Controversies — Tribute, Resurrection, the Great Commandment
In the temple courts on the Tuesday of Passion Week, the rulers send question after question to entrap Jesus — the Pharisees and Herodians on tribute to Caesar, the Sadducees on the resurrection, a lawyer on the great commandment — and one by one the schools of Judaism are put to silence; then he turns a question of his own upon them: how can David’s Lord also be David’s son?
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The reading is the Restoration Edition — the Joseph Smith Translation reading — carried beside each Gospel and set against the King James baseline. Headers give both numbering systems: the RE chapter and verse, and the traditional KJV reference.
Each movement Joseph discusses carries a JS link down to his letter; the letter carries a roman-numeral link back up to the movement.
The Pharisees and Herodians spring a trap baited on either side — say “pay” and offend the zealots, say “refuse” and commit treason. Jesus calls for the coin, reads its image, and gives back more than they asked: render to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.
15Then went the Pharisees and took counsel how they might entangle him in talk. 16And they sent out unto him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, Master, we know that you are true, and teach the way of God in truth. Neither care you for any, for you regard not the person of men. 17Tell us, therefore, What do you think? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar or not? 18But Jesus perceived their wickedness and said, You hypocrites, why do you test me? 19Show me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny. 20He said unto them, Whose image is this, and superscription? 21They said unto him, Caesar’s. Then said he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s, and unto God the things which are God’s. 22And when they had heard him say these words, they marveled, and left him and went their way.
13And they sent unto him certain of the Pharisees and of the Herodians to catch him in words. 14And when they had come, they said unto him, Master, we know that you are true and care for no man; for you regard not the person of men, but teach the way of God in truth. Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar or not?
15Shall we give or shall we not give? But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said unto them, Why do you test me? Bring me a penny, that I may see it. 16And they brought the penny. And he said unto them, Whose image and superscription is this? And they said unto him, Caesar’s. 17And Jesus, answering, said unto them, Render to Caesar the things which are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s. And they marveled at it.
20And they watched him and sent forth spies who should feign themselves just men, that they might take hold of his words, that so doing they might deliver him unto the power and authority of the governor. 21And they asked him, saying, Master, we know that you say and teach rightly, neither regard the person of any, but teach the way of God truly. 22Is it lawful for us to give tribute unto Caesar? Or no? 23But he perceived their craftiness and said unto them, Why do you test me? 24Show me a penny. Whose image and superscription has it? They answered and said, Caesar’s. 25And he said unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s and unto God the things which are God’s. 26And they could not catch him in his words before the people, and they marveled at his answer and held their peace.
The Sadducees, who deny the resurrection, pose a riddle: a woman widowed seven times — whose wife will she be when the dead rise? Jesus answers that they know neither the scriptures nor the power of God; in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels. And the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is the God of the living, for he raises them up out of their graves.
23The same day came the Sadducees to him (who say that there is no resurrection) and asked him, 24saying, Master, Moses said, If a man die, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up seed unto his brother. 25Now there were with us seven brethren. And the first, when he had married a wife, died; and, having no children, he left his wife unto his brother. 26Likewise, the second also, and the third, and even unto the seventh. 27And last of all, the woman died also. 28Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife shall she be of the seven? For they all had her.
29Jesus answered and said unto them, You do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God; 30for in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven. 31But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have you not read that which was spoken unto you of God, saying, 32I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. 33And when the multitude heard him, they were astonished at his teachings.
18Then came unto him the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection. And they asked him, saying, 19Master, Moses wrote unto us in his law, If a man’s brother die and leave a wife, and leave no children, that his brother should take his wife and raise up seed unto his brother. 20Now there were seven brethren. The first took a wife, and dying, left no seed. 21And the second took her, and died, neither left he any seed; and the third likewise. 22And the seven had her and left no seed. Last of all the woman died also. 23In the resurrection, therefore, when they shall rise, whose wife shall she be of them? For the seven had her to wife.
24And Jesus, answering, said unto them, You do err therefore because you know not and understand not the scriptures, neither the power of God. 25For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God who are in heaven. 26And as touching the dead, that they rise, have you not read in the book of Moses how in the bush God spoke unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? 27He is not therefore the God of the dead, but the God of the living, for he raises them up out of their graves. You therefore do greatly err.
