Slices
Prepare
‘I do not seek to understand in order to believe, but I believe in order to understand.’* Pray for an ever-deepening faith, leading to greater understanding.
*Attributed to Anselm of Canterbury
Bible passage
Marriage at the resurrection
18 Then the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him with a question. 19 ‘Teacher,’ they said, ‘Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. 20 Now there were seven brothers. The first one married and died without leaving any children. 21 The second one married the widow, but he also died, leaving no child. It was the same with the third. 22 In fact, none of the seven left any children. Last of all, the woman died too. 23 At the resurrection whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?’
24 Jesus replied, ‘Are you not in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God? 25 When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. 26 Now about the dead rising – have you not read in the Book of Moses, in the account of the burning bush, how God said to him, “I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob”? 27 He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken!’
Explore
The Pharisees and Herodians had posed a political question to trap Jesus (vs 13–17). Now he faces a theological ‘trick question’ from the Sadducees, the priestly party who only accepted as authoritative the ‘Book of Moses’ (v 26) – the first five books of the Old Testament.
When confronted with questions of this nature, examine the questioner’s worldview: ‘… Sadducees … say there is no resurrection …’ (v 18). Their question is ostensibly about marriage (vs 19–23), but their real agenda is to ridicule the resurrection, using a hypothetical, highly exaggerated illustration based on the practice of levirate marriage (see Deuteronomy 25:5,6).
Jesus boldly calls them out. First, they are ignorant of God’s power that effects resurrection life (v 24). Their earthbound horizon simply cannot accommodate the concept that eternal life is not merely an endless quantity of life but a whole different quality of life and that earthly realities such as marriage are temporary arrangements that will ultimately give way to bigger, better, more beautiful eternal realities (vs 24,25). Second, they ignore what has already been revealed in the very Scriptures they profess to believe (vs 26,27). Are we sometimes guilty of ignoring what scripture clearly spells out?
Respond
Without denying the resurrection with your lips, do you sometimes live as if this life is all there is? Does an ‘eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die’ philosophy drive your thinking and decision-making?
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Ezekiel 44,45; Psalms 129–131
Pray for Scripture Union
The Daily Bread and Encounter with God Bible reading apps are a great way for people to receive the SU Bible reading notes directly to their digital devices. Please pray that more people will engage in this way and will grow in faith as they read the notes every day.
