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Beware the Hypothetical
In Mathew 22:23-33, we learn an interesting lesson regarding the limitations of human reasoning. The Sadducees, who don’t believe there is a resurrection, come to Jesus with their favorite argument. They present Him with a bizarre hypothetical situation as follows:
“Teacher, Moses commanded (Deuteronomy 25:5-6) that if a man dies without children, the man’s brother shall marry his widow and raise up an heir for his brother. Now suppose there were seven brothers. The first brother gets married, and then promptly dies before having any children. One of his brothers then takes his widow as his wife, as Moses commanded. Unfortunately, this brother doesn’t live long enough to have children either. The same unlikely pattern continues with brothers three through seven, until all of them are dead. Finally their widow dies, having been married to all seven brothers. Now Teacher, in the resurrection, who is married to whom?”
The Sadducees were very proud of this argument. It seems to present an impossible dilemma – clearly the woman must be married to one of the brothers, but which one? Since the Sadducees were unable to come up with a solution to this dilemma, they concluded that it was impossible to solve, and therefore the resurrection was impossible. Imagine their chagrin when Jesus demolishes their argument with a single sentence: “You are greatly mistaken, knowing neither the scriptures nor the power of God; for in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like the angels of God in heaven.” Matthew 22:29-30. With this one statement, Jesus destroys the argument of the Sadducees by pointing out that one of their fundamental assumptions is wrong – there will be no marriage in the resurrection.
This entire situation highlights for us the dangers of hypothetical reasoning. The Sadducees had spent a great deal of time preparing this hypothetical situation. They had contemplated all of the solutions they could imagine and adjusted the hypothetical situation until there was no solution that remained. Or so they thought. The problem, as Jesus pointed out, was first of all that they did not understand the scriptures. They had set for themselves the impossible task of proving something that was directly contrary to scripture. Jesus mentions just one of many passages in the Old Testament that prove that there is indeed a resurrection. This gives us our most important lesson - No hypothetical situation, however convoluted or seemingly unanswerable, can change the simple truth of scripture. God’s word is the only source of absolute truth. If there is a conflict between His Word and our reasoning, it is our reasoning that is at fault.
Jesus also explains to the Sadducees the solution to their hypothetical situation. After telling them that they do not understand the scriptures, He also states that they do not understand the power of God. His explanation of the solution to the problem is quite simple – there is no marriage in heaven. This was clearly a possibility that had never occurred to the Sadducees. They had unconsciously limited God by assuming that heaven is like earth. In their arrogance, they assumed that since they could find no explanation for their hypothetical situation that included the resurrection, then neither could God. This leads us to another important lesson. Just because I cannot see a solution to a problem does not mean that no solution exists. Truth exists independent of whether we understand it or not.
Why is this relevant to us today? The devil still uses hypothetical situations like this one to try to confuse us concerning the simple truths of God. The devil uses this tactic in many arguments concerning issues where the teaching of the Bible is simple, for example, issues such as lying, divorce, and murder. He crafts hypothetical situations far more devious and complex than the one the Sadducees approached Jesus with, but our approach must always be the same. God’s word is truth, and nothing can change that. Men can be mistaken, Jehovah cannot. Do not let Satan confuse you by clever trickery or complicated reasoning. Keep to the simple truths of God.
Paul Gaughan
