Jesus’ Word silences every question and sets doubters straight
(Matthew 22 and Mark 12 also tell this story.)
Every religion had a sort of twisted belief in what happens after death. Some thought people would come back to life looking exactly the way they did when they died, except they would then experience a metamorphosis into a new creation. Others believed the dead needed to be buried with their dead animals to help them through life when they resurrect again. Others even buried the dead with a coin in their mouths to pay a fare across the river of death into the land of a resurrected life. So most people had some kind of belief in a life after this one on earth.
The Jews had scriptures that promised a resurrected life after death. In Psalm 16, King David expresses hope that when he dies, he will not remain in the grave.
“No wonder my heart is glad, and I rejoice. My body rests in safety. For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your holy one to rot in the grave. You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever.” Psalms 16:9-11 NLT
“But as for me, God will redeem my life. He will snatch me from the power of the grave.” Psalms 49:15 NLT
“I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence! If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there. If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me.” Psalms 139:7-10 NLT
“Many of those whose bodies lie dead and buried will rise up, some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting disgrace.” Daniel 12:2 NLT
These are just a few scriptures the Jews would have known and believed in throughout their history.
An Afterlife For Everyone
Basically, there will be the resurrection of everyone, some to everlasting life, that is heaven. And some to hell.
It’s still Wednesday (man, a lot happened on this day!) during the last week of Jesus’ life on earth. The Pharisees and Herodians have come after Jesus for assaulting their theology. Now the Sadducees are furious at him. Jesus interrupted their lucrative business in the temple by throwing out the buyers and sellers and money changers. This hurt their economy.
Rejecting the Resurrected Life
Verse 27 Despite the common Jewish belief and the Old Testament scriptures, the Sadducees are a group of Jews who reject the idea of a resurrected life. They are the opposite of Pharisees. Lots of wealthy and influential people were Sadducees. This includes the chief priests and high priests (the Sanhedrin- their Supreme Court). Sadducees went after all the power, wealth, positioning, and control they could get. They were eager to cooperate with Rome because Rome gave them the power and authority to conduct business in the temple. They needed Rome’s favor to keep their position amongst the people.
The Sadducees Strict Rule
But the people hated the Sadducees for accommodating the wicked Roman rule, corrupting the temple, and subjecting the people to their business practices. The Sadducees were like people pleasers to Rome.
When applying the law and justice, this group was savages to the people. No mercy. The Pharisees were more lenient in dealing with the people than the Sadducees. The Sadducees interpreted God’s law and enforced their will on the people. They lived like there was no tomorrow, doling out strict punishments.
The Sadducees were literal with the Mosaic Law (found in the first five books of the Old Testament, known as the Pentateuch) and wouldn’t accept anything other than scripture. If Moses didn’t say it, if God didn’t speak it in Moses’ time, then wasn’t pure scripture. They treated everything after Moses as merely an opinion on scripture.
This religious group prided itself on “pure faith.” So since the Pentateuch recorded nothing on the resurrection life, the resurrection was a reality they rejected. They believed the soul dies at death and never rises again. For them, there was no life to come. No rewards. No punishments.
The Pharisees vs the Sadducees
The Pharisees not only believed in the resurrected life but would also get into debates amongst themselves about after death, like would you come back as you left the earth naked? Or clothed? If raised to a new life in clothes, would it be the clothes you died in or new ones? Would you have the same defects you died with in your mortal body, or would you be made new? And if you died married, would you raise to a new life married?
The Sadducees thought all of this talk and debate were ridiculous. But this is how we come to the question in verse 28.
Verse 28 The Sadducees bring up Deuteronomy 25 (one of those first five books of the Bible), something Moses wrote.
If somebody had married multiple times in this life, in the next life would you come back in the same relationship?
It was so important for families to have offspring to continue in God’s covenant promise and pass down their land to the next generation. And so a man’s brother would marry the widow to raise up the next generation and keep the family lineage going. It was a way of preserving the nation of Israel and the individual tribes God outlined.
