Render Unto Caesar
But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what God said to you: Matthew 22:31 · Berean Standard Bible
Now Jesus goes on the offensive. He asks, 'Haven't you even read what God told you about this?' It's a pointed challenge to people who pride themselves on knowing Moses' writings.
Jesus is about to use their own favorite part of the Bible to prove them wrong. He's meeting them exactly where they are.
Jesus asks a question that must have stung. He's implying they've missed something obvious in the very Scriptures they claim to know best.
You can almost see Jesus leaning in now. He's not just defending Himself; He's about to show them the truth has been in their Bible all along.
Jesus pivots from correcting their view of resurrection existence to establishing the fact of resurrection itself. His rhetorical question 'have you not read?' (ouk anegnote) is particularly cutting to these scholars of Torah.
By citing 'what God said to you,' Jesus emphasizes the living, present-tense authority of Scripture. God's word to Moses is simultaneously God's word to the Sadducees standing before Him.
Jesus addresses the Sadducees with pointed irony, implying these supposed Torah experts have failed to read their own Scripture carefully.
Jesus turns their own weapon against them. They used Torah to attack resurrection; He will use Torah to prove it.
29Jesus answered, “You are mistaken because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.
30In the resurrection, people will neither marry nor be given in marriage. Instead, they will be like the angels in heaven.
31But concerning 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.”
33When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at His teaching.
Read all of Matthew 22 — A wedding banquet, a trick question about taxes, and the greatest commandment — Jesus outmaneuvers every trap set for him.
This page covers one. BibleKey does all 31,102 — tap any verse for its meaning, any word for its Hebrew or Greek root, and keep reading without leaving the chapter.
Not just the famous ones. BibleKey is free on iPhone and iPad.
Download on the App StoreFree on iPhone & iPad