Matthew 22:28

Context of Matthew 22:28

Matthew 22:28 is part of a series of challenging questions posed to Jesus by various Jewish factions in Jerusalem, just days before His crucifixion. In this particular encounter, the questioners are the Sadducees, a prominent religious and political group of the time. Unlike the Pharisees, the Sadducees denied the resurrection of the dead, believing only in the Pentateuch (the first five books of Moses) and rejecting the existence of angels or spirits. They aimed to discredit Jesus by presenting a hypothetical scenario based on the Levirate marriage law (Deuteronomy 25:5-6), which required a man to marry his deceased brother's widow if he died without children, to raise up an heir for the deceased.

Their elaborate story involves a woman who marries seven brothers in succession, each dying without leaving offspring. The Sadducees' question, "Therefore in the resurrection whose wife shall she be of the seven? for they all had her," is a calculated attempt to highlight what they perceived as a logical absurdity or impossibility if the resurrection were real, thereby undermining Jesus' teaching and the very concept of an afterlife.

Key Themes and Messages

• Misunderstanding of the Resurrection: The Sadducees' question reveals their profound misunderstanding of the nature of the resurrection and the power of God. They project earthly, temporal conditions onto eternal, spiritual realities.
• Transformed Relationships in Eternity: This verse, and Jesus' subsequent answer (Matthew 22:30), teaches that earthly institutions like marriage, while sacred and significant in this life, do not continue in the same form in the resurrected state. Relationships in eternity are of a different, more spiritual nature.
• Divine Wisdom vs. Human Logic: The Sadducees tried to trap Jesus by forcing God's plan into their limited human framework. Jesus' response demonstrates that God's ways are higher than our ways, and His power is not bound by our earthly logic.

Linguistic Insights

The KJV phrase "whose wife shall she be" directly translates the Sadducees' concern about legal and relational continuity in the afterlife. The Greek word for "resurrection," anastasis, literally means "a standing up again," signifying a restoration to life, but not necessarily a continuation of all earthly conditions or societal structures. The Sadducees' error stemmed from their inability to grasp that a resurrected state involves a transformed existence, not merely a revival of the physical body to earthly conditions.

Jesus' Response and Significance

Jesus powerfully refutes the Sadducees' premise in Matthew 22:29, stating, "Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God." He then clarifies in Matthew 22:30 that "in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven." This does not diminish the beauty or importance of marriage on earth, but rather elevates the understanding of our eternal state, where relationships are perfected in God's presence, transcending earthly forms.

Practical Application

For believers today, Matthew 22:28 and Jesus' response offer profound insights into the nature of eternity. It encourages us not to limit God's power or His plan for the future based on our current human experiences or logic. While our earthly relationships, especially marriage, are precious and ordained by God, our ultimate hope is in a transformed existence where we will be fully united with God and experience relationships in a new, glorified way (1 Corinthians 15:42-44). This verse reminds us to focus on knowing God and His Word, trusting that His future plans are far grander than we can imagine.