TEXT [Commentary]

6. Question about resurrection (12:18-27; cf. Matt 22:23-33; Luke 20:27-40)

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.”

NOTES

12:18 Sadducees. This group held the bulk of political power in Israel because they came from the upper classes that had compromised with Rome in order to share power (Josephus Antiquities 18.16-17; War 2.164-166). France (2002:470) and Lane (1974:426) describe them as an aristocratic body. Their name probably derives from the name Zadok, high priest from the time of David (2 Sam 8:17; 19:11). This is the only place Mark mentions them. They also have a prominent role in the book of Acts (Acts 4:1-4; 5:17-18). As philosophical naturalists, they rejected the idea of a resurrection, much like many Greeks did.

12:19 Moses gave us a law. The Sadducees cited the levirate law that required a brother to marry the widow of another brother if the couple were childless (Deut 25:5-10 and the mishnaic tractate of m. Yevamot; Gen 38:8 is an example; see also Josephus Antiquities 4.254-255). The purpose of the law was to preserve the name and property of the dead brother.

12:20-23 seven brothers . . . married and then died without children . . . This continued with all seven of them . . . Last of all, the woman also died. . . . whose wife will she be in the resurrection? The scenario is of a woman who goes into the afterlife having had seven husbands and no children. Tobit 3–7 tells a story of a woman with seven husbands who had no children, but the book does not raise this problem (though Levirate marriage is noted in Tobit 4:12; 6:9-12; 7:11; Lane 1974:427).

12:24 Your mistake is that you don’t know the Scriptures. In a rhetorical question that expects a positive reply, he asked, “Is this not why you err?” The NLT is correct in rendering this as “your mistake is that . . .” The imagery of the verb for err (planaomai [TG4105A, ZG4414]) is of leading someone astray by taking them off the right path (Deut 22:1; Ps 119:176 [118:176 LXX]; Isa 53:6; Ezek 34:4, 16; Matt 18:12-13; Mark 13:5-6; 2 Tim 3:13; 1 Pet 2:25; 1 John 2:26).

12:26 I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. The point of the explanation is not the grammar or the present tense of the supplied verbs for Exod 3 but the theology of God’s still being addressed as the God of the patriarchs (see Commentary).

12:27 he is the God of the living, not the dead. The Jews had a group of prayers called the ‘Amidah (also known as the Eighteen Benedictions), a portion of which read, “You quicken the dead with great mercy . . . and keep your faith with those who sleep in the dust” (Lane 1974:428).

COMMENTARY [Text]

The Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection, as the opening verse (12:18) notes; they also doubted the existence of angels and focused on the Torah at the expense of the rest of the Hebrew Scriptures. They intended to show that the resurrection was ludicrous by posing a situation in which a woman shared seven husbands (who were also brothers) after the resurrection. If the woman was married to seven men, how could she possibly take care of them all? The Sadducees assumed that this was an affront to monogamy, and that the afterlife is like this life.

Jesus began his reply to them by pointing out a double error in their question. They did not know what Scripture teaches, and they underestimated the power of God. Jesus did not play Scripture against an understanding of God here, but suggested that Scripture points to God, who in turn has the power to accomplish what Scripture declares about him. These points about Scripture and God’s character are important, because people sometimes suggest that Scripture teaches cold abstract doctrine at the expense of a relationship with God. Jesus used Scripture as a lens that gives a focused glimpse of who God is and of what his power can accomplish. The doctrine of resurrection shows that Scripture points to God’s character and activity, for in order for there to be a resurrection, God must exercise his creative power.

As Jesus continued his response, he dealt with the Sadducees’ theology. It was wrong of them to assume that the afterlife is like this life. Jesus said, “they will neither marry nor be given in marriage . . . they will be like the angels in heaven” (12:25). Life in eternity will not involve marriage; it will be the kind of existence that the angels presently enjoy, of being in direct fellowship with God (1 Enoch 15:5-7 indicates that there is no need for angels to marry and give birth because they are immortal, spiritual beings). Thus Jesus took care of the “polygamy problem.”

He then asked the Sadducees, “Haven’t you ever read about this in the writings of Moses . . . ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’?” Jesus was citing the Torah, the part of the Hebrew Scripture that the Sadducees respected most. From Exodus 3:6, he noted that after the death of the patriarchs, God was still addressed as their God. Many Jews also believed this (see 4 Macc 7:19 and 16:25, where the patriarchs are said not to have died, but to live unto God; see Evans 2001:257). The assumption was that they are still alive, and that God was still their God after their death. God is also still keeping promises that he made to them. A great liturgical phrase of Judaism refers to God as “the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” This is a way of saying that God is the God of promise. God is still their God, as explained in the next statement, “So he is the God of the living, not the dead.”

God is a God of the living, not of those who have perished. For God to be called the God of Abraham after Abraham has died means that Abraham is still alive, which presupposes resurrection. Failure to see this was a major error. In the end, Jesus agreed with the Pharisees that the Scripture teaches resurrection.

Resurrection is at the heart of our future hope. Its reality means ultimate accountability to God, whereas its denial reduces religious faith to this life, to a materialistic view of salvation with no future or heavenly kingdom. With no heavenly hope, justice would also function only in the context of this life, and religion would be reduced to mere ethics. For Jesus, religious faith was more than that; it was a belief in God’s restorative work and in his rule over creation. For these reasons, Jesus said that a doctrine denying resurrection was a serious error that cut off the hope God gives us for the restoration of creation. Jesus defended resurrection, while emphasizing that the afterlife is different from this life.