Moment of Meditation: God of the Living (Matthew 22:31-32)

''[Jesus says:] "And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God: 'I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is not God of the dead, but of the living" (Matthew 22:31-32).''

Jesus shocks the Sadducees completely. Telling them, "You know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God." The leaders of the Sanhedrin. The great theologians of their age. They didn't know the Scriptures. The Scriptures that speak about the resurrection of the dead. The Scriptures where God calls Himself "the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob" (Exodus 3:6). God speaks of Himself this way in the present tense as He speaks to Moses.

Jesus references this passage in the books of Moses because the Sadducees only believed the books of Moses to be inspired by God. Other than this obscure reference to the afterlife, the doctrine of the resurrection is not spoken of in the books of Moses. However, the doctrine runs in the background for much of the books of Moses.

High Priest Caiaphas was a Sadducee (Acts 5:17) and therefore refused to believe in the resurrection of the dead. So when he asks Jesus if He is the Son of God and Jesus talks about Him "coming on the clouds of heaven", he has no choice but to declare His statement blasphemy because that means Jesus will rise from the dead (Matthew 26:63-65).

But God is a God of the living. The Bible is filled with examples of His love for people and the sure confidence that the saints had in the resurrection of the dead. Therefore Jesus says, "You know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God." The Scriptures teach the resurrection of the dead. And God gives us the power to believe and hope in it, even in our darkest times. Amen.