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Matthew

About this book
Chapter 22

1 Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: 2 “The kingdom of heaven can be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son.⁠ 3 He sent his slaves to summon those who had been invited to the banquet, but they would not come. 4 Again he sent other slaves, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited, “Look! The feast I have prepared for you is ready. My oxen and fattened cattle have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.”’ 5 But they were indifferent and went away, one to his farm, another to his business. 6 The rest seized his slaves, insolently mistreated them, and killed them. 7 The king was furious! He sent his soldiers, and they put those murderers to death and set their city on fire.⁠ 8 Then he said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but the ones who had been invited were not worthy. 9 So go into the main streets and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.’ 10 And those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all they found, both bad and good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests. 11 But when the king came in to see the wedding guests, he saw a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes.⁠ 12 And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ But he had nothing to say.⁠ 13 Then the king said to his attendants, ‘Tie him up hand and foot and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth!’⁠ 14 For many are called, but few are chosen.”⁠ 15 Then the Pharisees went out and planned together to entrap him with his own words. 16 They sent to him their disciples along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are truthful and teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You do not court anyone’s favor because you show no partiality. 17 Tell us then, what do you think? Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”⁠ 18 But Jesus realized their evil intentions and said, “Hypocrites! Why are you testing me? 19 Show me the coin used for the tax.” So they brought him a denarius. 20 Jesus said to them, “Whose image is this, and whose inscription?”⁠ 21 They replied, “Caesar’s.” He said to them, “Then give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”⁠ 22 Now when they heard this they were stunned, and they left him and went away. 23 The same day Sadducees (who say there is no resurrection) came to him and asked him, 24 “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies without having children, his brother must marry the widow and father children for his brother.’ 25 Now there were seven brothers among us. The first one married and died, and since he had no children he left his wife to his brother. 26 The second did the same, and the third, down to the seventh. 27 Last of all, the woman died. 28 In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had married her.” 29 Jesus answered them, “You are deceived because you don’t know the scriptures or the power of God. 30 For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.⁠ 31 Now as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God,⁠ 32 ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead but of the living!”⁠ 33 When the crowds heard this, they were amazed at his teaching. 34 Now when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they assembled together. 35 And one of them, an expert in religious law, asked him a question to test him: 36 “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” 37 Jesus said to him, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’⁠ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 The second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”⁠ 41 While the Pharisees were assembled, Jesus asked them a question: 42 “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” They said, “The son of David.” 43 He said to them, “How then does David by the Spirit call him ‘Lord,’ saying, 44 “‘The Lord said to my lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet”’? 45 If David then calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?” 46 No one was able to answer him a word, and from that day on no one dared to question him any longer.

Texts in conversation

Compare 1 Enoch 69:11 and Matthew 22:30

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · New Testament

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Summary

In Matthew, Jesus describes resurrected people as like angels, connected with purity and immortality. This tradition is based on texts like 1 Enoch, which also claim that humans were meant to be like angels, free from death, but lost this condition.

Passages

1 Enoch 69:11

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
9 He taught mankind how to write with ink and paper, which led many to sin from then until today. 10 For men were not created to confirm their promises with pen and ink. 11 For humans were created exactly like the angels, so that they might remain pure and righteous, and death, which corrupts everything, could not have touched them. But through this knowledge they perish, and through this power it is consuming me. 12 The fifth, Kâsdejâ, revealed to the children of men all the evil afflictions of spirits and demons, the striking of embryos in the womb to cause a miscarriage, the bites of the serpent, and the afflictions that come at noon, the son of the serpent named Tabâ'ět.
300 BCE – 100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 1 Enoch

Matthew 22:30

New Testament
28 In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had married her.” 29 Jesus answered them, “You are deceived because you don’t know the scriptures or the power of God. 30 For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 31 Now as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, 32 ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead but of the living!”
70–90 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Matthew

References

"... In the context of Matthew 22:30 the idea of being like angels may imply abstinence and purity, which, again, indicates complete righteousness. Elsewhere in Matthew angels are those who see the face of God (18:10). This also indicates righteousness and purity (5:8). A look at the parallel passage in Luke may provide further insight into the meaning of being like angels. “Indeed they cannot die anymore, because they are like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection.” (Luke 20:36). In Luke there is an emphasis on the immortality of the righteous in the age to come. This may simply provide the reason for absence of marriage, since immortality obviates the need for progeny, a reason that may also be implicitly present in Matthew. The explicit statement of immortality and furthermore becoming the children of God through the resurrection, however, clearly indicates a new state of being. I have already touched upon the possible Urzeit-Endzeit correlations with the description of the final state of the righteous by mentioning Adam and Eve's loss of glory in Apocalypse of Moses above. This possibility is further strengthened in light of 1 Enoch 69:11 ... These quotes indicate that the idea that humanity was created to be like angels was present in first-century Judaism. That Adam and Eve ate angelic food in the garden of Eden according to Life of Adam and Eve 4:2 may also indicate that. The thought of Adam as an angel is also found in Ezekiel 28:14 in a passage where the fall of the king of Tyre is described in terms of the fall of Adam: “You were an anointed cherub.” (Ezekiel 28:14a) ..."
Christian Holmgaard, “On Earth as It Is in Heaven: New Creation in Matthew's Gospel” (PhD diss., Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, 2018), 228.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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1 Enoch 69:11 and Matthew 22:30

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