18 Then come unto him the Sadducees, which say there is no resurrection; and they asked him, saying, 19 Master, Moses wrote unto us, If a man’s brother die, and leave his wife behind him, and leave no children, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother. 20 Now there were seven brethren: and the first took a wife, and dying left no seed. 21 And the second took her, and died, neither left he any seed: and the third likewise. 22 And the seven had her, and left no seed: last of all the woman died also. 23 In the resurrection therefore, when they shall rise, whose wife shall she be of them? for the seven had her to wife. 24 And Jesus answering said unto them, Do ye not therefore err, because ye know not the scriptures, neither the power of God? 25 For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as the angels which are in heaven. 26 And as touching the dead, that they rise: have ye not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? 27 He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living: ye therefore do greatly err. (Mark 12:18-27 KJV)
The Sadducees Ask About the Resurrection
The Sadducees, who were the deists of that age, here attack our Lord Jesus—not, it seems, like the scribes, Pharisees, and chief priests, with any malicious intent against his person. They were not fanatics or persecutors, but skeptics and unbelievers. Their goal was to undermine his teaching and prevent it from spreading. They denied the resurrection, the existence of spirits, and any state of reward or punishment after death. Christ had focused on affirming and proving these great truths and had developed the doctrine of the resurrection more fully than ever before. So they tried to discredit his teaching.
They tried to entangle him by quoting the ancient law which required a man to marry his deceased brother’s widow if the brother died without children (Mark 12:19). They imagined a situation in which seven brothers, one after another, married the same woman (Mark 12:20). These Sadducees probably intended, in their usual irreverent way, to mock that law and thereby discredit the entire Mosaic system as impractical and absurd. Those who deny divine truths often attempt to belittle divine laws. But their main aim was to make the doctrine of the resurrection seem ridiculous. They assumed that if there were a resurrection, it must resemble this life. They thought that would create either an absurdity—that the woman must have seven husbands in the next life—or an unanswerable difficulty: whose wife would she be?
These heretics used subtlety to attack the truth. They did not outright deny the resurrection. They did not even cast doubt on it by asking, “If there is a resurrection…” Instead, they pretended to accept it and to seek clarification, though their real aim was to deal a fatal blow to the doctrine. It is a common trick of heretics to entangle truths they dare not openly deny.
Christ responded in a way that cleared and reinforced the truth they were trying to obscure. This was a serious matter, and he dealt with it thoroughly, both to correct them and to confirm others in the truth.
First, he rebuked the Sadducees for their error and traced it to their ignorance. They who mock the doctrine of the resurrection—like some do today—want to appear as the only enlightened and independent thinkers. In reality, they are the most misguided and prejudiced. “Do you not therefore err?” he said. “You cannot help but know it yourselves.” Their error had two main causes:
First, they did not know the Scriptures. Although the Sadducees had read the Scriptures and could probably quote them, they misunderstood their true meaning and misapplied them. Or, they did not accept the Scriptures as God’s word but preferred their own flawed reasoning. A correct understanding of the Bible—the source of all revealed religion—is the best safeguard against error. Hold to the truth of Scripture, and it will hold you.
Second, they did not understand the power of God. They knew God is almighty but refused to apply that truth to this matter. They let objections based on supposed impossibilities override their faith. All such objections collapse if we simply hold to the doctrine of God’s omnipotence—nothing is impossible with him (Psalm 62:11; Romans 4:19-21). The same power that created soul and body, and sustained them together, can preserve them apart and reunite them. God’s power seen in the return of spring (Psalm 104:30), in the revival of grain (John 12:24), in the restoration of Israel (Ezekiel 37:12–14), in miraculous resurrections in both Testaments, and especially in the resurrection of Christ (Ephesians 1:19-20), all point to our future resurrection by the same power (Philippians 3:21).
Then Christ corrected their misunderstanding of the future state (Mark 12:25): “When they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage.” Their question—whose wife will she be?—was pointless. Marriage, though established in the earthly paradise, will not exist in the heavenly one. Unbelievers dream of sensual pleasures in their imaginary paradise, but Christians expect better things. “Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 15:50). Instead, believers anticipate full satisfaction in God’s presence (Psalm 17:15). They will be like the angels, who neither marry nor have children. Confusion arises when we judge the spiritual world by the standards of this physical one.
Finally, Jesus based the doctrine of the resurrection—and the blessedness of the righteous in that state—on God’s covenant with Abraham, which God affirmed after Abraham’s death (Mark 12:26-27). He referred them to the Scriptures: “Have you not read in the book of Moses?” It helps when those who argue against the truth are at least familiar with the Bible, though many twist it to their own destruction. Jesus pointed to what God said to Moses at the burning bush: “I am the God of Abraham.” Not “I was,” but “I am”—still his God, still his portion and joy. It would be absurd for God to continue calling himself Abraham’s God if Abraham had ceased to exist. The living God cannot be the God of someone who is eternally dead. So we must conclude:
- That Abraham’s soul still lives and functions in a state separate from his body.
- That, therefore, his body must one day rise again. The soul has a natural longing for its body, making an eternal separation inconsistent with its peace, let alone with its joy in the presence of God.
Jesus concluded: “You therefore do greatly err.” Those who deny the resurrection are deeply mistaken and need to be told so.