their first and biggest mistake. Ignoring God’s progressive revelation through the prophets and other inspired writers, they developed a truncated theology which had little or no room for formulating the entire truth.

It is all the more interesting then that Jesus in His wisdom makes His point even out of the only portions the Sadducees did hold to – and quotes Ex. 3:6. And at that, His argument hinges on the simple use of a present tense reading of the passage. The Scripture could not have God saying “I AM the God of Abraham” etc., unless they were still alive. The text would have to have read “I WAS the God of…”

Note third: How carefully we need to study the Scriptures, even down to the tenses of the verbs, if we would know what the Bible teaches, and not just what the words say. Bible study takes work.

Note fourth: Jesus’ appeal to the power of God appears to reference how different things will be in the resurrection. Why would we be raised only to remain as we are, with sexual needs, marital relations intact, etc? The God who raises us is the God who made the angels who do not live under such constraints (angels being something the Sadducees denied as well). He was showing how their thinking of God’s power, greatness and program was so limited, they could not even imagine another existence. Like so many sadly today.

Note fifth: How Jesus in the process of rebuking His interlocutors, provides Believers with the doubly promised blessing of what is to come. First, that Scripture affirms that there is indeed life after death. Second, that in that life, God is still our God and we are still His people. And third, that the life He promises will be so much higher, so much greater, so much sweeter, so much more wonderful than this one, that even one of the highest blessings we can have here – marriage – will be off the table in comparison to the bliss to come.

What a Savior!