Chapter 39
The Question about the Resurrection
Verse 1: That same day some Sadducees came to him who believe there is no resurrection, and so they asked him, | Matthew 22:23
2 “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies without having children, his brother must marry the widow and father children for his brother.’ | Matthew 22:24
3 Now there were seven brothers among us. The first died after getting married without having children, leaving his wife to his brother. | Matthew 22:25
4 The second did the same also, so did the third, then down to the seventh. | Matthew 22:26
5 And last of all, the woman herself then passed away.” | Matthew 22:27
6 Jesus turned his gaze directly to the one who spoke, “Why do you not ask what kind you will become, or how you came to be?”
7 The group started to murmur among themselves and although shaken the Sadducee continued, “In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife of the seven will she be? For all of them married her.” | Matthew 22:28
8 Jesus answered them, “You are mistaken because you don't know the power of my Father. | Matthew 22:29
9 For in the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage but are like angels in my Father's heaven. | Matthew 22:30
10 But concerning the resurrection of the dead, you are correct. Search what your God said to you. | Matthew 22:31
11 Your God made no promise beyond the dust. He is the God of the living who walk before him, and when they are gone, they are gone. But my Father is not your God. And what your God cannot offer, my Father does. | Matthew 22:32
12 Those who say that they'll die first and (then) they'll rise are wrong. If they don't first receive the resurrection while they're living, they won't receive anything when they die.
13 And when the crowds heard this, they were astonished at his teaching. | Matthew 22:33
The Greatest Commandment
14 When the Pharisees had heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they started to assemble around him, | Matthew 22:34
15 and one of them, an expert in the law then tested Jesus with a question, asking him: | Matthew 22:35
16 “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” | Matthew 22:36
17 He said to him, “Love your brother like your soul, guard him like the pupil of your eye and by doing so you honor the father. | Gospel of Thomas 25, Matthew 22:37
18 This is the greatest and first commandment. | Matthew 22:38
19 And a second is like it: ‘You shall repent and awaken to what you already have. This is much more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.’ | Matthew 22:39
20 Another asked him, “And of the Law and the Prophets?” and Jesus remained silent. | Matthew 22:40
21 And great anger erupted in their hearts and they too began to look for a way to kill him, for they were afraid of him as well. | Mark 11:18
The Question about David’s Son
22 Jesus was teaching in the temple, and gathering the religious teachers around him, he asked them, “What do you say about the Messiah? Whose son is he?”
23 They answered, “The son of David.”
24 Jesus said to them, “Then how is it that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him 'my lord'?
25 For he says, 'The LORD said to my lord: Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.'
26 If David calls him lord, how can he be his son?”
27 The Pharisees conferred among themselves, and one of the scribes, learned in the Law, stepped forward and said:
28 “Teacher, David speaks prophetically of the great king who will come from his line.
29 Though David was himself a king, he honors this future descendant because he foresees the greatness of the one who will restore Israel.
30 The Holy One, blessed be he, speaks to this future king David's descendant and promises him victory over all enemies.
31 David calls him 'adoni', my lord, not as one would address the Holy One, but as one king might honor another king of even greater stature.
32 It is unusual, yes, for an ancestor to show such deference to a descendant, but this shows us how extraordinary the Messiah will be.
33 Even King David, the greatest of our kings, acknowledges that the one who comes after him will surpass him in glory.
34 The psalm shows us that the Messiah will sit at God's right hand a position of ultimate authority among men until all Israel's enemies are subdued.
35 This is the promise to the house of David: that from his line will come the anointed one who will rule in righteousness and bring peace to our people.”
36 The crowd murmured in approval, for the answer was learned and kept faith with the tradition.
37 Jesus looked at the scribe thoughtfully, and after a moment said, “And do you say that I am this Messiah of whom David speaks?”
38 “No,” the scribe replied. “You speak of a kingdom not of this world. But the Messiah will rule this world, restoring Israel.
39 You teach of mysteries and inner knowledge, but the Messiah's work will be plain for all to see at God's right hand, subduing our enemies, ruling from David's throne in Jerusalem.
40 You are a teacher, and perhaps a prophet. But you are not the Messiah.”
41 Jesus smiled slightly, as though the scribe had understood something the crowd had not.