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Explanation for:
Matthew
22
:
26
In like manner the second, and the third, and so on to the seventh.
11
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{"arr":[{"author-name":"John Chrysostom","author-image":"https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6864003fdf3714da6ff0b33a/68c88ea76859f9f8e2ffd3ee_John%20Chrysostom.png","category":"Holy Fathers and Teachers","century":4,"exegesis-text":"Indeed, the third would refrain from claiming her as his own, given that her two former spouses had passed away. If he had chosen to take her, it is unlikely the fourth and fifth would have followed suit. Even if they had, it stands to reason that the sixth and seventh would have been too afraid to pursue her, fearing they might meet a similar end; such was the anxiety among the Jewish people. While many today hold such fears, the Jews of that time were even more apprehensive, shunning these unions despite being compelled by the law. This explains why Ruth, a Moabite, wed a more distant relative when a closer one existed, and why Tamar resorted to deception with her father-in-law to avoid the shame of childlessness. Why did the Sadducees concoct a scenario in which one woman had not only two or three but seven husbands? By doing so, they aimed to mock the belief in the resurrection."},{"author-name":"Jerome of Stridon","author-image":"https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6864003fdf3714da6ff0b33a/68c88dcd3432c6dd41375498_Jerome%20of%20Stridon.png","category":"Holy Fathers and Teachers","century":4,"exegesis-text":"Individuals who denied the resurrection of the dead and held that the soul ceases to exist with the body created a narrative to reveal the folly of those who uphold the belief in the resurrection. It is possible that such events truly occurred within their lifetimes."},{"author-name":"Theophylact of Bulgaria","author-image":"https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6864003fdf3714da6ff0b33a/68c8989296bafed9104677d7_Theophylact%20of%20Bulgaria.png","category":"Holy Fathers and Teachers","century":11,"exegesis-text":"Would the third brother, having observed the experiences of those before him, not have had the wisdom to decline the marriage? They mentioned there were \\"seven\\" brothers to ridicule the profound mystery of the resurrection in a more scornful manner."},{"author-name":"Euthymios Zigabenos","author-image":"https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6864003fdf3714da6ff0b33a/68c96d263b8c22d9c467bdab_no-pic-theosis.png","category":"Christian Authors","century":11,"exegesis-text":"Seven individuals are presented to complicate the inquiry. The Sadducees aimed to challenge Jesus on whether he would affirm the existence of one spouse or seven. They would argue that if marriages were to occur again, it would imply the continuation of childbirth, property acquisition, trials, wars, sickness, death, and all other experiences akin to this present life. If life were to remain the same, then the resurrection would be rendered meaningless, leading to the conclusion that there is no resurrection. This poses the question: What role does Christ play?\\n\\nIn this allegory, the wife symbolizes human nature, while the seven brothers represent the divine laws bestowed upon her at different intervals for the cultivation and production of righteousness. Living successively with each of these laws, akin to husbands, she bore no true fruit from any of them. The first law was given to Adam in Eden, the second was granted to him outside of Eden as a consequence, the third was delivered to Noah concerning the ark, the fourth was given to Abraham regarding circumcision, the fifth reiterated to him about the sacrifice of Isaac, the sixth was presented to Moses, and the seventh was shared through the prophets.\\n\\nDeceivers, intent on undermining the belief in resurrection, subtly pose the question: If there is to be a resurrection of the dead, under which of these seven laws will human nature live? Regardless of the law selected, the implication would be that human existence would revert to being barren and devoid of meaning, trapped by the same trials of old. However, the true and salvific message of godliness silences such claims, affirming that after the resurrection, life will take on a new form. Whether one interprets the present world as seven thousand years or seven epochs during which humanity has existed, the essence remains unchanged. After the resurrection, human nature will not be bound to any of them, as they will all conclude, and she will embrace a new age, the eighth, which will be eternal."},{"author-name":"Abbot Panteleimon about the Trinity","author-image":"https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6864003fdf3714da6ff0b33a/68c96d263b8c22d9c467bdab_no-pic-theosis.png","category":"Christian Authors","century":19,"exegesis-text":"The second man took her as his wife and died without offspring. The third man did the same, along with the others up to the seventh, yet none of them had children."