Matthew 22:23-33
Living God, Living Hope
Read the passage
23That same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus and questioned Him.
24“Teacher,” they said, “Moses declared that if a man dies without having children, his brother is to marry the widow and raise up offspring for him.
25Now there were seven brothers among us. The first one married and died without having children. So he left his wife to his brother.
26The same thing happened to the second and third brothers, down to the seventh.
27And last of all, the woman died.
28In the resurrection, then, whose wife will she be of the seven? For all of them were married to her.”
29Jesus answered, “You are mistaken because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.
30In the resurrection, people will neither marry nor be given in marriage. Instead, they will be like the angels in heaven.
31But concerning 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.”
33When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at His teaching.
Berean Standard Bible
Read aloud
Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, come to Jesus with a story about seven brothers. The first marries a woman and dies without children, so his brother marries her according to the law. The same happens through all seven brothers, and finally the woman dies.
They ask whose wife she will be in the resurrection. Jesus answers that they know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God. In the resurrection, people neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.
Jesus then points to God's words to Moses: “I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” God is not God of the dead but of the living. The crowds are astonished by his teaching.
Jesus does not explain every detail about resurrection life. He corrects the assumption that the age to come is merely this life repeated with every earthly arrangement carried over unchanged. The future belongs to God's power and exceeds our present categories.
This hope is not a denial of grief or a reason to make confident claims about a particular deceased person beyond what Scripture gives us. It is a promise that death does not have the final word over those held by the living God.
How We Know
At the burning bush, God identifies Himself to Moses as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Jesus quotes that declaration and states that God is the God of the living. His answer uses the Scriptures the questioners invoke, while correcting their failure to reckon with God’s power over death.
Questions
1 Why does the Sadducees’ seven-brother question miss God’s power?
AnswerThey assume marriage will continue in the resurrection as it does now. Jesus says people will neither marry nor be given in marriage, but will be like the angels in heaven.
2 How does Jesus answer from God's words to Moses?
AnswerGod identifies Himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Jesus says He is the God of the living, not the dead, and uses that covenant declaration to defend resurrection.
3 What does resurrection hope allow us to trust?
AnswerGod’s power and covenant faithfulness reach beyond death. We can trust Him for resurrection without pretending to know every detail of that life.
4 How can a household make room for grief and resurrection hope together?
AnswerThe family can make room for grief, speak about resurrection hope without forcing easy answers, and encourage one another to trust God's promises.
What This Means for Us
The Sadducees reduce resurrection to a puzzle built from present arrangements. Jesus opens a larger horizon. We should not imagine that eternal life is simply a repaired version of every earthly institution, yet neither should we treat it as vague survival without relationship to God's covenant.
Hope can sit beside sorrow. A grieving person may need tears, companionship, and professional support before he or she can speak easily about the future. Do not use this passage to hurry grief or correct someone else's pain.
The God who names himself as the God of the patriarchs is faithful across generations. That gives a family permission to remember those who have died, to tell the truth about loss, and to entrust the future to God's power rather than to our ability to picture it.
Ask, “Where has grief made hope difficult to speak?” Listen gently, and offer presence rather than a quick explanation.
Prayer
Living God, thank you that death does not defeat your covenant faithfulness. Meet us in grief, deepen our hope, and keep us humble about the mysteries of the resurrection. Amen.