Don't Do What the Sadducees Did
Matthew 22:29-34 NKJV
29 Jesus answered and said to them, "You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God. 30 For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven. 31 But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, 32 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living." 33 And when the multitudes heard this, they were astonished at His teaching.
34 But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together.
One of the biggest hidden miracles in the life of Jesus is found in verse thirty-four. Jesus silenced the Sadducees. I admit I am a bit satirical here, but one of the most contentious groups that Jesus encountered was the Sadducees, rivaled only by their doctrinal opponents, the Pharisees. And later on in this same chapter, Jesus also shuts down the Pharisees. In chapter twenty-two, the score was Jesus two and the religious leaders zero.
The Sadducees were trying to pin Jesus down on the resurrection, that they did not believe in. The Sadducees were the group that did not believe in the spiritual realm or the supernatural. They were the "heady" theological group of their day and diametrically opposed to the Pharisees, who believed in both. When Jesus answered the ridiculous hypothetical situation they proposed, He told them their problem was twofold. They did not know the Scriptures or the power of God.
Jesus also says something to the Sadducees that deserves more attention. "Have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying..." Jesus was equating what was written in the Old Testament scriptures as being spoken by God. Thus, saying that God's written word is God speaking. And because these Sadducees did not know the Scriptures, they were mistaken. My Bible has a footnote saying they were deceived. And the Sadducees did not recognize God's power to raise from the dead. Not knowing the Scriptures and God's power put this religious group into the spiritual danger zone.
Application
We don't want to do what the Sadducees did. We want to know what God is saying through His written word. The more we know of God's truth, the less susceptible to error and deception we become. And we don't want to underestimate God's power to transform and change our lives. He is still powerful, still working miracles, and still doing amazing things in the earth today. His power has not faded out or been withdrawn. So keep pouring truth into your heart and keep believing for God to do great things.
Prayer
Lord, I believe what You have spoken through Your Word. And I believe You are as powerful today as You were in the Bible times of long ago. I do not want to be mistaken. I want to grow in understanding.