“But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying,”
My Notes
What Does Matthew 22:31 Mean?
"But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying." Jesus responds to the Sadducees' denial of resurrection with another 'have ye not read?' — but with a crucial addition: 'that which was spoken unto YOU by GOD.' The text isn't just historical writing. It was spoken BY GOD. And it was spoken TO YOU — the Sadducees are the direct audience of divine speech. The Scripture isn't a dead document. It's a living God speaking to living people.
The phrase "spoken unto you by God" (to rhēthen hymin hypo tou theou — the thing spoken to you by God) makes THREE claims: (1) the text was SPOKEN (it's oral, personal, direct), (2) it was spoken to YOU (the present audience, not just ancient recipients), and (3) it was spoken BY GOD (divine authorship, not just human recording). The Scripture isn't an ancient document that records what God once said. It's God currently speaking to the people currently reading.
The "have ye not read" (ouk anegnōte — did you not read) is Jesus' recurring challenge to the biblically literate: the Sadducees only accepted the Pentateuch (the five books of Moses). Jesus will quote from EXODUS (3:6 — 'I am the God of Abraham') — a text the Sadducees DO accept. The argument comes from THEIR OWN Scripture. The resurrection evidence is in the books they claim to trust.
Reflection Questions
- 1.Do you read Scripture as God speaking to YOU — or as an ancient document about God?
- 2.What does 'spoken unto you' (present audience, not just ancient recipients) change about how you read the Bible?
- 3.How does Jesus finding resurrection evidence in the Sadducees' OWN text model using someone's accepted authority against their conclusions?
- 4.What present-tense truth is embedded in the grammar of a text you've been reading as past-tense?
Devotional
Have you not READ what was spoken to YOU by GOD? Jesus challenges the Sadducees with three claims in one sentence: the text was SPOKEN (it's personal, direct), it was spoken to YOU (you're the audience, right now), and it was spoken by GOD (divine authority, not human opinion). The Scripture isn't a museum exhibit. It's God talking to you.
The 'spoken unto you' makes the Scripture PRESENT-TENSE: the Sadducees treat the Pentateuch as an ancient document — historically interesting, legally authoritative, but essentially PAST. Jesus says: it was spoken TO YOU. Not to Moses. Not to the ancients. TO YOU — the people standing here right now. The text is a living communication from God to its current readers. The speaking didn't stop when the writing started.
The 'by God' makes the Scripture DIVINE: the Sadducees acknowledge that Moses wrote the Pentateuch. Jesus says: GOD spoke it. The authorship is DIVINE, not just human. The voice in the text is GOD'S voice. The words on the page carry GOD'S authority. When you read the text, you're hearing FROM GOD — not just reading ABOUT God.
The argument Jesus builds (verse 32 — 'I AM the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob' — present tense) uses the Sadducees' OWN text against their own theology: the verb 'am' (not 'was') means God IS currently the God of people who are currently alive. The dead patriarchs must therefore be ALIVE — because God isn't the God of the dead but of the living. The resurrection is embedded in the GRAMMAR of a text the Sadducees already accept.
Do you read Scripture as something spoken to you by God — or as an ancient document about God?
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
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