Year: 2021

“Jesus spoke to them, ‘Isn’t this the reason why you’re mistaken: you don’t know the Scriptures or the power of God? For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage but are like angels in heaven. And as for the dead being raised – haven’t you read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the burning bush, how God said to him: I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob? He is not the God of the dead but of the living. You are badly mistaken.'” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Have you ever been in a fight with another person? I’m not talking about a rhetorical squabble, but an honest-to-goodness physical altercation. Thankfully, I haven’t. I’m not looking for that either. As a general rule, I try and avoid getting hit as often as I can. But if you were to be in a fight, it would be a whole lot easier if your opponent was made out of straw. A strawman, you see, can’t hit back. Well, what applies to our bodies, applies to our words as well here. Often when someone is going to get into a rhetorical battle with an ideological opponent, rather than engaging that opponent directly, he will create a ridiculously weak strawman of his opponent and proceed to demolish it. Then, when the dust settles, he will plant a rhetorical foot on the vanquished foe’s back and declare victory. And while this scene may be convincing to some, the trouble is, the actual opponent is not only still standing, but has done the same thing. Both parties are declaring unequivocal victory over the other without ever having actually engaged with each others’ arguments. Well, when someone accustomed to taking down strawman opponents comes face to face with an actual opponent who is well-prepared for the confrontation the outcome generally isn’t pretty. When a group of Sadducees got their turn to try and embarrass Jesus with a trick question, this is exactly what happened.