The Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection, so this was not a real question about the afterlife. Gill says they supposed a resurrection "though not granting it," and that "by putting this question, they thought to have got some advantage against Christ, and in favour of their notion." Matthew Henry explains their hidden assumption: that a resurrection must be "a return to such a state as this we are now in." Barnes names the method: "The way in which the enemies of the truth often attempt to make a doctrine of the Bible ridiculous is by adding to it, and then calling it absurd." The question aimed to make the hope of resurrection look foolish.

Jesus answered, "Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God" (Matthew 22:29). He removed the question's premise: "For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven" (Matthew 22:30). Then He turned to the real issue, proving the resurrection from "that which was spoken unto you by God" (Matthew 22:31-32). The multitude "were astonished at his doctrine" (Matthew 22:33), and He had "put the Sadducees to silence" (Matthew 22:34).

The Sadducees built their case on the law of Moses: if a man died without children, his brother was to marry the widow and "raise up seed unto his brother" (Matthew 22:24; Deuteronomy 25:5-6). Barnes explains that this law was given to keep the families and tribes of Israel distinct, with the child counted in the dead brother's family line.

The Sadducees denied more than the resurrection of the body. Luke says they "deny that there is any resurrection" (Luke 20:27), and Acts says they held there is "neither angel, nor spirit" (Acts 23:8). Barnes notes that they denied any future state and the soul's existence after death.

The Sadducees' question pictured God's future as a copy of this life, with all its tangles. Jesus answered that the life to come is not limited that way. Their error had two roots: they did not know "the scriptures," and they did not know "the power of God" (Matthew 22:29). Barnes suggests they probably doubted that God could raise a body from the dust, "opposing reason to revelation."

Luke adds that those who share in that resurrection cannot "die any more," and are "the children of God, being the children of the resurrection" (Luke 20:36). A question meant to mock the resurrection became the occasion for Jesus to teach about it plainly.