A man back in Genesis 38 refused to marry his brother’s widowed wife, and God struck him dead. This was God’s design for preserving his people to fulfill his plan.
The Black Widow
Verses 29-30 This woman has seven husbands and they all die. Definitely need to stop the story there and say this woman might be tragically guilty of something very sinister.
Verses 32-33 But then she dies. So the question is whose wife will she be in the resurrection?
Before we jump to Jesus’ response here in Luke, the book of Matthew includes one additional comment Jesus makes right here in this story.
“Jesus replied, “Your mistake is that you don’t know the Scriptures, and you don’t know the power of God.” Matthew 22:29 NLT
The Sadducees prided themselves on knowing Scripture. And here Jesus essentially says, ‘you’ve been led astray by what you think you know. You don’t know the answer because you don’t really understand the Scriptures.’ They were ignorant of what the scriptures said. They thought they knew, but they were off.
Knowing the Truth accurately is the source of all true understanding. Many times, our own flesh, pride, and experiences can taint the Truth. Also, we can read scripture, but the reality and application of it may not sink into our souls.
It’s so important to pray for understanding when we open our Bibles.
Jesus is basically saying the Sadducees are spiritually blind or ignorant interpreters of Scripture. Had they really known the Scriptures, they would have known that God promises resurrection.
Verses 34-35 Now back to Luke, Jesus gives them the answer to their question. The people living in this world marry, reproduce, and have children, but this doesn’t happen in the resurrected life. Those who are worthy of attaining eternal life will not marry in heaven. There won’t be individual families there. Notice he says those who are worthy, those who understand scripture and believe they are worthy to attain this. He’s calling out the ignorance in the Sadducees.
Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is how we become worthy of heaven and are called a son or daughter of the Most High. We have no worthiness in ourselves.
An Angelic Life Ahead
Verse 36 And here’s why no one will marry, because no one is going to die or be replaced. No one needs to produce more offspring. In eternity, we will be equal to angels. There is a fixed number of angels because none of them die, so they do not need to reproduce.
Christ is our Bridegroom and having that perfect relationship in the glory of heaven leaves no need for lesser relationships, meaning we have no need for marriage.
We will be called sons (children) of God, or sons (children) of the resurrection. Also, we take on God’s life that is not sexual. We take on the character of angels who do not procreate and have a pure, fulfilling life in God.
Our God designs everything with a purpose. When we unite with Jesus in heaven, there is no longer a purpose for marriage.
Verse 37 Now Jesus pulls out scripture from Exodus, the second book in the Bible, one of those books the Sadducees claim to know. The Sadducees used scripture about Moses to prove their point. Jesus uses Moses as his example to show the truth about the resurrection.
This same story in Matthew 22 gives the exact quote from God found in Exodus 3. God said, “I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” (Matthew 22:32, Exodus 3:6)
Here’s the key: “I am.” Not “I was.”
All three of the guys are dead: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You would think God would say, “I was the God of Abraham. I was the God of Isaac. I was the God of Jacob.” But he did not. He spoke it in the present tense and said, “I am” as if they are living.
God gets no glory or honor from a lifeless corpse.
Verse 38 God is not a God of dead people. He is a God of living people. People who know Him, are also known by Him, and thus alive in Him. Those who pass on from this life seem dead to us, but to Jesus, they are resurrected to a new life in Him and very much alive.
To God, all who are His are alive and in union with Him in His presence, just as the Old Testament says. Though dead from our point of view, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are each alive in God’s presence.
Death does not end one’s existence. There is another life, an afterlife, a resurrection life, for those who belong to God in His presence.
Remember, in the book of John, Jesus is speaking to Martha after her brother Lazarus died or fell asleep and he says, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?”” John 11:25-26 NLT
If we believe in Jesus, we will live forever in His presence and the presence of God.
