The God of the Living

Matthew 22:15-33

Key verse 22:31-32

³¹But about 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.

Read verses 15-17.  Why do you think the Pharisees wanted to trap Jesus? How was the Pharisees' question a trap?

*They were jealous of Jesus' popularity; their pride was hurt.

*First, they tried to flatter Jesus. Second, if Jesus said that it was right to pay taxes, they could accuse him of supporting the Roman occupation and alienate him from the people. Yet they probably expected that he would say that it is NOT right to pay taxes to Caesar--then they could accuse him of opposing taxes to Caesar in violation of Roman law (which they later did anyway Lk 23:2).

Read verses 18-22. Why was Jesus not deceived by their flattering words? How did Jesus disarm their trap? How did his answer touch their sin problem (see, for example, Matthew 21:33-39)?

*Jesus knew their evil intention; he saw right through them.

*First, he put the whole taxation controversy in perspective: the coins had Caesar's image on them, they belonged to him, so they should give to Caesar what is Caesar's. Second, Jesus turned their attention to the truly important issue: giving to God what is God's. They were so focused on money issues that they forgot about what they owe to God. What belongs to God? Me.

*The Pharisees opposed Jesus because they tried to keep for themselves what belongs to God--honor, glory, and obedience. The truth is that their hearts were far from God; they were focused on worldly things and material things, and this really made them enemies of God.

Read verses 23-28.  Why did the Sadducees ask Jesus about the resurrection? What strategy did they use to prove that there is no resurrection?

*They didn't believe in the resurrection, and they probably thought that they could best prove their point by embarrassing Jesus, who was known by the people as a prophet and a teacher. They were confident that they had an impossible problem that Jesus could not solve.

*Their strategy was a hypothetical example. They used an imaginary and extreme case to show that the whole idea of a resurrection is absurd--seven men would be married to one woman!

Read verses 29-30. Why were the Sadducees in error? How will life be different in the resurrection?

*They did not know the Scriptures or the power of God. They were supposedly experts in the law of Moses, and they even used the law of Moses to make their point. Yet Jesus said that they didn't know the Scriptures. Their understanding was shallow compared to Jesus' understanding.

They also didn't know the power of God. This might be because they didn't have true faith in God. They were full of knowledge and reasoning, but they had no personal understanding of who God is and how powerful God is.

*Those who are resurrected will be like the angels. This is a totally upgraded existence.

Read verses 31-33. What do the Scriptures say about God? What do you think this truth means for your life?

*God is the God of the living, not the dead. He said, in the present tense, "I am the God of..."

*Since God is the God of the living, the only thing that makes sense is for me to do is to put my hope fully in Him.

Jesus said to give to God what is God's--when we have resurrection faith, we can truly do this even though it is sometimes difficult. We know that even though we "die" for Jesus' name, it is not the end, for our God is the God of the living.