St Luke 20:27-40 – The question about the resurrection

Chapter 19:47-48 says that Jesus taught daily in the Temple. The religious authorities “kept looking for a way to kill him, but they did not find anything they could do …”. The Sadducees held that only the first five books of the Old Testament, the Pentateuch, were authoritative. Not finding mention of life after death in these books, they rejected its existence.

In vv. 28-33, seeking to trap Jesus into speaking against the Law, they ask a question about levirate marriage (levir is Latin for brother-in-law): a man lived on (in a sense) in his son, so if a man died without issue, his brother was required to marry his widow and give her a son, thus continuing his lineage. “This age” (v.34) is the currrent era; “that age” (v.35) is the era to come, when Christ returns. In God’s kingdom, marriage will no longer exist; those who are admitted into eternal life for their faith (“considered worthy of the place …”, v.35) will all be “children of God” (v. 36): this will be their family relationship. They will be immortal (“cannot die anymore”) and will be like “angels” (considered sexless in Jesus’ time).

In vv. 37-38, Jesus argues for life after death (and resurrection) from the Pentateuch. In the story of the burning “bush”, God tells Moses: “I am the God of Abraham …”. Because God says is (not was), Abraham is alive now. He died, so he must have been brought back to life, resurrected> God is truly “God … of the living” (v. 38). In v. 39, some scribes, believers in resurrection, are pleased with Jesus’ argument. V. 40 says that the Sadducees “no longer dared to ask … (Jesus) another question”: Jesus has evaded the trap.

© 1996-2025 Chris Haslam

 Prayer for the defence forces

Eternal God, the only source of peace, we pray for all who serve in the defence of this land. Give them courage and comfort in danger, patience in waiting and discipline in the use of force. Help us to seek for all people the freedom to serve you and each other in compassion and peace. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.