Today we are looking at the third in a trilogy of trick questions asked of Jesus by the religious elite in the last days before His crucifixion. The first one was a question of where Jesus got His authority to do the things like clean out the vendors from the temple.   That act had really got the religious leaders upset because He was messing with their income. Fraudulent income, but nevertheless, they got away with it. And this was the second time in His ministry that Jesus had come into the temple and cleaned it out. So they were steamed. They already were plotting how to kill Jesus. This just pushes them over the edge.

Then there was the second trick question that was designed to get Jesus to say something concerning Caesar or taxes which they could use to have Him arrested. And Jesus artfully answered it in such a way as to not only avoid their trap, but set a timeless standard for Christian conduct that extends even to today in our society.

Now behind all these questions, is a delegation of religious leaders that have in many respects been opponents of one another for the religious control of the Jews, but they have been united for now in their common hatred for Jesus. So these disparate factions within Judaism are working together to try to get Jesus to say something that they can use against Him. To discredit Him in front of the Jews and ultimately to be able to execute Him for by the hands of the Romans.

So the last question of the trilogy is asked by a particular religious faction known as the Sadducees. The text tells us that the Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection. The Sadducees are the aristocrats, the wealthy, the influential. They were the party of the chief priests, the high priests and the Sanhedrin. These were positions which were bought by influence. And so they were the ones who had profited the most from the vendors and money changing operations in the temple that Jesus had closed down. They were the ones who felt most threatened by the power of Jesus.

Now Luke says they did not believe in the resurrection. And the way they came about that doctrine was they were extreme legalists. They only accepted the first five books of the Old Testament, known as the Pentateuch, or the Law, as inspired scripture. They did not accept the rest of the OT scriptures as inspired. I guess they would look at those writings as sort of informed commentary on the Law, but not inspired by God. So when David writes about life after death, they did not accept that. When Daniel spoke of a resurrection, they didn’t accept it. They only believed the Pentateuch, all authored by Moses, and for the most part there is almost nothing in the first five books that say much about a resurrection or an afterlife.

So basically, the Sadducees saw the only benefit to living a godly life, by keeping the law, was to reap earthly benefits from blessings that God gives you here as a reward for being godly or law abiding.   They attempted to live their life in such a way that they hoped to receive divine blessings here, such as long life, happiness, many children, many possessions, and of course, a lot of money.

Now this type of philosophy is not all that far removed from our present day prosperity doctrine, is it? However, modern day prosperity advocates do accept the resurrection, some notion of heaven, but they don’t really focus on it much. Rather than merit coming from keeping the law though, these folks like to think that grace is a NT doctrine that promises health, wealth and happiness here on earth. And they are so content with earth and the prospects of prosperity and long life and being healed of every disease and delivered from every misfortune that they take scarce thought of the resurrection. They are well content to leave that as some obscure hope that they are going to be in heaven some day, even though they really don’t like to think very much about it. Because, like the Sadducees, their hope is on earth, not in the hereafter.

So the Sadducees question for Jesus is really an attack on His doctrine, because if they can show His teaching to be faulty, then they can undermine His entire ministry. See, Jesus came preaching and teaching what? The kingdom of heaven. Jesus’ teaching is all about how to enter the kingdom of heaven. Well, if they can show that there is no resurrection, then they can basically destroy His ministry. Act 23:8 says, “For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor an angel, nor a spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all.”

Now that verse proves that the Sadducees didn’t even believe what they claimed to believe. They claimed to only believe the Law, or the Pentateuch, but the Pentateuch clearly speaks of angels. Abraham was visited by angels. Lot was visited by angels and delivered from Sodom and Gomorrah. And of course the Garden of Eden was guarded by angels with flaming swords after Adam and Eve were kicked out. So there was ample evidence of angels, even if there wasn’t ample evidence of the resurrection. The point is, the Sadducees were not unlike many people today, they claim to believe the Bible, but in reality they really don’t believe all of it. They pick and choose what is expedient, what fits according to science, what makes sense to them intellectually.

In fact, to jump ahead for a moment, Jesus accuses them of that very thing. In the parallel version found in Matthew 22: 29 “Jesus answered and said to them, “You are mistaken, not understanding the Scriptures nor the power of God.” What a powerful statement that is still so very true today. What this statement shows is that it is possible to know scripture, and yet not understand the scripture. That is what 2Tim. 2:15 is talking about when Paul says, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.” How will you not be ashamed? What does that mean? It means not being ashamed at His coming. When God calls you to give an account for your stewardship one day, I believe the foremost thing that we will have to give an account for is our stewardship of the Word of God. Did we handle it accurately, or did we handle it carelessly, or perhaps we treated it with contempt by twisting it and using it for our own advantage like the Sadducees did, ignoring some parts and claiming others that we like more.

