Take your Bibles with me one more time and go to Luke chapter 20.
As you’re turning there, let me remind you what’s going on in this passage. Jesus is in Jerusalem during His final week before the crucifixion. He came from Jericho with massive crowds cheering Him on and shouting messianic psalms. They wanted Him to be their king—they were recognizing Him as the Messiah. Then He entered the temple, threw over the tables, and drove out the money changers and the merchants selling overpriced sacrifices and offerings. He began teaching in the temple, and He did this for several days. Most of this chapter records the temple leaders confronting Jesus, challenging His authority to do these things. And that’s where we’re picking up this morning.
What we’re going to talk about today is a hard truth about religion. There are lots of different kinds of religion. Many people claim to speak for God, but a lot of it is just a racket. They’ve figured out that there’s money to be made—or power, prestige, and other advantages to be gained—by wrapping themselves in religious language. This was true in Jesus’ day, and it’s still true in our day. The sad truth is, just because you’re religious doesn’t mean you’re a true believer.
There was a lot of uproar a couple of weeks ago about Elon Musk becoming the first trillionaire. Of course, he doesn’t have a trillion dollars sitting in the bank. He owns companies worth that much. But here’s the crazy truth: If American religion were a publicly traded company, the person who owned the largest share of it would be richer than Elon Musk.
Religion in America has been estimated to have a $1.2 trillion annual economic impact. Just the congregations alone—add up all the individual churches—take in about $418 billion every year. (That’s all of them combined. That’s not our church—you could look at our budget; it’s probably less than some of you make in a single year.) When you add in other religious institutions and faith-related businesses, the total climbs well over a trillion dollars a year flowing through religion. Anytime that much money is moving, there will always be people ready to take advantage of it.
And we see these people, don’t we? There are the big, obvious offenders. You’ve got guys like Creflo Dollar with his private jets and sprawling mansions. You’ve got Joel Osteen, whose house should probably have its own zip code. Or more brazen operators like Benny Hinn, who for decades has flown around the world living like a king—often making his money off the hopes of poor people.
But I think Jesus shows us in this passage that there are far more people using religion to their own advantage than just these high-profile examples. The Bible teaches that many will stand before God on the day of judgment and say, “Lord, Lord, we did many wonderful works in Your name.” And He will say to them, “I never knew you. Depart from Me.” The scary truth is that just because you’re religious doesn’t mean you’re a true believer. Many religious people miss Christ. Many miss the gospel entirely.
So I think it’s worth our time this morning to look carefully at these two groups of people that Jesus confronts in this passage.
Let's read Luke chapter 20:27-47 this morning.
[27] Then came to him certain of the Sadducees, which deny that there is any resurrection; and they asked him,
[28] Saying, Master, Moses wrote unto us, If any man's brother die, having a wife, and he die without children, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother.
[29] There were therefore seven brethren: and the first took a wife, and died without children.
[30] And the second took her to wife, and he died childless.
[31] And the third took her; and in like manner the seven also: and they left no children, and died.
[32] Last of all the woman died also.
[33] Therefore in the resurrection whose wife of them is she? for seven had her to wife.
[34] And Jesus answering said unto them, The children of this world marry, and are given in marriage:
[35] But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage:
[36] Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection.
[37] Now that the dead are raised, even Moses shewed at the bush, when he calleth the Lord the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.
[38] For he is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto him.
[39] Then certain of the scribes answering said, Master, thou hast well said.
[40] And after that they durst not ask him any question at all.
[41] And he said unto them, How say they that Christ is David's son?
[42] And David himself saith in the book of Psalms, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand,
[43] Till I make thine enemies thy footstool.
[44] David therefore calleth him Lord, how is he then his son?
[45] Then in the audience of all the people he said unto his disciples,
[46] Beware of the scribes, which desire to walk in long robes, and love greetings in the markets, and the highest seats in the synagogues, and the chief rooms at feasts;
[47] Which devour widows' houses, and for a shew make long prayers: the same shall receive greater damnation.
Luke 20:27-47 (KJV)
1. The Sadducees - Religious Unbelievers
Luke 20 introduces us to a new group of people that the book of Luke hasn’t mentioned yet: the Sadducees. The Sadducees were the political group that controlled the temple. They were the high priests and their families. They had been questioning Jesus about His authority, and now they’re bringing a doctrinal question—an intellectual trap they think will expose Him as an ignorant rube.
So who were these Sadducees? They were the elites of Israel—smug intellectuals who didn’t believe very much. They basically threw out most of the Bible except for the Pentateuch, the five books of Moses. They did not believe in an afterlife. They did not believe in the resurrection. They did not believe that people would one day stand before God in judgment. They did not believe that God actively interacted with the world. Their faith was minimal at best.