},{"author-name":"Michail (Lusin)","author-image":"https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6864003fdf3714da6ff0b33a/68c89550c567e172d15b3055_Michail%20(Lusin).png","category":"Christian Authors","century":19,"exegesis-text":"The Sadducees approached the Savior with a peculiar narrative rather than addressing the resurrection directly. They presented an unusual scenario involving seven brothers and a single wife, aiming to confuse Him and challenge both the existence of resurrection and its nature as implied by His teachings. In an attempt to sidestep the question of why one woman had multiple husbands, they referenced Moses, although their entire story appeared fabricated. The notion that a third brother would marry her after the first two had died would likely deter any further brothers from doing the same, as they would fear facing a similar fate. This aversion to death was a common sentiment among the Jews. The Sadducees' choice to state that one woman had seven husbands was an effort to mock the doctrine of resurrection, believing this would leave Jesus without a rebuttal. By invoking the Mosaic law and creating complications in reconciling it with the idea of resurrection, the Sadducees aimed to suggest that resurrection was, in their view, incompatible with the divine law intended to direct faith."},{"author-name":"Gladkow B.I.","author-image":"https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6864003fdf3714da6ff0b33a/68c88bf0ceef8c96e09a6521_Gladkow%20B.I..png","category":"Christian Authors","century":19,"exegesis-text":"Citing the Mosaic law, they remarked, \\"There were seven brothers; the first married but died without leaving any children. His wife was taken by the second brother, who also died childless. This continued with the third brother, then the fourth, until all seven had married her and all died without offspring. Eventually, the woman herself passed away. In the event of a resurrection, whose wife will she be? She had seven husbands! It seems unreasonable for her to be the wife of all or none, as that would lead to a contradiction. Such an esteemed and divinely inspired figure as Moses surely would not permit contradictions within his laws. Therefore, based on Moses' teachings, resurrection cannot occur.\\""},{"author-name":"Lopuchin A.P.","author-image":"https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6864003fdf3714da6ff0b33a/68c891400ee1341634d2276d_Lopuchin%20A.P..png","category":"Christian Authors","century":19,"exegesis-text":"The primary followers of Christ until that point had been the Pharisees. Meanwhile, the Sadducees, a group comprised of the affluent and religious leaders, had largely stayed aloof from the events surrounding Christ, treating Him with the disdain typical of their views towards the uneducated Galileans. However, as the teachings of the Galilean were now being widely discussed throughout Jerusalem, and they had heard of the remarkable responses He had given that captivated the Pharisees, the Sadducees resolved to engage with the preacher in order to challenge Him regarding His understanding of the law and Jewish theology. To this end, they constructed a particularly intricate question centered on an area where they openly doubted—namely, the concepts of the afterlife and resurrection. They presented an example from rabbinic discourse involving a woman who had been married successively to seven brothers, each of whom died without leaving children, and sought to determine to whom she would belong in the resurrection. While fictitious, this scenario was plausible because the law required that if a husband died without heirs, his brother was to marry the widow to preserve his lineage and continue his name, with the firstborn from this second marriage regarded as the son of the deceased. Holding no belief in the afterlife or resurrection, and assuming that Jesus shared the Pharisees' views on these matters, they relished the thought of ensnaring Him with such perplexing queries, hoping to mock Him and discredit the very doctrine of resurrection. Although some rabbis had a more elevated perspective on the afterlife, the majority clung to rather crude ideas. They envisioned the resurrection as a restoration not only of individuals to their previous physical forms but also to their previous desires and inclinations; the resurrected would partake in eating, drinking, and marrying, and even arise wearing the same garments they had before, with exact likenesses and imperfections, so that they could be recognized as those whom others had known in life. The question posed by the Sadducees had already found expression among the Rabbis, who suggested that \\"a woman who has been married to two husbands in this world will be given to the first in the world to come.\\" With these crude, sensual notions in mind and a general rejection of resurrection (which, they believed, was not supported by the teachings of the Mosaic Pentateuch that they accepted), they approached the Savior with their inquiry."},{"author-name":"Paul Matwejewski","author-image":"https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6864003fdf3714da6ff0b33a/68c8969f5be0d592d5a10576_Paul%20Matwejewski.png","category":"Christian Authors","century":19,"exegesis-text":"Numerous temptations awaited Him, yet the Lord, in His profound wisdom, vanquished them with a heart full of love and mercy. After the Pharisees were silenced, new challengers approached Jesus Christ—the Sadducees, albeit with less malicious intent. They had always been adversaries to the superstitious zeal of the Pharisees, rejecting beliefs in the soul's immortality and denying the existence of resurrection, angels, or spirits (Acts 23:8). Seeking to exploit the vulnerabilities of their opponents and elevate their own status among the people, they boldly presented a question to the Divine Teacher—a query that served as a central argument in their debates with the Pharisees concerning the resurrection of the dead and the immortality of souls. \\n\\nThe Pharisees, whose understanding of the afterlife was grounded in a sensual comparison to earthly life, found themselves unable to adequately address this inquiry. At first glance, the reasoning