Listen, I can prove anything I want to prove by the Scripture if I am willing to take it out of context and apply it here and there, wherever I want. There is only one way to rightly understand the Scriptures; that is coming to it without an agenda. Coming to it without a template, without a doctrine that you are trying to validate. But taking it as God reveals it, and then being obedient to what He reveals, and then, and only then, will the Holy Spirit lead you and guide you into all truth as Jesus promised in John 16:13.   We must come to the Word of God reverently, in complete subjection to whatever God would show us and never subjugate God’s word to a vision, or a thought that popped in my head that I attribute to God, or a prophet, or a pope, or even an angel of light. God’s word is the ultimate authority for truth. Everything else must be subjected to the light of the truth; the full counsel of the Word of God.

So the Sadducees ask this tricky question, which is really kind of a kooky question. In order to get the answer that they want, they have to fabricate this elaborate story that is in it self ridiculous, in order to try to make Jesus’ look ridiculous. We already read the question, so I won’t repeat it, but basically they are working off of the law in Duet. 25, which has a provision for two brothers who live together and one of them has a wife which is childless. If he should die without an heir, the brother is to go in to his wife and raise up for her a child. Now this was God’s way of protecting the family and the widow particularly in the division of property in Israel. I’m not going to take the time to go into that in any more detail right now, but it should be noted that it was not a practice limited to the Jews. It was a common practice among a number of ancient civilizations at that time and God used this practice to provide for the widow and keep the property within the family.

But the Sadducees use this law to raise an impossible situation to try to make Jesus look ridiculous. They say that if there were seven brothers, and all seven had her, and all of them died without raising up a son, and eventually, thank goodness, the black widow dies as well, which one will be her husband in the afterlife? For they all had her.

And so Jesus answers; “You are mistaken, not understanding the Scriptures nor the power of God.” Vs. 34, ““The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage, but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; for they cannot even die anymore, because they are like angels, and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.” Let’s stop there for a moment.

The sons of this age is a reference to the men of this earth. These are men who are living in the “in-betweens”, in between the first coming and the second coming of Christ, this present age. Now the characteristic given of the sons of this age are that they marry and are given in marriage. But there are other characteristics of the sons of the next age; the age after the resurrection. First off, He says those who attain to the resurrection from the dead do not marry, for they cannot die anymore. In other words, there is no need for procreation anymore after the resurrection.

So procreation is not needed anymore because we cannot die so there is no reason to raise up children. But there is another reason implied here in the fact that we will no longer marry. And to understand that you need to look at Ephesians 5. This is the famous passage of scripture often read at weddings. It tells how the wife is to love her husband, and the husband is to love his wife. But if you can get past the romantic aspects of it, there is some important doctrinal implications there for us.

The husband’s relationship to his wife is repeatedly correlated to the relationship of Christ to the church. Note vs. 25 “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, 26 so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.” Now what becomes clear here is that marriage is a foreshadow of our relationship to Christ. Individually, having become born again, we become part of a body, called the church. And the church is designed- the church’s purpose – is to be the bride of Christ.

Listen to vs.31 “FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND SHALL BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH. 32 This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church.” Do you see that? Marriage is a type of our relationship to Christ as the bride of Christ. It is a foretaste of the glory that will one day be consummated when we are one with Christ. When we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.

The book of Hebrews is basically a book showing that there are all these types and symbols in the OT which are fulfilled in Christ. I don’t have time to show all of them to you this morning, but if we can agree that marriage as it is laid out for us in Ephesians 5 is a foreshadowing of our future relationship with Christ as His bride, then as Hebrews explains these things that are only a shadow and a copy of heavenly things will be done away with when the fullness comes with Christ. When we are glorified with Christ and we shall be like Him, and be one with Him, then the fullness of that relationship is going to make even the best relationship on earth obsolete. It doesn’t mean we won’t recognize our wife or husband or loved ones. On the contrary, it will enable us to love one another in a way that we have never known. There is something in store for us that is so much better than even the best things in marriage. We will be one with Christ, and one with one another. We will know, even as we are known. For now we look in a mirror darkly, we see our future life with Christ through a veil which is marriage between a man and a woman. But in the next age the veil will be removed, and we shall see Him, and we shall be like Him. And we will know the fullness of joy of being the spotless bride of Christ and being consummated in the fullness of His love for us, living with Him and reigning with Him forever.

