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“You Are Mistaken, Not Knowing the Scriptures”
You Are Mistaken, Not Knowing the Scriptures
David Sproule
The Pharisees and Sadducees were the two major Jewish sects during the lifetime of Jesus. The Sadducees were more inclined toward the political matters of the day than they were the law of God (to which some Christians ought to take note today), but to their credit (at least in this small point), they followed a strict interpretation of the Pentateuch, as opposed to revering the oral traditions like the Pharisees. So, if anyone in that day would have had a good working knowledge of the books of Moses, it would have been the Sadducees—right?
In Matthew 22, right after the Pharisees tried to “entangle” Jesus (22:15-22), “The same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him” (22:23). Notice how they begin their attempt to trap our Lord—they quote Scripture: “Teacher, Moses said…” (22:24). Then they proceeded to summarize the levirate marriage laws regulated by Moses in Deuteronomy 25:5-6, and then presented the Lord with an “impossible case” to solve in the implementation of that law, if there actually is a resurrection of the dead (which they did not believe). They were convinced that they (1) had indisputably proved their point and thus (2) had trapped Jesus in His own falsehood.
Look at how Jesus responds to their quotation and misapplication of Scripture: “You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures” (22:29). They had taken a verse and completely misused that verse to teach something that GOD (i.e., the BIBLE) did not teach.
So, how did Jesus answer their error? He showed what the fullness of Scripture teaches. One verse of Scripture cannot (and does not) contradict another. The fullness of God’s Word must be gathered (Psa. 119:160) and handled accurately (2 Tim. 2:15; 3:16-17). Remember that the Sadducees only believed and followed the Pentateuch portion of the Old Testament. So, Jesus went to that section of Scripture and said, “But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’?” (22:31-32). Jesus said that God said this “TO YOU.” It’s in your Bible! By quoting Exodus 3:6, Jesus allowed Scripture to prove that “God is not the God of the dead, but of the living” (22:32). The Bible clearly taught the resurrection!
When you get into a discussion with someone who has quoted a verse to you but the entirety of Scripture does not validate their conclusion from that one verse, Jesus taught us to use the fullness of Scripture. Let the Bible answer! It’s not “my verse versus your verse.” “The sum of God’s Word is truth!” The best commentary on the Bible is…the Bible!
