07/10/2026
Weekly Bible Study (Week 40)
The Resurrection of the Dead
Matthew 22:23–33
Opening Prayer
Our gracious Heavenly Father, we thank Thee for Thy holy Word and for the hope of eternal life which Thou hast given to Thy people through Jesus Christ. As we study the Scriptures, open our understanding and strengthen our faith. Keep us from trusting in human wisdom above Thy revealed truth, and teach us to know both the Scriptures and the power of God. Fix our hearts upon Christ and upon the glorious resurrection which awaits all who belong to Him. Through Jesus Christ our Lord we pray. Amen.
Last week, we considered the question brought to Jesus by the Pharisees and the Herodians concerning the payment of tribute to Caesar. Their purpose was to trap Him, hoping that His answer would either offend the Jewish people or bring Him into conflict with the Roman authorities. Jesus answered with perfect wisdom, saying, “Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s” (Matthew 22:21).
That answer reminded us that Christians are to honour lawful authority while remembering that God has the highest claim upon our lives. We may give earthly rulers what is properly due to them, but we must give ourselves wholly to God, for we bear His image and belong to Him. We also saw that outward religious activity is not enough; the Lord requires our hearts, our worship and our obedience.
As we continue in Matthew 22, another group now approaches Jesus. This time it is the Sadducees, and they come with a question concerning the resurrection of the dead.
The Sadducees and Their Question
Matthew introduces them by telling us something extremely important:
“The same day came to him the Sadducees, which say that there is no resurrection.”
Matthew 22:23
The Sadducees denied the resurrection of the dead, and their question is therefore not an honest attempt to understand it. Like those who questioned Jesus before them, they believe they have discovered an argument which will expose a weakness in the teaching they reject.
They begin by referring to the law given through Moses concerning a man who died without children. Under this law, his brother had a responsibility to marry the widow so that the deceased man’s family line might continue. They then construct an exaggerated example involving seven brothers. The first marries and dies without children, his brother then marries the widow and also dies without children, and eventually the same thing happens to all seven brothers.
Having constructed their situation, they ask Jesus:
“Therefore in the resurrection whose wife shall she be of the seven? for they all had her.”
Matthew 22:28
They believe they have demonstrated that belief in the resurrection leads to an impossible situation. If all seven brothers and the woman are raised from the dead, they ask, which of the seven men will be her husband?
Their mistake is that they are imagining the resurrection simply as a continuation of our present earthly existence. They assume that if there is life after the resurrection, everything must continue exactly as it does now.
Knowing the Scriptures and the Power of God
Jesus immediately identifies the real problem:
“Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.”
Matthew 22:29
These are among the most searching words in this passage. The Sadducees considered themselves knowledgeable men, yet Christ tells them that their error comes from failing to understand two things: the Scriptures and the power of God.
The same danger remains today. We can easily form opinions about God, eternity, salvation and the world to come according to our own assumptions rather than allowing Scripture to shape what we believe. Human reasoning has its proper place, but it must never be placed above the revealed Word of God.
Scripture must remain our final authority in matters of faith. As Paul writes:
“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.”
2 Timothy 3:16
The Sadducees also failed to understand the power of God. Their argument assumes that God could only raise people into a life identical to the one they had previously known. They placed the power of Almighty God within the limits of their own imagination.
Jesus explains:
“For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.”
Matthew 22:30
Christ is not saying that resurrected believers become angels. Human beings remain human beings, but the conditions of our existence after the resurrection will not simply reproduce every aspect of our present earthly lives.
Marriage is a wonderful institution established by God for this present life, but it is not eternal. The resurrection brings God’s people into a transformed state in which death has been defeated and the purposes served by earthly marriage no longer continue in the same manner.
This should remind us that the Christian hope is far greater than simply living our present lives forever. Scripture promises a resurrection in which the effects of sin and death are finally overcome.
Paul writes concerning the resurrection body:
“It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption.”
1 Corinthians 15:42
The bodies in which we presently live are subject to weakness, ageing, sickness and death. The resurrection body will not be subject to that corruption. God’s people will not merely return to the present condition of life; they will be raised into a glorious and everlasting existence in the presence of God.
