The Question Concerning the Resurrection
After this, having beforehand composed their argument, some Sadducees, those who say that there is no resurrection, came to the Saviour. They thought that they could catch Him with a question and said, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies having no children, his brother must marry his widow and raise up children for his brother.’ Now, there were seven brothers among us. The first married, and died, and having no children, left his wife to his brother. So too, the second and third, down to the seventh, did. After them all, the woman died. In the resurrection therefore, to which of the seven will she be wife? For they all had her.”
But Jesus Christ answered them, “You are wrong because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection, they neither marry nor are given in marriage but are like angels in Heaven. And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God, ‘I am the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob. He is not the God of the dead but of the living.’”
In that time, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were no longer living on earth; it followed that if God still nevertheless called Himself their God, that meant they were alive for Him, or He would be calling Himself God of the nonexistent.
Again, when the crowd heard it, they were astonished at the answer of Jesus Christ. Some of the scribes answered, “Teacher! You have spoken well.”