This theology worked out very well for them because they were rich. They were the haves, not the have-nots. They lived like kings. They had tremendous power. This world—this present life—was very good to them. So it didn’t serve their interests to think much about the life to come. They were in cahoots with the Romans, because the Romans allowed them to keep running their system of exploitation. Clearly, they were using their religion for status and financial gain.
I didn’t grow up around here. I grew up in the Boston area—a place where, at least intellectually (if not always financially), a large number of our nation’s elites live. I remember going to churches with my extended family where the pastors and leaders had been educated at places like Harvard and Yale. And many of them openly didn’t believe very much of the Bible. They didn’t believe it was the inerrant Word of God. They didn’t believe in the virgin birth. They didn’t believe in the resurrection. They rejected much of the Bible’s moral teaching—and yet they still called themselves a Baptist church.
This, if you’re wondering, is what we call theological liberalism. And while it’s not as popular as it once was, it’s still around. It’s still a force. There are still churches—even some in our own town—where, if you pressed the leaders, they would admit they don’t really believe most of the Scriptures. I’ve had conversations with some of you about former churches you attended right around here, and you’ve told me stories of pastors who didn’t believe the Bible was truly the Word of God.
Now, why would someone even go to church—or lead a church—if they don’t believe God exists, or that the Bible is true? Why preach the Bible if you don’t think it’s real? The reason is simple: there are benefits to the religious game. You get the benefit of community. You get the respect that comes with being seen as a church-going person. If you’re a business owner, you gain a built-in network of potential customers and connections.
It used to be that in every American town, the mainline denominational churches were the big ones. Starting in the early 1900s, many of them became more and more theologically liberal. Over time, they essentially killed themselves. Why would you keep going to a church that doesn’t believe anything? The political liberals who once filled those pews eventually rejected religion altogether. Many of those churches are dying or dead today, but some are still hanging on.
The Sadducees were the first-century equivalent of these mainline, theologically liberal churches. They were elites—highly intellectual, very wealthy men—who denied anything supernatural in the Scriptures. And now here they come, ready to ask Jesus what they think is their ultimate gotcha question.
In the Old Testament law, there was something called levirate marriage. Because the land God had given to each family was so important to pass down to their children, if a man married a wife and then died without having any children, his brother was supposed to take her as his wife and raise up children for his deceased brother. It sounds very foreign and strange to us today, but that was the law. By the way, this is the legal background for the book of Ruth.
So the Sadducees came with their gotcha question. They invented this ridiculous hypothetical about a family of seven brothers. All seven of them, one after another, marry the same woman, and all of them die without having any children. Then they ask: “In the resurrection, whose wife will she be?” In other words, when we all die and go to heaven, which man gets this woman? After all, every one of them has been married to her.
I’m sure this wasn’t the first time the Sadducees had asked this question. They loved using it on the Pharisees—their political opponents—to make them look like ignorant rubes who didn’t know what they were talking about. Now they think they’re going to trap Jesus with it. But they are greatly underestimating Christ and His wisdom. Jesus is the personification of all intelligence and wisdom. He is the Word of God incarnate. And He’s about to make these men look foolish.
What Christ does in this passage is show them two things. First, He shows them that they don’t understand the resurrection. Look with me again at verses 34 to 36:
[34] And Jesus answering said unto them, The children of this world marry, and are given in marriage: [35] But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage: [36] Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection. (Luke 20:34-36, KJV)
The Bible doesn’t tell us a whole lot about what heaven will be like or what the next life will be like. Obviously, no one has gone there and come back to give us a full report, so it remains a mystery to us. In Jesus’ day, most people assumed the resurrected life would be just like this one, only a little better. But Jesus says, “No—that’s not true.” Life as resurrected people will be completely different. One of the biggest differences is that in the resurrection, there will be no marriage.
I preached a funeral this week for Brother Charlie Roberts. One thing that was clear about Brother Charlie is that he absolutely loved his wife. He lived to serve her, and he was very depressed when she passed away. At the service, I may have said something about them being reunited in heaven. I do believe we will know our family members and loved ones in heaven. In the story of the rich man and Lazarus, the rich man recognized people from earth even after death.
But the Bible is clear: we will not be married in heaven. We will be like the angels—not becoming angels, but like them in that we do not procreate. One of the main purposes of marriage here on earth is to continue the human race. But in the resurrection, since we will never die again and we will be eternal, there will be no need for procreation—and therefore no need for marriage.
The Sadducees (and many of the Pharisees) were assuming the next life would be just like this one. Jesus corrects them sharply: “You don’t understand at all. It’s going to be nothing like this life. There will be no marriage.”
