Life After Death Affirmed
Blind Driving and False Confidence
Happy Sunday to you! It is great to be back with you again. My name is Mike Sladen. I am the equipping pastor as well as one of the teaching team members here at The Well, and it is great to be back in the book of Matthew with you today.
If you missed last week, I want to call your attention to it. Brad, our senior pastor and one of our elders, did an amazing job walking through what was a very difficult text, and it may have been one of the most timely and appropriate messages I have ever heard. If you missed it, jump on our website or check our app and take a listen. Brad walked us through how, in a season like the one we are in right now, the biblical text calls us first and foremost to submit to the authority of God in our lives, while Jesus demonstrates that we can also submit to civil authority without violating either one in the process.
What Brad did last week set us up for where we are going to be for the next four weeks. Last week, we saw the first of four traps where the religious leaders of the day sought to pin Jesus into a verbal corner. The Pharisees and the Herodians were the first group that tried and failed. Today, we are introduced to another religious group trying to do the exact same thing.
As I was processing this story over the last couple of weeks, it caused me to reflect on my high school years. I do not know about you, but I made some really dumb decisions from about the age of fourteen to nineteen or twenty. If I had a big reset button, I would hit it! I remember one decision in particular when I was fifteen years old. I was driving a scooter to school—one of those little 50cc Yamaha Razz scooters. It went thirty-five miles an hour downhill with the wind at your back. It was dangerous simply because it was so slow!
One day on the way home from school, I was driving through a back neighborhood, and I became utterly convinced that I could drive from one end of the street all the way to the other with my eyes closed. It made perfect sense in my fifteen-year-old, testosterone-filled brain. So I set off to do it. Backpack on my back, helmet on my head, throttle pinned, eyes shut tight. Thankfully, there was not much traffic because it was a new construction area. But within probably thirty feet, I struck the curb on the right-hand side of the street and was ejected from my scooter right into the dirt. Backpack flew off, and I completely yard-saled across the ground.
Against all logical and sound wisdom, I was utterly convinced in that moment that I was right, that I was the exception to the rule, and that my belief system somehow superseded all human logic. The story we are looking at today in Matthew chapter 22 is very similar. A group of people approaches Jesus, and against all sound wisdom, they present a case they think is airtight. Let’s see how Jesus responds.
Matthew 22:23 (NASB)
On that day [some] Sadducees (who say there is no resurrection) came to Jesus and questioned Him,
Meet the Sadducees: Wealth, Power, and Skepticism
This confrontation happened on the very same day, probably moments after the Pharisees and the Herodians had attempted to trap Jesus and failed miserably. As Brad mentioned last week, sometimes the enemy of your enemy is your friend. The Pharisees had tried and failed; the Herodians had tried and failed. Now the Sadducees step in to give it their best shot to back Jesus into a corner. They must have been giddy with excitement knowing the Pharisees had failed, because the Pharisees and the Sadducees disagreed on almost everything.
Remember the setting: they are on the Temple Mount, a massive area that could support tens, if not hundreds of thousands of people. Crowds are gathered everywhere, observing these dialogues.
There were several key religious groups in Jesus’ day—the Herodians, the Sanhedrin, the Zealots, the Essenes, scribes, lawyers, Pharisees, and Sadducees. Differentiating what they all believed can get confusing, so it is essential to understand who the Sadducees were.
The Sadducees came into existence during the intertestamental period—that four-hundred-year span between the book of Malachi and the Gospel of Matthew. They had their roots in the Old Testament priesthood, and in Jesus’ day, most of the high-ranking priests were Sadducees. They represented the upper crust of society. They were aristocrats, wealthy, influential, and deeply political. I would liken them to politicians in Congress today. Though small in number compared to the general population, their political sway and influence were immense.
They had obtained favor with the Romans, playing both sides of the fence to keep Rome happy so they could protect their wealth, power, and positions of authority within the priestly system, while still ruling over the Jewish population.