27Then came unto him certain of the Sadducees, who deny that there is any resurrection, and they asked him, 28saying, Master, Moses wrote unto us, saying 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. 29There were therefore seven brethren. The first took a wife and died without children. 30And the second took her to wife and he died childless. 31And the third took her in like manner, and the seven also, and they left no children and died. 32And last of all the woman died also. 33Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife of them is she? For seven had her to wife. 34And Jesus answering said unto them, The children of this world marry and are given in marriage, but 35they who shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world through resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage, 36neither can they die anymore, for they are equal unto the angels and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection. 37Now, that the dead are raised, even Moses showed at the bush when he calls the Lord the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. 38For he is not a God of the dead, but of the living, for all live unto him. 39Then certain of the scribes answering said, Master, you have well said. 40And after that, they dare not ask him any question at all.
A lawyer asks which commandment is greatest, and Jesus binds two together as one — to love God with all the heart, and the neighbor as oneself — on which hang all the law and the prophets. In Mark a scribe answers back well, and is told he is not far from the kingdom of God. (Luke records this exchange earlier, with the good Samaritan.)
34But when the Pharisees heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together. 35Then one of them, a lawyer testing him, asked, saying, 36Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 37Jesus said unto him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. 38This is the first and great commandment. 39And the second is like unto it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
28And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? 29And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is: Listen, and hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. 30And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first commandment. 31And the second is like this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.
32And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, you have said the truth; for there is one God, and there is none other but him. 33And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbor as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. 34And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, You are not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that dare ask him, saying, Who are you?
Now Jesus questions them. The Christ is called the son of David — yet David, in the Psalm, calls him “my Lord.” How can David’s Lord be David’s son? No one can answer him a word, and from that day no one dared question him further.
41While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, 42saying, What think you of Christ? Whose son is he? They say unto him, The son of David. 43He said unto them, How then does David, in spirit, call him Lord — saying, 44The Lord said unto my lord: Sit on my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool? 45If David then call him Lord, how is he his son? 46And no man was able to answer him a word, neither dare any man from that day forth ask him any more questions.
35And Jesus spoke and said, while he taught in the temple, How do the scribes say that Christ is the son of David? 36For David himself said by the holy ghost: The Lord said unto my Lord, You sit on my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool. 37David therefore himself called him Lord, and from where is he his son? And the common people heard him gladly, but the high priest and the elders were offended at him.
41And he said unto them, How do they say that Christ is David’s son? 42And David himself said in the book of Psalms, The Lord said unto my lord, Sit on my right hand 43until I make your enemies your footstool. 44David therefore calls him Lord; how is he then his son?
The Eternity of the Marriage Covenant
The Sadducees took the woman of seven husbands as proof that marriage cannot survive the grave, and read Jesus’ answer — “in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage” (Matthew 22:30) — the same way. Joseph Smith taught the opposite reading: it is those who do NOT enter the everlasting covenant by priesthood authority who, like the angels, neither marry nor increase; those sealed in this life continue. He gave it plainly at Ramus.
Discourse, 16–17 May 1843, Ramus, Illinois · William Clayton’s record (History of the Church 5:391–392; TPJS 300–301)
Except a man and his wife enter into an everlasting covenant and be married for eternity, while in this probation, by the power and authority of the Holy Priesthood, they will cease to increase when they die; that is, they will not have any children after the resurrection. But those who are married by the power and authority of the priesthood in this life, and continue without committing the sin against the Holy Ghost, will continue to increase and have children in the celestial glory.
In the celestial glory there are three heavens or degrees; and in order to obtain the highest, a man must enter into this order of the priesthood — meaning the new and everlasting covenant of marriage — and if he does not, he cannot obtain it. He may enter into the other, but that is the end of his kingdom: he cannot have an increase.
- They show Jesus Caesar’s coin, stamped with Caesar’s image; he tells them to render it back to Caesar — and to render to God the things that are God’s. What bears God’s image, and what then is owed?
- The Sadducees imagine the next life as only a continuation of this one’s tangles, and so deny it altogether. Jesus says they know neither the scriptures nor the power of God. How does a small imagination of heaven become unbelief in it?
- “He is not the God of the dead, but of the living” — and the JST adds, “for he raises them up out of their graves.” Why is God’s covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob itself an argument that the dead will rise?
- To the lawyer’s single question Jesus gives two commandments and hangs all the law and the prophets on them. Why can neither the love of God nor the love of neighbor stand without the other?
- Jesus’ own question silences every party: how is David’s Lord also David’s son? What is he inviting them — and us — to see about who he is?