Now, that might make some of you sad. I love my wife. I love being married. I don’t want to live this life without Amanda—she is my companion, my best friend, and the love of my life. She is a gift from God to me. It’s not that we won’t know each other in heaven. But what God has planned for us there—though we can’t fully understand it now—will be far better.
By the way, this is a very different conception of heaven than what many false religions of the world teach. Islam, for example, teaches that the faithful will go to paradise and enjoy unending virgins. Mormons teach that in heaven you can become a small god and populate new worlds with your wife—if you were married in the temple.
But what Jesus teaches—and what the Bible teaches—is that heaven for us will be completely different from this world. It will be far better, and it is beyond our ability right now to fully understand.
So Jesus showed them first that they didn’t understand the resurrection. The second thing He showed them is that they didn’t understand the Bible—because the resurrection is biblical.
Remember, the Sadducees only accepted the books of the Pentateuch—the five books of Moses, Genesis through Deuteronomy. They claimed those books didn’t teach the resurrection, didn’t teach about angels, and didn’t teach about divine judgment. Jesus is about to prove them wrong.
Look with me at verses 37 and 38:
[37] Now that the dead are raised, even Moses shewed at the bush, when he calleth the Lord the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. [38] For he is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto him. (Luke 20:37-38, KJV)
Jesus points these Sadducees to that very famous passage in Exodus where Moses meets God at the burning bush. God says to Moses, “I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”
Notice that He didn’t say, “I was the God of Abraham. I was the God of Isaac. I was the God of Jacob.” He said, “I am the God of Abraham.”
Think about it. When you talk about someone who has passed away—let’s say your parents died many years ago—I wouldn’t say to you, “I am a good friend of your dad who passed away ten years ago.” I would say, “I was a good friend of your dad.” When we say “I am,” it assumes an active, ongoing relationship—that the person is still around.
Jesus is pointing out that God would not say, “I am the God of Abraham” if Abraham were not still alive to Him. Abraham is still alive. He has been resurrected. He is living with God. The same is true of Isaac and Jacob. God is the God of the living, and all live unto Him.
That should be encouraging to you. It means your loved ones who have died in Christ are still very much alive to God. One day you will know them again. They still have their names. They still carry their identity. Yes, the resurrection will be different—but it doesn’t mean we will be completely different people who don’t even know who we were. We will continue on into the next world, and best of all, we will know the Lord.
And so Jesus points out that these Sadducees were religious unbelievers. They didn’t really understand the Scriptures, and they didn’t understand the power of God. In fact, in the parallel passage in the book of Mark, Jesus concludes by saying, “You are mistaken because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.”
I would say to anyone who wants to attend a church that denies the inerrancy of Scripture, denies the resurrection of Christ, denies the virgin birth, or denies the afterlife—you are in error. You do not understand the Scriptures, and you do not understand the power of God. It is a pointless undertaking to have religion without God.
There’s a second group of people in this passage—the scribes. And they liked what they heard. They liked that Jesus had just deftly answered these snooty, well-to-do, smug Sadducees who had been making fun of them for centuries for believing in the resurrection. But Jesus is going to deal with them too.
If the Sadducees were religious unbelievers, the scribes were religious opportunists.
2. The Scribes - Religious Opportunists
Scribes, by the way, is a word for Bible scholars. These were the upper rung of the Pharisees—their pastors, their seminary professors, the people who knew the Scripture better than anyone else. In many ways, they were better than the Sadducees. They tried to live holy lives. They believed all of the Scripture—not just the Pentateuch, but the whole Word of God.
Yet Jesus is going to show that they too were using their religion for status and money. The biggest evidence is that they had rejected Christ. These were the people who knew the Scriptures best. They had been talking about the Messiah for hundreds of years, pointing to Him, teaching about Him—and now the Messiah stood right in front of them, and they wanted nothing to do with Him.
So Jesus asked them a question. Look at verse 41:
[41] And he said unto them, How say they that Christ is David’s son? [42] And David himself saith in the book of Psalms, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, [43] Till I make thine enemies thy footstool. [44] David therefore calleth him Lord, how is he then his son? (Luke 20:41-44, KJV)
The common title for the Messiah was “the son of David.” So when Jesus asked them about the Christ (by the way, “Christ” is not Jesus’ last name—it means “Messiah”), they would have answered, “He’s the son of David.” Jesus points out that they didn’t know everything about the Messiah. Just as the Sadducees didn’t fully understand the resurrection, the scribes didn’t fully understand the Messiah.
He directs them to a Psalm where David, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, calls the Messiah “my Lord.” Jesus asks: How can the Messiah be both David’s son and David’s Lord?