There are two critical things you need to know about what the Sadducees believed:
First, they did not believe in the supernatural or the miraculous. That meant no angels, no spirits, no miracles, and most importantly, no resurrection. If you were a Sadducee, you believed there was simply no life after death; your soul died with your physical body. Matthew, Mark, and Luke all highlight this distinct detail. The Pharisees believed in the resurrection and angels, which led to constant debates between the two factions. The Sadducees held firmly that death was the absolute end.
Second, the Sadducees held a very restrictive view of Scripture. While other Jews recognized the Psalms, Proverbs, and the Prophets like Daniel, Ezekiel, and Malachi as authoritative, the Sadducees rejected them. To them, only the Torah—the five books of Moses (Genesis through Deuteronomy)—held divine authority. Furthermore, they rejected the oral traditions and interpretations that the Pharisees debated and enforced. They took a rigid, literal stance strictly on the Pentateuch.
Because of their wealth and political status, this group had the most to lose if Jesus continued gaining momentum. They wanted to prove that Jesus was not the Messiah and that His teachings were completely mistaken.
The Trap: Seven Brothers and One Widow
In verse 24, the Sadducees pose their trick question to Jesus, seeking to ridicule Him and dismantle the idea of the resurrection.
Matthew 22:24-28 (NASB)
asking, ’Teacher, Moses said, ‘IF A MAN DIES HAVING NO CHILDREN, HIS BROTHER AS NEXT OF KIN SHALL MARRY HIS WIFE, AND RAISE UP CHILDREN FOR HIS BROTHER.’ ’Now there were seven brothers with us; and the first married and died, and having no children left his wife to his brother; so also the second, and the third, down to the seventh. ’Last of all, the woman died. ‘In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had [married] her.’
They base their argument on the Levirate marriage law found in Deuteronomy chapter 25—one of the books of Moses they actually accepted. The law stated that if a married man died without having a son to carry on his name and inherit his property, his brother was required to marry the widow. The firstborn son of that union would carry on the deceased brother’s name so that his legacy and family land would not be lost. We see this practice in Genesis 38, and we see a beautiful picture of it in the book of Ruth with Boaz serving as the kinsman-redeemer.
Arguing from Deuteronomy, the Sadducees felt they were on solid ground. They concoct an extreme hypothetical scenario: seven brothers sequentially marry the same woman after each brother dies without leaving an heir. Finally, the woman dies too.
At some point, you would think the remaining brothers would have stopped and thought, “This woman seems like bad luck! Maybe we shouldn’t marry her.” She is almost like a black widow! But in their scenario, all seven marry her and die childless.
Then they drop their trap in verse 28: “In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had married her.”
Even today, that question touches on genuine emotions for people who have lost a spouse and remarried. But the Sadducees were not asking out of pastoral concern or genuine curiosity about marriage in eternity. This was a classic straw man argument designed to scorn the very concept of life after death. Their logic went like this: “Moses commanded Levirate marriage. If there is a resurrection, this absurd scenario creates an impossible legal problem in heaven. Therefore, the resurrection cannot be true.”
In their minds, they had backed Jesus into a corner. If Jesus said, “She is not married to any of them,” they would claim He denied the reality of marriage or agreed that there is no afterlife, which would alienate the Pharisees and the crowds. If He picked one husband over the others, He would seem arbitrary and contradict the Mosaic law. Either way, they thought they had Him trapped.
A Stinging Rebuke: Deceived and Powerless
Jesus does not hesitate. He cuts right through their intellectual trap and exposes the fatal flaws in their thinking.
Matthew 22:29 (NASB)
But Jesus answered and said to them, ’You are mistaken, not understanding the Scriptures nor the power of God.
Jesus tells them bluntly, “You are mistaken.” In the original language, it carries the force of, “You are deceiving yourselves; you are utterly wrong.”
