“But
concerning the resurrection of the dead, haven’t you read that which was spoken to you by God, saying, ‘I 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.” When the multitudes heard it, they were astonished at his teaching.
Matthew 22:31-33
Matthew 22 [23.] On that day Sadducees (those who say that there is no resurrection) came to him. They asked him, saying, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘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 married and died, and having no offspring left his wife to his brother. In the same way, the second also, and the third, to the seventh. After them all, the woman died. In the resurrection therefore, whose wife will she be of the seven? For they all had her.”
Matthew 22 [29.] But Jesus answered them, “You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are like God’s angels in heaven. But concerning the resurrection of the dead, haven’t you read that which was spoken to you by God, saying, ‘I 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.”
Matthew 22 [33.] When the multitudes heard it, they were astonished at his teaching. But the Pharisees, when they heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, gathered themselves together. One of them, a lawyer, asked him a question, testing him. “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?”
Matthew 22 [37.] Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. A second likewise is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”
Meaning:
The Sadducees, who denied the resurrection, had tried to ridicule it with the story of a woman married to seven brothers (Matthew 22:23-29). Jesus first told them that in the resurrection people “neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are like God’s angels in heaven” (Matthew 22:30). Now he goes to the heart of the matter: is there a resurrection at all? Mark and Luke record the same answer (Mark 12:26-27; Luke 20:37-38).
- “haven’t you read that which was spoken to you by God”
The Sadducees prided themselves on the books of Moses, so Jesus answers them from those very books. He reminds them that Scripture is God speaking, and speaking “to you”. The words given to Moses at the burning bush were meant for every generation, including the Sadducees standing before him.
- “I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob”
At the burning bush God said to Moses, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob” (Exodus 3:6). When God spoke these words, the three patriarchs had been dead for centuries. Yet God did not say “I was” their God, but “I am”. God had made an everlasting covenant with Abraham, promising “to be a God to you and to your offspring after you” (Genesis 17:7). A covenant relationship with the living God cannot be ended by death. If God is still their God, then Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are still alive to him, and they await the resurrection when God will keep all his promises to them.
- “God is not the God of the dead, but of the living”
The God of the Bible is the source of life. He would not call himself the God of people who had simply ceased to exist. Luke adds Jesus’ words, “for all are alive to him” (Luke 20:38). The letter to the Hebrews says of the patriarchs, “God is not ashamed of them, to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them” (Hebrews 11:16).
- “they were astonished at his teaching”
The crowds were amazed. Jesus had answered a clever trap with a simple verse that everyone knew, and showed a depth in it that the experts had missed. The same reaction followed the Sermon on the Mount, when “the multitudes were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them with authority, and not like the scribes” (Matthew 7:28-29). Even some of the scribes said, “Teacher, you speak well” (Luke 20:39).
The Significance of Matthew 22:31-33
- Hope beyond death
Death does not break the bond between God and his people. Those who belong to God belong to him forever. Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will still live, even if he dies” (John 11:25).
- Reading Scripture carefully
Jesus built his whole argument on the tense of one verb. This shows how seriously he took every word of Scripture, and it encourages believers to read God’s word attentively and with expectation.
Cross-References:
Exodus 3:6: “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” The words Jesus quoted.
Luke 20:38: “Now he is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for all are alive to him.” Luke’s account.
Hebrews 11:16: “he has prepared a city for them.” God’s promise to the patriarchs.
John 11:25: “I am the resurrection and the life.” Jesus himself is the source of resurrection life.
Conclusion: Jesus answered the Sadducees from the books of Moses they valued most. When God called himself the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob long after their deaths, he showed that they were still alive to him and would be raised. God is the God of the living, and his covenant love is stronger than death. The crowds were rightly astonished at such teaching.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible