Some Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him and put this question to him, 19 saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us, ‘If someone’s brother dies, leaving a wife but no child, his brother must take the wife and raise up descendants for his brother.’ 20 Now there were seven brothers. The first married a woman and died, leaving no descendants. 21 So the second married her and died, leaving no descendants, and the third likewise. 22 And the seven left no descendants. Last of all the woman also died. 23 At the resurrection [when they arise] whose wife will she be? For all seven had been married to her.” 24 Jesus said to them, “Are you not misled because you do not know the scriptures or the power of God? 25 When they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but they are like the angels in heaven. 26 As for the dead being raised, have you not read in the Book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how God told him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, [the] God of Isaac, and [the] God of Jacob’? 27 He is not God of the dead but of the living. You are greatly misled.”
Jesus taught about resurrection, “The hour is coming in which all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and will come out, those who have done good deeds to the resurrection of life, but those who have done wicked deeds to the resurrection of condemnation (Jn. 5:28-29).” The Sadducees did not believe in resurrection because it was not specifically mentioned in the Pentateuch, so they tried to ridicule Jesus’ teaching. They cited a passage from the Pentateuch (v. 19) which addressed levirate marriage (Deut. 25:5-10) as support for their position. The reason for levirate marriage was to keep property within the men of the family. Their question was that if seven brothers had the same wife whose wife would she be in the resurrection. Jesus then explained the meaning of the scriptures to them. God has the power to give life and to raise people from the dead. When they are raised from the dead they will not be as they were in their earthly life. They will be like angels and have no need of marriage. Jesus quoted from the Pentateuch, “I am the God of your father, he continued, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob (Ex. 3:6).” The Sadducees must listen to the God from the Pentateuch. God also spoke in the present tense therefore He continues to be the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob even after their death which meant they must be alive.
Almighty God, help us to understand your scriptures that we may grow in holiness daily so that when our time comes, we may rest in your bosom with our forefathers who pleased you. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen!
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References
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
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