Whose Wife?

Now there came to Him some of the Sadducees (who say that there is no resurrection), and they questioned Him, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that IF A MAN’S BROTHER DIES, having a wife, AND HE IS CHILDLESS, HIS BROTHER SHOULD MARRY THE WIFE AND RAISE UP CHILDREN TO HIS BROTHER. Now there were seven brothers; and the first took a wife and died childless; and the second and the third married her; and in the same way all seven died, leaving no children. Finally the woman died also. In the resurrection therefore, which one’s wife will she be? For all seven had married her.”
Jesus said to them, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage, but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; for they cannot even die anymore, because they are like angels, and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed, in the passage about the burning bush, where he calls the Lord THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, AND THE GOD OF ISAAC, AND THE GOD OF JACOB. Now He is not the God of the dead but of the living; for all live to Him.” Some of the scribes answered and said, “Teacher, You have spoken well.” For they did not have courage to question Him any longer about anything. Luke 20:27-40



Sadducee: a member of a Palestinian sect, consisting mainly of priests and aristocrats, that flourished from the 1st century b.c. to the 1st century a.d. and differed from the Pharisees chiefly in its literal interpretation of the Bible, rejection of oral laws and traditions, and denial of an afterlife and the coming of the Messiah. They were much too intellectual to simply believe the Word of God. They sarcastically quoted Moses regarding the law of widows' marital union to their brothers-in-law, designed to continue family names and heirships. They posed a ridiculous line of successive husbands for one wife. "In the resurrection (which they did not believe would happen), whose wife will she be?"

Natural men. No sense of the spiritual, no understanding that the resurrection life is another dimension. We are here in physical bodies on the earth like tadpoles in a pond. We can't comprehend the resurrection life, except what we have been told in God's Word. And what we've been told is that we wouldn't understand, even if we could see it from here. All of physical life is representative of the spiritual, even the laws concerning marriage. It is identification. Relationship. Oneness. It illustrates our position IN CHRIST. It provides for procreation of the species. There is much, much more to the marriage relationship than sex, although that is exactly what these natural men had in mind when they presented Jesus with this little problem. When sex is the only frame of reference a people has for their religion, you know they are a cult. They are operating from the lust pattern of their Old Sin Nature. Their philosophy is human viewpoint.

These are the people Jesus referred to as a "generation of vipers;" " hypocrites" and "a wicked and adulterous generation." Matthew 3:7, 16:1-4, 22:23. Yes. Our gentle Savior said that.

Jesus told them marriage and procreation are not issues in the resurrection, just as they are not issues with the angels, in whom the Sadducees also did not believe. Well, the creator of the angels and the designer of both the earthly and the resurrection life was standing there, speaking with them. He also confirmed the truth of the resurrection by Moses' encounter with God at the burning bush. That's the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Living persons. That's the God speaking with them now, and Who has an ongoing relationship with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And Moses.

Once again, the hypocrites had been stifled. He had answers. THE answers, for all their silly debate tactics. They did not really want answers. They were blinded by their unbelief and their game was always attempted entrapment. We know unbelievers today who think they know about the Bible and its history. They throw out these same kinds of arguments, trying to distort the Word of God and deny the deity of Jesus Christ. They, too, do not want answers. They want to ridicule and intimidate God's people by demonstrating their "superior" intellect, not realizing that with every offensive statement they make against Christianity they expose their own spiritual blindness and self-righteous hypocrisy. They are not willing to learn. If they were, they would know. It is a principle of spiritual understanding: "If any man will do God's will, he shall know of the doctrine..." John 7:17.

The cowards' reply: "that's a good answer." Thank you. No further questions.