Matthew 22:30 (Answering the Sadducees 6: No Marriage in the Resurrection)

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Recall that the Sadducees rejected the resurrection because in their faulty understanding they supposed that if there was a resurrection it would be to a similar state of being.  What examples of people being raised from the dead may have led them to this conclusion?  See 1Ki 17:17-23, 2Ki 4:32-36; cf. Mat 27:51-53, Luk 7:11-15,…

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Matthew 22:29 (Answering the Sadducees 5: Not Knowing the Power of God)

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For what reason did Jesus say that the Sadducees were so greatly deceived in regard to their misperceptions about the resurrection?  See Mat 22:29, Mar 12:24.  Was it the case that these religious elites of priestly descent were not very well educated either in what Moses taught that they held as most authoritative, or in…

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Matthew 22:28-29 (Answering the Sadducees 4: The Faulty Reasonings of Fallen Men)

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What question in light of the practice of levirate marriage did the Sadducees pose to Jesus that seemed to them to be a conundrum?  See Mat 22:28.  What conclusion had they drawn since it made no sense to them?  See Mat 22:23.  Consider that at the heart of the argument of these very liberal, temporal…

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Matthew 22:24-28 (Answering the Sadducees 3: Levirate Marriage)

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With what law given by Moses did the Sadducees preface the conundrum they would pose to Jesus?  See Mat 22:24; cf. Deut 25:5-10.  What is this form of marriage called?  Note: the term levirate marriage derives not from the Levites or Leviticus, but from the Latin term levir, meaning “husband’s brother”.  Was it normally the…

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Matthew 22:23 (Answering the Sadducees 2: The Sadducees Then and Now)

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See again Act 23:8 and consider the worldview of the Sadducees who denied the resurrection and supposed that there is no life after death, no future state of rewards or punishment, no judgment to come, no heaven or hell, that when the body dies the soul dies with it and ceases to exist, that there…

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Matthew 22:23 (Answering the Sadducees 1: Who were the Sadducees?)

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Besides the delegation from the Sanhedrin (Mat 21:23) and the disciples of the Pharisees and Herodians who confronted Jesus (Mat 22:15), who else does Matthew specifically say confronted Jesus on that same day?  See Mat 22:23.  What day was that?  See Mar 11:1-2,12,19-20,27, 12:13,18.  What distinctive doctrine does Matthew indicate parenthetically was held by the…

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Matthew 22:15-22 (Tribute to Caesar 8: The Long Reach of the 8th Commandment)

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Recall again: What was Jesus’ answer to those who were seeking to ensnare Him with the question of whether or not it was lawful to pay the poll tax to Caesar?  See Mat 22:21.  Upon what foundational principle of property rights was Jesus’ answer based?  Think: do not those who labor to provide what benefits…

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Matthew 22:15-22 (Tribute to Caesar 6: Rendering to Caesar)

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Consider the “either/or” question that the disciples of the Pharisees asked Jesus, and its implication to their minds that they supposed would ensnare Him because of his reputation of being truthful and for which they had just flattered Him: should they pay the poll tax to a pagan ruler who was oppressing their nation and…

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Matthew 22:15-22 (Tribute to Caesar 5: Whose Likeness and Inscription?)

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After the eyes of Him which are a flame of fire easily saw through their hypocrisy and exposed their true motives, what did Jesus say to the disciples of the Pharisees who were trying to trap Him?  See Mat 22:19.  What coin did they bring Him?  See Mat 22:19.  How much was a denarius worth? …

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