Some Sadducees Try to Trick Jesus^(A)

¹⁸ Then some Sadducees came to Jesus. (Sadducees believe that no one will rise from death.) They asked him a question: ¹⁹ “Teacher, Moses wrote that if a married man dies and had no children, his brother must marry the woman. Then they will have children for the dead brother.^{[a] 20} There were seven brothers. The first brother married but died. He had no children. ²¹ So the second brother married the woman. But he also died and had no children. The same thing happened with the third brother. ²² All seven brothers married the woman and died. None of the brothers had any children with her. And she was the last to die. ²³ But all seven brothers had married her. So at the time when people rise from death, whose wife will she be?”

²⁴ Jesus answered, “How could you be so wrong? It’s because you don’t know what the Scriptures say. And you don’t know anything about God’s power. ²⁵ When people rise from death, there will be no marriage. People will not be married to each other. All people will be like angels in heaven. ²⁶ Surely you have read what God said about people rising from death. In the book where Moses wrote about the burning bush,^[b] it says that God told Moses this: ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’^{[c] 27} So they were not still dead, because he is the God only of living people. You Sadducees are so wrong!”

Some Sadducees Try to Trick Jesus^(A)

²⁷ Some Sadducees came to Jesus. (Sadducees believe that people will not rise from death.) They asked him, ²⁸ “Teacher, Moses wrote that if a married man dies and had no children, his brother must marry his widow. Then they will have children for the dead brother.^{[a] 29} One time there were seven brothers. The first brother married a woman but died. He had no children. ³⁰ Then the second brother married the woman, and he died. ³¹ And the third brother married the woman, and he died. The same thing happened with all the other brothers. They all died and had no children. ³² The woman was the last to die. ³³ But all seven brothers married her. So when people rise from death, whose wife will this woman be?”

³⁴ Jesus said to the Sadducees, “On earth, people marry each other. ³⁵ Some people will be worthy to be raised from death and live again after this life. In that life they will not marry. ³⁶ In that life people are like angels and cannot die. They are children of God, because they have been raised from death. ³⁷ Moses clearly showed that people are raised from death. When Moses wrote about the burning bush,^[b] he said that the Lord is ‘the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’^{[c] 38} So they were not still dead, because he is the God only of living people. Yes, to God they are all still living.”

³⁹ Some of the teachers of the law said, “Teacher, your answer was very good.” ⁴⁰ No one was brave enough to ask him another question.