MATT. 22:23-3323The same day came to him the Sadducees, which say that there is no resurrection, and asked him, 24Saying, Master, Moses said, If a man die, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother. 25Now there were with us seven brethren: and the first, when he had married a wife, deceased, and, having no issue, left his wife unto his brother: 26Likewise the second also, and the third, unto the seventh. 27And last of all the woman died also. 28Therefore in the resurrection whose wife shall she be of the seven? for they all had her. 29Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God. 30For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven. 31But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, 32I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. 33And when the multitude heard this, they were astonished at his doctrine. (Matthew 22:23‑33).
THE PHARISEES had tried their hand in the effort to entangle Jesus in His talk, and had been baffled in the attempt; and now the Sadducees make a similar effort. The Sadducees were a sect among the Jews who denied that there was any resurrection. They also denied that there was any such thing as an angel, or a spirit. (See Acts 23:88For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit: but the Pharisees confess both. (Acts 23:8).) And now they bring a case to Jesus which they think unanswerable, to see what He would say, evidently thinking to confound Him. They state their case. Moses had said, If a man died and had no children, his brother should marry his wife and raise up children to his brother, Now there were seven brothers. The first one died, leaving no children; the second married his brother’s wife, and also died, leaving no children; and so did all the seven. Then the woman also died. Now their question was, Which of the seven brothers would have this woman as his wife in the resurrection? for they all had been married to her in the present life. By this question they simply displayed their own ignorance. They did not know the Scriptures; and they did not know the power of God. The Scriptures did not teach that there would be any marriage in the eternal world. “In the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage,” says Jesus, “but are as the angels of God in heaven.” This does not mean that people become angels in the resurrection, but they will be like the angels in this, that they do not marry. Men and angels are two distinct races of being, and men do not become angels, nor do angels become men. But the angels do not marry; and in heaven men will not marry, either. In this they are alike. And if the Sadducees had paid attention to Scripture they would not have talked about marrying in heaven. And besides they would have seen that the. Scriptures taught the doctrine of the resurrection, if not as a distinct revelation, at least by inference. The Scriptures spoke of God as “the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob,” and this long after Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were dead. But if these men were dead and gone, and there was no soul or spirit apart from the body, then they had no existence. How could God be their God, if they had no existence, if they had no soul, and their bodies had turned into dust, never to be resurrected? “God is not the God of the dead, but of the living,” Jesus told them. This shows that while the bodies of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were dead, their souls were alive, and God was their God. In Luke 20 Jesus says “All live unto Him.” Our friends may be dead to us, but they are not dead to God. Their souls are before Him, and alive, and He will raise up the body by and by to complete them, for man, is not complete without both soul and body. And when the saints are raised up, their bodies will not be in the present mortal condition. They will be glorified, and like the body-which Jesus has now in heaven. “We look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body.” Phil. 3:20,2120For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: 21Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. (Philippians 3:20‑21). The power of God, which the Sadducees knew nothing about, will accomplish this. He who created this body for the earth, can transform it and make it suitable for heaven, a body like Christ’s body of glory, and a body that will never die again.
The wicked will be resurrected, too, but not for heaven. They will be resurrected to go into hell, the lake of fire.
Do not, then, like the wicked Sadducees, deny the resurrection, but believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Saviour both of the soul and the body, and who will give glorified bodies to all who trust in Him.
ML 08/02/1903