Secondly, Jesus says the resurrected are like the angels. Note that Jesus doesn’t say that we become angels. I’ve heard people say at the death of a loved one that God needed another angel. That simply is not taught in the Bible. Jesus doesn’t say that we become angels. In fact, the Hebrews 2 makes it clear that for now we are a little lower than the angels, but Paul says the day will come in the next age when we will judge angels. Angels are ministering spirits of God. But we are the children of God. In the next age, we will actually be like God for we shall see Him as He is. We will be co-inheritors with Christ. We will rule and reign with Christ.

Thirdly, Jesus says that they are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. He says those that are considered worthy to attain to the resurrection. Listen, no one is worthy of the resurrection by their own merit. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. So before you can be found worthy of resurrection, you must first confess that you are a sinner, trusting in the blood of Jesus Christ which cleanses us from all sin, and by faith in Him you are then born again by the Spirit of God to become a child of God. Rom. 8:16-17 says “The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.”

Now what exactly is meant by sons of the resurrection? I spoke on this subject a month or two ago, and so I don’t want to cover all of that again. But let me try to give you a synopsis of the resurrection. Actually, let me give you the Apostle Paul’s synopsis. And that synopsis is found in 1Cor. 15:35-58 “But someone will say, “How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body do they come?” You fool! That which you sow does not come to life unless it dies; and that which you sow, you do not sow the body which is to be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat or of something else” Now first notice that this present body must die. And the body we die with is not the body which we are raised with, just like a seed that is planted doesn’t look like the plant that it produces.

Vs. 38 “But God gives it a body just as He wished, and to each of the seeds a body of its own. All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one flesh of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another flesh of birds, and another of fish. There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one, and the glory of the earthly is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.” So Paul is saying that our earthly body has certain characteristics such as temporal, weak, corruptible. And then there are heavenly bodies, or spiritual bodies which have heavenly characteristics. They will be powerful, glorified, eternal.

Vs. 45 “So also it is written, “The first MAN, Adam, BECAME A LIVING SOUL.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.” That second Adam is speaking metaphorically of Jesus Christ. He became a life giving spirit by shedding His sinless blood for the remission of our sins, so that we might be born again by His Spirit and receive eternal life.

Vs. 46 “However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual. The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven. As is the earthy, so also are those who are earthy; and as is the heavenly, so also are those who are heavenly.” That which is of the flesh cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven. We must be born again by the Holy Spirit. You are born dead in your sins, but by faith in Christ you are made alive in the Spirit.

VS. 49 “Just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we will also bear the image of the heavenly. Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Vs. 51, here is the resurrection: ”Behold, I tell you a mystery;(the resurrection had been a mystery to the OT saints. They did not see it a fully as we do. And yet it is still a mystery to us, though we know much more through the revelation of the NT) “We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory. “O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Often when Jesus and the apostles refer to death they say that someone fell asleep. Jesus said about Lazarus that he fell asleep and the disciples said then why do we need to go there if he is sleeping? And Jesus answered plainly, “Lazarus is dead.” Paul here says that we will not all sleep. What is he talking about? Why is there this need to couch death in this euphemism of sleeping? Well, I believe the answer is that for a believer, death is not death of the soul and spirit, but death of the body. The body lies in the dirt, but the spirit lives. Similar to when we sleep our body is out, but our mind is still going. So death for a believer indicates the body is asleep, but the spirit is alive. I believe that the Bible teaches that this resting place is not “heaven” as is commonly thought of in terms like the streets of gold and pearly gates. But as Jesus explained in the story of Lazarus and the rich man in Luke 16, in death the rich man lifted up his eyes in torment, but Lazarus was being comforted in Abraham’s bosom.

Every Jew listening that day would have known what Jesus was talking about. Death in the OT was known in the Hebrew as sheol, and in the Greek it is Hades. So Jesus is saying that the rich man is in Hades. And the listening Jews would have also known that Abraham’s bosom was a way of speaking of Paradise. That is where the believers are comforted and rest until the resurrection, when the dead in Christ shall rise first. Jesus Himself told the thief on the cross that today you will be with Me in Paradise. Yet after He rose again, He told Mary not to hold onto Him because He had not yet ascended unto His Father. So where was Jesus during those three days? He was in the abode of the dead, particularly in the section for believers, the righteous, known as Paradise.