What a stinging rebuke to the religious elite who prided themselves on their theological sophistication! Jesus tells them they are fundamentally ignorant of two major realities: the Scriptures and the power of God.
They had read the words of the text, but they lacked true discernment. A high school student I once had the privilege of leading in a Bible study at Clovis North dropped some great wisdom on me. He said, “Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad.”
The Sadducees had some knowledge, but zero spiritual wisdom. They had studied the Torah, but they had never allowed the truth to transform their hearts. Furthermore, they did not know the power of God. They had confined Almighty God to the narrow box of their human logic, assuming God was incapable of creating an eternal order beyond earthly constraints.
The Nature of the Resurrection: Like the Angels
Jesus proceeds to dismantle their scenario by explaining what existence looks like in the resurrection.
Matthew 22:30 (NASB)
’For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.
Notice that Jesus does not treat the resurrection as an open debate or a gray area. He speaks of it as an absolute certainty: “For in the resurrection…”
He explains that in the age to come, people neither marry nor are given in marriage; instead, they will be like the angels in heaven. Notice carefully: Jesus did not say we become angels. We do not turn into cherubs with wings playing harps on clouds. Scripture tells us that angels long to look into the mysteries of human salvation. God created human beings in His image, redeemed us through Christ, and our eternal destiny is distinct from angels.
Jesus’ point is that in the resurrection, we will be like angels in that we will no longer participate in earthly marriage. Marriage is a temporary, earthly institution given by God’s common grace for companionship, procreation, and order in this fallen world. Ultimately, earthly marriage is a shadow and a signpost pointing to the greater reality: the eternal union between Christ the Bridegroom and His Church, the Bride. In eternity, the shadow gives way to the substance.
Now, if you are sitting on your couch right now next to your spouse, look over at them. If they have a small tear in their eye because they will not be married to you in heaven, that is a great sign. But if they have a wry, Grinch-like smile spreading across their face, you might want to call Wendy Mooney over at our counseling center this week! You might need to sleep with one eye open tonight!
All joking aside, Jesus makes it clear: the Sadducees’ hypothetical problem does not exist in eternity because the relational structures of heaven transcend the earthly institution of marriage.
The God of the Living: Proving the Resurrection from the Torah
Having answered their scenario, Jesus goes on the offensive to prove the resurrection directly from the Scriptures they claim to revere.
Matthew 22:31-32 (NASB)
’But regarding the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God: ’I AM THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, AND THE GOD OF ISAAC, AND THE GOD OF JACOB ‘? He is not the God of the dead but of the living.’
Jesus could have quoted clear resurrection passages from Daniel, Isaiah, or Job. But because the Sadducees only accepted the five books of Moses, Jesus meets them on their own turf. He takes them straight to Exodus 3:6, where God speaks to Moses at the burning bush.
When God spoke to Moses, Abraham had been dead and buried for more than five hundred years. Isaac and Jacob had been dead for centuries. Yet God did not say, “I was the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” He said in the present tense, “I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”
Jesus’ entire theological argument hinges on two words: I am. God is not the God of the dead; He is the God of the living. Because God is eternal and faithful to His covenant promises, those who die in covenant relationship with Him remain alive in His presence. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were alive when God spoke to Moses, and they are alive today awaiting the final bodily resurrection.
Jesus is showing them: “You claim to stand on Moses, but you do not even understand what Moses wrote. You are sincere in your convictions, but you are sincerely wrong.”
Matthew 22:33-34 (NASB)
When the crowds heard [this], they were astonished at His teaching. But when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered themselves together.
When the crowds heard this, they were astonished. The Greek word implies losing one’s mental composure—they were utterly blown away. In Luke’s Gospel, it notes that some of the scribes spoke up and said, “Teacher, you have spoken well,” and no one dared to ask Him any more questions. In just a few sentences, Jesus completely silenced and muzzled His opponents.
