The Astonished Multitude - Matthew 22:33

Matthew the apostle wrote how the “Sadducees” desired to know Jesus' answer to which of seven brothers would be married in the resurrection to a woman who was one by one widowed to all of them, and “Jesus answered and said unto them, You do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven. But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have you not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, I 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”, and in chapter twenty-two and verse thirty-three of his book Matthew shared what happened, “when the multitude heard this” where we read:

And when the multitude heard this, they were astonished at his doctrine.

The verse reads, “And when the multitude heard this, ...” Matthew began with the words, “and when” or “and at the time and moment” “the multitude” “the crowd and large group of people surrounding Jesus” “heard this” which means “were given the faculty for hearing, discerning, discovering and perceiving what Jesus said”. Matthew shared how the crowd around Jesus “heard” what He said and reacted to it accordingly.

The verse continues, “... they were astonished at his doctrine.” Matthew added the words, “they were astonished” which means “the multitude was in awe and amazed” “at his doctrine” or “at Jesus' teaching and instruction”. Matthew shared how people around Jesus were amazed at His teaching and instruction.

When we consider Matthew's words in this verse, we see how people were affected by the things Jesus said. His explanation concerning the “resurrection” amazed them, and we can imagine their intense interest in the “rising of the dead” as He spoke about it. God wants every person to understand there is an afterlife, and He is there. He is with people now and will be with them in the future when they submit their lives to His Son Jesus. Let all who read these words yield their lives to the God of “everlasting life” today.

Next time Matthew wrote how, “the Pharisees were gathered together”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.