We know the answer: Jesus came as the God-man. He is the son of David—we can trace that in the genealogies at the beginning of Matthew and Luke, through both His stepfather Joseph and His mother Mary. If the kingdom had been established at that time, He would have been the rightful king. But He is much more than that. Because He was born of a virgin, He is the Son of God—Emmanuel, God with us.
It is because He is both fully man and fully God that He could go to the cross and bear our sins. If He were only God, He couldn’t be a true substitute for man. If He were only a man—no matter how innocent—He couldn’t bear the sins of the whole world. But as the God-man, born without sin, He went to the cross as our perfect substitute and counted for us all.
Yet these very religious scribes had already rejected Him.
So look how Jesus ends this chapter. He turns to His disciples and speaks loud enough for the whole crowd to hear:
[46] Beware of the scribes, which desire to walk in long robes, and love greetings in the markets, and the highest seats in the synagogues, and the chief rooms at feasts; [47] Which devour widows’ houses, and for a shew make long prayers: the same shall receive greater damnation. (Luke 20:46-47, KJV)
These scribes represent another common error in religion. This error isn’t the error of unbelief. It’s the error of using religion for our own selfish ends.
The scribes wore special clothes that marked them out as important. Everywhere they went, they wanted everyone to see that they were the holy ones. They wore these long, flowing robes. (By the way, those robes also conveniently kept them from doing any menial work—you couldn’t do real labor dressed like that.) They loved it when people in the marketplace would say, “Oh, look—there’s the preacher!” They loved taking the highest seat in the synagogue where everyone could honor them. And they loved being seated at the VIP table at weddings and feasts.
They also received clear financial benefits. In those days, preachers were supported largely by direct gifts from the people. These scribes taught that one of the best ways to receive blessing was to give generously to the preacher—and they were very manipulative about it. Jesus said they “devour widows’ houses.” They took advantage of the most vulnerable people in society for their own enrichment.
Jesus also said they “make long prayers for a show.” I read something powerful this week from G. Campbell Morgan, the great London preacher from the late 1800s and early 1900s. Morgan said that when you’re only away from your wife for a short time, you write her a short letter. But when you’ve been far away from her for a long time, you write a much longer letter. He concluded: People who pray these long, showy prayers must have been away from God for a long time.
There are still people today who love the status of being the holy man. They love the title of preacher. They make a big deal about their religiosity. But Jesus wanted everyone to be warned about them. He pulled back the curtain so their real motivations could be seen by all.
I know some independent Baptists who think you’re not a real preacher unless you’re dressed to the nines all the time. They joke about wearing an old suit to mow the lawn. They talk in a completely different language from everybody else, and they absolutely love to be recognized—“Doctor So-and-so,” “Pastor So-and-so.”
I remember one time when I was working at a camp in Knoxville. The camp was hosting a pastors’ conference, and as the men were arriving at the beginning of the week, I recognized a pastor from up in the Northeast. I was holding the door open for him, sincerely excited to meet him. I said, “Oh, it’s so good to see you, Brother So-and-so!” He stopped, looked at me, and corrected me: “It’s Pastor So-and-so.”
There are people who are in it for these little rewards. Jesus wanted us to be warned about this kind of showy religion—the kind that draws attention to ourselves instead of to Christ.
Conclusion
So what does all of this mean for us this morning?
Jesus exposed two dangerous religious errors in this passage: the error of unbelief (the Sadducees and their modern counterparts who deny the clear teaching of Scripture) and the error of religious opportunism (the scribes who used godliness for personal gain and status).
Both groups looked very religious. Both claimed to speak for God. But both missed Jesus.
True Christianity is not about what you do—how religious you look, how well you perform, or how much status you gain. True Christianity is about what you do with Jesus and what you do with God’s Word.
Do you know the Scriptures? Do you know the power of God? Have you come to Jesus—not as a religious prop, not as a means to an end, but as the crucified, risen Lord and Savior?
If you’ve never trusted Christ alone for salvation, today is the day. He is the God-man who died in your place and rose again. He offers forgiveness and new life—not because of your religious performance, but because of His perfect sacrifice. Turn from your sin and trust Him today.
And for those of us who are believers: Let this passage search our hearts. Are we in danger of becoming modern-day scribes—loving the title, the recognition, or the little rewards more than we love Christ Himself? Or have we drifted toward a comfortable unbelief that picks and chooses what we like from the Bible?
Let’s repent of every form of false religion. Let’s cling to Christ and to His Word. Let’s live for His glory alone.
If the Lord has spoken to you this morning—whether for salvation or for genuine repentance—don’t leave here the same. Come and talk with me or one of our men after the service. Let today be the day you settle it with God.
Let’s pray.
