The logic behind the Sadducees’ question was flawed. In the legal clause they cited, a younger brother was responsible to provide an heir for his deceased older brother in order to keep his name alive (De. 24:5-6). This was a legal arrangement made on behalf of the older brother and did not preclude the younger brother from marrying a woman of his choice and raising children in his own name. Therefore, if the older brother and the woman were reunited in resurrection, she would be his wife as before.

Jesus, however, sidestepped the technicalities of the law and said something unexpected and unknown: Resurrected people do not marry (v. 30). The most intimate relationship between humans on earth does not exist in heaven. Could this have something to do with the church’s marriage to Jesus? (2 Cor. 11:2; Ep. 5:25-33; Rev. 19:7-9).

There were two reasons why the Sadducees were mistaken regarding the resurrection: First, they did not understand the Scriptures and, second, they did not understand the power of God. Where do the Hebrew Scriptures teach the resurrection? Jesus pointed to a reference we may have read a hundred times and yet never seen resurrection in it. At the burning bush, God identified himself to Moses as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob–the three patriarchs of Israel who had died in the world yet still lived in God.

The criterion for resurrection is relational! Those who belong to God continue to live in him. This is the very purpose for Christ’s coming (Jn. 3:16).

Thank You, Lord Jesus, for setting the Sadducees straight. As for us, we do not want to be mistaken regarding the Scriptures and the power of God. We do not want to have a lot of information about our Father but no experience. We want to know His power as well as His word. So, please, set us straight too.

The Pharisees had set out to lay a trap for Jesus. Their plot and the intention behind it is a tribute to Jesus’ integrity. If he had been a heretic or a criminal, there would be no need for plots and tricks. All they would have to do is use his own words and actions against him.

The idea of trying to catch Jesus in a trap suggests an image of hunters rigging a net or snare to catch a large and powerful animal (picture a lion bound with ropes). It is sad to think of Jesus tied to a post or thrown into a cage.

Using questions for bait, the Pharisees posed a conundrum that was sure to throw Jesus for a loss regardless of how he answered. Should they pay taxes to Caesar, the Emperor of an oppressive and pagan kingdom in which he was worshiped as a god? To say yes would compromise the purity of Jesus’ spiritual teaching as well as outrage the crowd who deeply resented Roman taxation. But to say no would certainly bring the wrath of the Roman government down on Jesus’ head.

But Jesus cannot be trapped or tricked. “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and to God the things that are God’s,” he says, and the Pharisees turn tail and run. Those who attempt to attack Jesus end up wounding themselves.

We are amazed at Your wisdom, Lord Jesus, and how you turned the enemies’ weapons back on their own heads. But have we also come to You and asked, “What is lawful?” when the real question is not moral but relational? In every situation and regarding every decision, teach us to ask, “To whom does this belong? To whom am I obligated?” and most importantly, “To Whom do I belong?”

Jesus used this parable to answer a question and to forcefully reiterate a point he had made on several previous occasions. The question the parable answers was the one put to him by the chief priests and the elders, “By what authority are You doing these things, and who gave You this authority?” (v. 23). The point he had made before and was driving home again was that kingdom of God would be taken from the religious people who assumed they were God’s favorites, while streaming into it would be Gentiles, tax collectors, and prostitutes (Mt. 8:11-12; 21:31).

Jesus appealed to an image had already been made explicit by the prophet Isaiah (Isa. 5:1-7). So –although the Lord slightly reworked it, because in the earlier version the people addressed were compared to (bad) grapes while in Jesus’ version they were the vine-growers (Isa. 5:2). At any rate, in both cases it turned out badly for the audiences to whom the parables were directed.

There are only two classes of people in Jesus’ parable. First there are those who try to control religion, keep it to themselves, and personally profit from it. The other group are those to whom the vineyard (or kingdom of heaven) is graciously given and who faithfully turn its yield over to God.

When You come to us, O Lord, what sort of fruit do You hope to gather? What specific actions or accomplishments do You want us to present to You? Justice? Righteousness? Compassion? Although the specifics may not be clear to us, we have Your example and therefore trust that we will not be off the mark if we devote our lives to loving the Father with all our heart, mind, body, and spirit and loving our neighbor as ourselves.