Verse 39 The Sadducees gave their best argument, but Jesus got to the root of the problem with their question. They didn’t understand scripture or the power of God. Jesus straightens out all the mixed-up views on marriage after death, what happens after this life, and what God through Moses’ writing actually said.
He is the God of the living, and He is the living God.
The legal experts and theologians, that’s the Scribes, are astounded at His Truth. And they tell Jesus that he has spoken well. Matthew 22:33 says they were astonished. This Greek word broken down means amazed, marveled, and blown out of their minds.
Verse 40 The Sadducees didn’t dare question him any more. They already had their economy stripped when Jesus cleared the temple of money changers, buyers, and sellers. Now He dismantles their spiritual knowledge.
The Greatest Commandment
But look at Matthew’s account of this story. He tells us that even when Jesus silenced Sadducees, the Pharisees gave a “Hail Mary” attempt to get Jesus arrested. All this questioning is like a barrage of bullets coming at Jesus to undo him.
“But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees with his reply, they met together to question him again. One of them, an expert in religious law, tried to trap him with this question: “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?” Matthew 22:34-36 NLT
The religious leaders wanted to trap him in questions to discredit his ministry but Jesus is unaffected by their assaults.
“Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:37-40 NLT
The Pharisees are done. All this questioning only showed Jesus’ divine wisdom and power and brought Him greater glory, astonishment, and wonder. He controlled every conversation with supernatural wisdom. Jesus’ answers were relentlessly devoted to scripture, and He affirmed God’s promises. Jesus always left with a victory. His enemies are always in defeat.
Jesus is infinitely wise and committed to Truth.
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.” Proverbs 9:10 ESV
Those who put their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, His sacrifice, His death, and resurrection, and no confidence in their own works, are filled with explosive joy that this life is not their end.
We have no righteousness of our own. When we repent and Jesus’ righteousness is applied to our lives, we receive the promise of eternal life. We live with the hope of what Jesus said. He is the resurrection and life. He is the Great “I AM”.
Our God is a God of the living!
After this encounter, not a single religious leader had the courage to question Jesus again.
Prayer
Jesus, thank you for your Word that silences every fear, every doubt, and every question of your authority and sovereignty in my life. I reject the enemy’s lies that cause me to question Your Truth. His temptations lead me to continue to question Your faithfulness and promise over and over from different angles, just like these religious leaders. The devil has been twisting the Truth since the beginning of time with Eve in the garden.
May the echoes of your Word fill my heart and remind me of your Truth, Jesus. May my spirit overflow with joy and gladness that You are my living God and I am a child of the resurrection. Thank you for this hope of eternal life that is in you, Jesus. I don’t have to sweat over trying to be enough. You say that my belief is enough.
You are such a purposeful Father. You hold good and perfect things in your divine timing for me. One day, I will join you in glorious perfection and all the yearning and striving in this world will end. I am unworthy of this glorious life, but you call me to believe, and that makes me worthy. I cling to your worthiness, Jesus. You are my worthiness.
Holy Spirit, help me live faithfully honoring You with this life and sharing Your gospel. I’ve let a lot of opportunities go by me. I’ve allowed excuses and distractions to trap me in useless things. Resurrect the life you’ve called me to live in you, Jesus. Let this life be a funnel of your power and Truth in this world. Your Word stirs a raging inferno for you, Jesus, and it feels like it’s shut up in my bones. The fire consumes my blood, my heart, and my mind. Jesus, release your fire! I pray that my flesh will not hold me back. I reject the lies that try to smolder this fire. Continue to fill my thoughts with your scriptures, your Truth, and your promises. Let them stick; I don’t want to forget. Engrave them in my heart. Etch them in my mind so that no amount of questioning can erase what You have spoken to me. And then open my mouth for your glory, Jesus. Let your words pour out of me to edify, encourage, uplift, and lead others to your Truth. In Jesus’ name, Amen.