of the Sadducees appeared compelling, yet, as St. John Chrysostom noted, it was based on 'some fable, an incident unprecedented.' By invoking the Mosaic Law regarding levirate marriage (Deuteronomy 25:5-10; Genesis 38:8), they aimed to endow their hypothetical scenario with a facade of credibility, aiming for their conclusion to seem convincingly solid. \\n\\nLike the Pharisees, they approached the Lord with all outward expressions of respect, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote unto us, saying, If any brother die, and leave his wife, but leave no children, let his brother marry his wife, and raise up seed to his brother. There were seven brothers; the first married and died childless. The second married her, and he too died without children; likewise the third. All seven had her, and left no children. Last of all, the woman died. Now then, in the resurrection, when they rise again, whose wife will she be? For all seven had her as a wife.” The Pharisees might have argued that the woman would belong to the first husband after the resurrection, yet such a response would not resolve all complexities, leaving the claims of the other rightful husbands unaddressed. The Sadducees likely assumed that the Savior adhered to the Pharisaic belief in immortality, and thus anticipated that their question would place Him in a severe predicament. They believed He faced two options: either accept polygamy, which would contradict the Law of Moses, or deny the resurrection of the dead—convinced of their anticipated victory."},{"author-name":"Bogolepow D.P.","author-image":"https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6864003fdf3714da6ff0b33a/68c96d263b8c22d9c467bdab_no-pic-theosis.png","category":"Christian Authors","century":19,"exegesis-text":"The collaboration of the Sadducees with the Pharisees in this matter is not clearly demonstrated in the Gospel narratives. It is plausible that they, observing the way Jesus Christ had embarrassed the Pharisees and deriving joy from it, now desired to join Him in mocking the Pharisees' doctrine of the resurrection of the dead. This belief held that, upon the arrival of the Messiah, all Israelite individuals would come back to life and inhabit the holy land. The response of Jesus Christ, however, brought satisfaction to the scribes (Luke 39), and the Sadducees' defeat through His answer propelled the Pharisees (Matthew 34). The Sadducees contended that, according to the law ofLevirate marriage (Deuteronomy 25:5-6), a woman could have multiple husbands during her lifetime, thereby rendering the resurrection life, as conceived by the Pharisees, difficult to comprehend. Consequently, they felt compelled to either dismiss this law as irrational or to deny the resurrection of the dead altogether; however, since the divinely ordained law cannot be deemed unreasonable, they believed it logically indicated the non-existence of resurrection. Their objection stemmed from a materially focused perception of existence after resurrection. Accordingly, Jesus Christ asserted that the Sadducees, like the Pharisees, ‘do not know the Scriptures.’ He clarified their misunderstanding by declaring that after the resurrection, ‘they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like the angels of God in heaven’ (Matthew 30). Given that the Sadducees' challenge was rooted in the notion that a decomposed human body cannot rise, the Lord pointed out that they were ignorant of “the power of God” and demonstrated through the Scriptures (Exodus 3:6) that life extends beyond death, confirming the promise of resurrection."},{"author-name":"Alexander Gorsky","author-image":"https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6864003fdf3714da6ff0b33a/68c8884037c1e1c51e1332e2_Alexander%20Gorsky.png","category":"Christian Authors","century":19,"exegesis-text":"When the Pharisees were rendered speechless by this response, the group of Sadducees from the same Sanhedrin, taking pleasure in their embarrassment, quickly posed a question concerning the belief in the resurrection of the dead, which they had previously dismissed due to the absurd implications they believed it held. Just as the Lord had addressed the Pharisees, He approached the Sadducees by challenging the very foundation of the misconception they upheld. They cited the case of a woman who had married seven brothers according to human law. The Lord clarified for the Sadducees that their misunderstanding arose from two main flaws: their inability to comprehend the Scriptures and their failure to grasp the omnipotence of God. Had they truly understood even the texts they recognized—not only in their literal sense but also in their intended meaning—they would have seen the necessary link between the doctrines contained within these writings and the belief in the everlasting existence of the soul. Moreover, if they had grasped God's omnipotence, they would not envision human existence in the afterlife as merely an extension of current experiences, but would acknowledge that God has the ability to bestow upon human life a transformed and glorified essence. He then revealed that eternal life must align with the existence of higher spiritual beings. In support of His assertion, He referenced the phrases found frequently within the books of Moses that mention God as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. How could God maintain such an intimate relationship with these significant figures and attribute such value and honor to them, being identified as their God, if they were merely ephemeral beings and not destined for eternity?"}]}
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