God Is the God of the Living
Jesus then turns directly to the question of whether the dead will actually rise. Rather than merely answering the Sadducees’ imaginary situation, He demonstrates from Scripture that their fundamental belief is wrong.
He says:
“But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God?”
Matthew 22:31
Jesus then quotes God’s words to Moses:
“I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”
Matthew 22:32
Notice that God does not say, “I was the God of Abraham.” He says, “I am the God of Abraham.”
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had been physically dead for generations when God spoke these words to Moses, yet God’s covenant relationship with them had not ended. Jesus therefore concludes:
“God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”
Matthew 22:32
Physical death does not destroy the promises of God. Those who die in faith do not cease to belong to Him, and death cannot cancel the covenant faithfulness of the Lord.
This is one of the great comforts of the Christian faith. Death is real and painful, and Scripture never asks us to pretend otherwise, but for the believer death is not the end. Our hope rests upon the God who raises the dead.
Jesus Himself would shortly demonstrate this truth in the most glorious way. He would be crucified, His body laid in the tomb, and on the third day He would rise victorious over death.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ therefore stands at the very heart of our hope. Paul writes:
“But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.”
1 Corinthians 15:20
Because Christ has risen, those who belong to Him have the sure promise of resurrection. Christianity does not merely offer us encouragement for this present life; it gives us hope beyond the grave.
This changes how Christians should view death. We naturally grieve when those we love are taken from us, and Scripture gives no command that Christians should be without sorrow. Yet for those who die in Christ, sorrow is accompanied by hope.
Paul tells believers:
“That ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.”
1 Thessalonians 4:13
Our hope is not based upon wishful thinking or the idea that people simply continue living because we would like them to. It rests upon the promises of God and upon the historical reality of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
A Warning for Us
The Sadducees’ greatest problem was therefore much deeper than their clever question about marriage. They had underestimated both the truth of God’s Word and the greatness of God’s power.
We should ask ourselves whether we sometimes make the same mistake. When circumstances appear impossible, when death enters our lives or when the promises of God seem beyond our understanding, we can begin judging what God can do according to the limitations of what we can see.
Christ reminds us that our God is not limited by human weakness. The God who created life from nothing is perfectly able to raise the dead, and the God who raised Jesus Christ from the grave will also fulfil every promise He has made to His people.
Matthew tells us that those listening recognised the authority with which Jesus had answered:
“And when the multitude heard this, they were astonished at his doctrine.”
Matthew 22:33
The Sadducees came believing that they had discovered an impossible problem. Instead, their question allowed Christ to proclaim one of the most wonderful truths of Scripture: death does not have the final word.
For everyone who belongs to Jesus Christ, the grave is not the end. Our hope reaches beyond this temporary life to the resurrection of the body and everlasting life in the presence of God.
Let us therefore take seriously Christ’s warning not to fall into error through ignorance of the Scriptures or through doubting the power of God. Let us know His Word, trust His promises and remember that the God whom we worship is the God of the living.
Closing Prayer
Our gracious Heavenly Father, we thank Thee for the glorious hope of the resurrection and for the victory over death which Thou hast revealed through Thy Son. Forgive us when we limit Thy power according to our own understanding or allow human wisdom to take the place of Thy holy Word. Give us a greater hunger for the Scriptures, that we may know Thy truth and be guarded against error.
Strengthen us when we face sorrow, weakness and death, and remind us that the grave cannot overcome Thy promises. We thank Thee that Jesus Christ has risen from the dead and that all who belong to Him have the sure hope of resurrection and everlasting life. Help us therefore to live faithfully in this present world, looking forward to that glorious day when death shall be defeated forever and Thy people shall dwell with Thee eternally.
Through Jesus Christ our risen Lord and Saviour we pray. Amen.
Next week, we will continue in Matthew 22:34–40 and consider the greatest commandment. We will see how Jesus summarises the whole law in the commands to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul and mind, and to love our neighbour as ourselves.
This passage will lead us to consider what true obedience looks like. The Christian life is not merely a matter of outward religious practice or knowing the right answers; it is a life shaped by love for God and love for others. As we prepare for the next study, let us ask the Lord to search our hearts and teach us to love Him more fully and to show genuine love to those around us.
