The Sadducees—a group of Jewish aristocrats who were focused on the written law—did not believe in life after death and they spent time in many contentious arguments with the Pharisees about the subject. They based their stand of the resurrection on the fact they found nothing in the Pentateuch—the Books of Moses—to confirm it. So, when the Pharisees could not prove life after death according to Scripture, the Sadducees decided this was a great question to ask Jesus; they were certain it would stump him, as well. But, they did not understand who they were talking to: the Word of God who is the Resurrection and the Life (John 11:25).
In our passage today, the Sadducees use an example about marriage to prove a point about resurrection, but their focus is not marriage. They simply want to prove themselves right about the permanency of death. In this world, there will always be battles over correct doctrine; in this case the doctrine of resurrection. Jesus does not fight them, he simply tells them they don’t know Scripture; they think they are standing on God’s Word, but they don’t make a connection with him when they are talking to him.
Jesus knows all about the argument between these two religious groups and he takes the opportunity to tell them that Moses indeed wrote about the God of the Living.
Do you ever wonder what life will be like beyond this temporal world? I do, but I know it is not just another phase of this human life. It’s something supernatural, because the laws of nature are not hindering to eternal life with God. Jesus spoke about Abraham, Issac, and Jacob—patriarchs who had physically died—as though they were living. Although I can only imagine the heavenly state of being, I know our believing loved ones are alive with Jesus, too.
Mark 12:18-27 NLT Discussion about Resurrection
18 Then Jesus was approached by some Sadducees—religious leaders who say there is no resurrection from the dead. They posed this question: 19 “Teacher, Moses gave us a law that if a man dies, leaving a wife without children, his brother should marry the widow and have a child who will carry on the brother’s name. 20 Well, suppose there were seven brothers. The oldest one married and then died without children. 21 So the second brother married the widow, but he also died without children. Then the third brother married her. 22 This continued with all seven of them, and still there were no children. Last of all, the woman also died. 23 So tell us, whose wife will she be in the resurrection? For all seven were married to her.”
24 Jesus replied, “Your mistake is that you don’t know the Scriptures, and you don’t know the power of God. 25 For when the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage. In this respect they will be like the angels in heaven.
26 “But now, as to whether the dead will be raised—haven’t you ever read about this in the writings of Moses, in the story of the burning bush? Long after Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had died, God said to Moses, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ 27 So he is the God of the living, not the dead. You have made a serious error.”
Prayer: Lord, thank you for the love that moves you to teach us the truth. You correct our wrong doctrine and you build us up in wisdom so we can apply the truth to our lives. May we trust you when it comes to things like heaven that are too much for us to understand with our natural minds. In Jesus’ name. Amen.