Luke 20:39-40 (NASB)
Some of the scribes answered and said, ‘Teacher, You have spoken well.’ For they did not have courage to question Him any longer about anything.
Heart Applications: Embracing All of Scripture
So what do we take away from this confrontation between Jesus and the Sadducees? Let’s return to Jesus’ words in verse 29:
“You are mistaken, not understanding the Scriptures nor the power of God.”
Those two failures serve as a warning for us today.
First, consider their failure to understand the Scriptures. The Sadducees’ problem was not a lack of literacy; it was a lack of submission. They approached God’s Word with an agenda, cherry-picking the parts they liked and ignoring the rest to protect their lifestyle and power. They approached the Bible with pride rather than humility.
If they had embraced the wider counsel of God, they would have remembered passages like Proverbs 3:5-6, which tells us to trust in the Lord with all our heart and lean not on our own understanding.
Proverbs 3:5-6 (NASB)
Trust in the LORD with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.
How often are we guilty of that exact same attitude? We gladly accept the verses that offer comfort, blessings, and promises, but we push away the passages that challenge our desires, our wallets, or our morality. We resist letting Scripture speak into our lives when it demands repentance.
Paul reminded Timothy that all Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness.
2 Timothy 3:16 (NASB)
All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;
Are we willing to submit our whole lives to God’s Word? When Paul writes in Philippians 4:8 to dwell on whatever is true, honorable, right, pure, and lovely, am I willing to surrender my private thought life to the Lord?
Philippians 4:8 (NASB)
Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.
When Ephesians 4:2 calls us to walk with all humility, gentleness, and patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, do I obey that, or do I excuse my anger and impatience when people frustrate me?
Ephesians 4:2 (NASB)
with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love,
Like the Sadducees, it is easy to functionally reject the parts of Scripture we do not want to obey. We must approach God’s Word with open hearts, ready to submit to everything He has spoken.
Heart Applications: Living with an Eternal Mindset
Second, the Sadducees did not believe in the power of God or the reality of eternity. And when you do not believe in eternity, you do not live for eternity.
Because the Sadducees believed this life was all there was, they focused entirely on accumulating wealth, political influence, and earthly comfort. If there is no resurrection and no judgment, then whoever dies with the most toys wins.
I have to confess that I often struggle with this very mindset. It is easy to slip into practical Sadduceeism—living as though this earthly life is the main event. I want comfort, I want convenience, I want a tub of ice cream at the end of the day, and I want to avoid suffering. But the gospel calls us to lay up treasures in heaven, to make sacrifices for the Kingdom, and to endure hardship for the sake of Christ.
In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul makes it clear that if Christ is not raised, our faith is worthless and we are of all people most to be pitied.
1 Corinthians 15:14 (NASB)
and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain.
But the glorious truth of the gospel is that Christ has been raised! Life after death is an affirmed reality. Death does not have the final word.
If you are walking through deep suffering, chronic illness, heartbreak, or the loss of a loved one who died in Christ, this passage brings profound hope. This broken world is not all there is. We serve the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—the God of the living—and because Jesus conquered the grave, we too will rise.
Let us place our complete trust in the God who has the power to raise the dead, and let us live every single day in the light of eternity.
Closing Prayer
Let’s pray together.
Lord, we are so grateful for this text where Jesus boldly affirms the reality of the resurrection. Father, if Christ is not raised from the dead, our faith is in vain and we are still in our sins. But looking back at the empty tomb, we know with certainty that Jesus is alive and seated at Your right hand. The penalty for our sin has been fully paid, and death has been defeated.
Help us not to live like the Sadducees. Forgive us for the times we have cherry-picked Your Word or lived only for the temporary comforts of this world. Give us hearts that submit fully to the authority of Scripture and minds fixed on eternity. Comfort those who are grieving and strengthen those who are weary with the unshakable hope of the resurrection.
We love You, and we thank You for Your goodness to our church family.
In Jesus’ name we pray,
Amen.