Who’s Wife Shall She Be? (Part 1)
Jesus is Rabbi (John 3:2), the Master Teacher (Matthew 19:16), the teachers’ teacher. No man spoke as he spoke or taught as he taught (Matthew 7:28-29). On numerous occasions his foes sought to ensnare Jesus in his own words (see Matthew 16:1; 19:3; 22:35; Mark 12:13; John 8:6), but his masterful use of logic and reasoning left his detractors unable to answer (Matthew 22:46). It is in the course of one of these “trials” that the question in the title is posed (Matthew 22:28). Initially, the Pharisees and the Herodians (more a political sect than a religious one) came to Jesus with the intent to trap Jesus in his words. They, therefore, posed a question regarding the paying of tribute to Caesar (Matthew 22:17). The answer of Jesus astonished many to the point that they simply went away, unable to confound the Master Teacher (Matthew 22:22). The same day the Sadducees approached Jesus with the hopes of entangling him in his teaching (Matthew 23:23). The Sadducees were a religious sect which stood in opposition to the Pharisees. While smaller in number than the Pharisees, many of the aristocracy belonged to the sect of the Sadducees. Their primary contentions were that the written law of Moses was the only law to guide Israel (the Pharisees asserted and taught that oral tradition was just as binding as the Law), and that there is no resurrection of the dead. This latter doctrine also caused the Sadducees to reject the idea of angels and spirits, as well as the idea of future reward or punishment.
The question posed by the Sadducees on this occasion was based on the duty of a brother to raise up seed to continue the seed-line of his departed brother (Deuteronomy 25:5-10; read also Ruth 4:1-12). The Law of Moses required that the brother next to the deceased brother take his former sister-in-law as his own wife. The first child born to this union was to take the name of the deceased brother, so that his line might continue. Should the kinsman refuse to accept this responsibility, it was to be made known unto all that are in the city in a public display (Deuteronomy 25:8-10). Based upon this law of the redeemer-kinsman, the Sadducees then pose their query to Jesus. Suppose a man took a wife, and died before being able to bring children into their union. His brother accepted his responsibility according to the law, taking his brother’s wife as his own, but also died before being able to raise up seed to continue his brother’s line. This scenario is repeated until all seven brothers have taken this woman to wife, but failed to bring children into the marriage. The question is then posed to Jesus, “In the resurrection, whose wife shall she be of the seven?” (Matthew 22:28). The response of Jesus to their inquiry is both pointed and to the point, a display of masterful logic, taking advantage of the opportunity to teach even beyond the direct answer to their question.
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