23 On that day some Sadducees (who say there is no resurrection) came to Jesus and questioned Him, 24 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.’ 25 Now there were seven brothers with us; and the first married and died, and having no children left his wife to his brother; 26 so also the second, and the third, down to the seventh. 27 Last of all, the woman died. 28 In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had married her.”
Sadducees are next up, after the Pharisees and the Herodians had their shot at Him. The various religious and political opponents in Israel all joined in their efforts to undercut Jesus’ influence with the people. Each of these groups had the same fear: loss of their own following to Jesus. The Sadducees’ unique role in the religious debates of the day had to do with their denial of a bodily resurrection. They tried to trap Jesus in this debate with a cleverly concocted argument that they were confident would undermine the belief in a resurrection.
Their question was pretty straight forward. If there was a resurrection, then the implications would be untenable, so they assert. A simple illustration was presented to “validate” their case, the logic of which should in normal circumstances be quite compelling—but just as with the other groups, they were going after the One who knows all and understands all.
The argument seemed logical, but proved ultimately faulty because it would be shown to be built on the wrong premise. They built their case by supposing a woman had a series of husbands. The Sadducees even toss in customary support from the Torah (Deut 25:5-6) that a man should marry his brother’s widow if she were childless, to justify the elements of the story. As the case study goes on, she had seven husbands and each died. All this had the markings of the refined religious disputes, with careful wording and scriptural support. The question was then posed with an air of certain victory: if there is a resurrection, then which of the seven men would then be her husband?
False argumentation is nothing new in religious circles. Skilled rhetoricians, slick pulpiteers and suave homiliticians can weave cultured words and esoteric ideas into convincing arguments with biblical support! One “proves” that ____ (fill in the doctrine) is correct, while another “proves” that ___ is not correct. And the common use of strategic questions can often form the wedge to false teaching. Even Satan subtly intoned, “Indeed, has God said…?” (Gen 3:1).
Lord, help me not be duped by the clever arguments of the false teachers who mount up with persuasive arguments that contradict Your Word.
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