Peter confirms this in 1Pet. 3:18-19 “For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; 19 in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison.”   He was dead in the flesh, His body was in the tomb, but He was alive in the Spirit and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison. That was the spirits held in Hades, particularly those it says in vs. 20 who lived during the time of Noah when God destroyed the Earth.

Now I am not trying to spark an eschatological debate. But what I am trying to impress upon you this morning in a limited amount of time is that the resurrection is the lynchpin of our salvation. It is the hope for which we have been saved. Paul said in 1Cor. 15:19 “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.” If we are like the Sadducees, and our hope is only in this life, then we are of all men most miserable. Death is going to be the end of all that you have worked for, all that you have known. Listen, I can assure you that God hasn’t promised you unfailing health, unending wealth, and endless prosperity in this life. But God has promised those who believe in Him eternal life, and when this mortal shall put on immortality then all the inheritance of the saints will be realized. There will be in that day unfailing health, unending wealth, and endless life for ever and ever because we will be united with the source of all life.

The Bible says that it is appointed unto man once to die, and after that the judgment. Those however that are in Paradise, who have entered their rest, who are “asleep in Jesus” will be raised first. 1Thess. 4:15-17 “For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.” This is the hope of our salvation; the resurrection where we will be united with Christ and live with Him for eternity.

Now let’s look back at the response of Jesus. He gives the Sadducees an answer from the Law, the Pentateuch, in order to satisfy their question. I love how Jesus knows the OT and uses it. After all, He wrote it. John identifies Jesus as the Word of God who existed in the beginning with God. He was God, and He was the Word of God. So these Sadducees test Jesus with the law, and Jesus uses the Law to refute them. He says in vs. 37 “But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed, in the passage about the burning bush, where he calls the Lord THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, AND THE GOD OF ISAAC, AND THE GOD OF JACOB. 38 “Now He is not the God of the dead but of the living; for all live to Him.”

Remember, these Sadducees only accept Moses as a prophet of God, and think only the writings of Moses as inspired Scripture. And so Jesus masterfully uses Moses to refute their flawed theology. He says Moses called God the “God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” He said “Now God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”  In this quote from Exodus 3, Jesus proves that God is the God of the living. He doesn’t say God was the God of Abraham, but God is the God of Abraham. They are living. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were living because though their bodies were dead, their spirits were alive, even as we saw in the story of Lazarus being comforted by Abraham in Paradise.

Listen folks, this is our hope. This is the blessed hope of the resurrection. This is the promise of God for those that belong to Him, who have been born again as children of God. We have the hope of eternal life. Jesus said it most clearly to Martha at the resurrection of Lazarus, the other Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha. He said in John 11:25-26 “Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?’”

I would just like to echo that question to you this morning; Do you believe this? Do you believe that if you have been born again you will never die? You will never die? Has that fully sunk in ladies and gentlemen? Because if it has, it should change the way you live. If you believe that you will never die you will stop living for the moment. You will stop living for today. If you believe that you will never die you will stop wasting your life on things that are only temporary. You will start living life like it was said of Abraham in Hebrews 11; that he was living as a sojourner in tents, as an alien, a citizen of another country. For he was looking for a city with foundations, whose builder and architect is God.

Rev. 21 describes that city whose architect is God. It says in vs. 1-5 “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.”

I would just close today by asking you to examine yourself first of all. Do you have the hope of resurrection? Do you have that assurance of faith that God will resurrect you on that last day? Do you know that your sins have been forgiven, that you have been born again as a child of God? You can know that. If you believe what God promises in His word, you can be saved and be assured of your salvation.   I would be happy to show you from the Bible how you can know that you are a child of God if you will just see me after the service.

And then for those of you that have confessed Jesus as Lord, I trust that you will examine your life today in light of God’s word. Are you living in the hope of the resurrection? Are you looking for the city whose architect and builder is God? Is that your hope, the focus of your life? Or are you living like the Sadducees, focusing on the riches and pleasures of this world, citizens of this world and unmoved by the prospect of eternity? I trust that today you will reconsider your commitment to Christ and the glory that will be revealed to His bride the church at His coming. I hope that you will be found faithful, rightly dividing the truth of God’s word, so that you will not be ashamed at His coming.