Mark 12:18-27
A Riddle About Seven Brothers
Read the passage
18Then the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus and questioned Him:
19“Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man is to marry his brother’s widow and raise up offspring for him.
20Now there were seven brothers. The first one married and died, leaving no children.
21Then the second one married the widow, but he also died and left no children. And the third did likewise.
22In this way, none of the seven left any children. And last of all, the woman died.
23In the resurrection, then, whose wife will she be? For all seven were married to her.”
24Jesus said to them, “Aren’t you mistaken, because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God?
25When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage. Instead, they will be like the angels in heaven.
26But concerning the dead rising, have you not read about the burning bush in the Book of Moses, how God told him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’?
27He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken!”
Berean Standard Bible
Read aloud
The Sadducees deny the resurrection, and their question assumes it would create an impossible marriage problem. They describe a woman who married a succession of brothers after each husband died without children. Moses' law made provision for a dead brother's family line in this way. But whose wife would she be if they all rose again?
Jesus identifies a deeper mistake than a difficult family arrangement. They do not know the Scriptures or the power of God. They have imagined risen life on terms that God has not given them.
He tells them that those who rise will neither marry nor be given in marriage. They will be like the angels in heaven in this respect. He does not say that people become angels. Nor does He describe every detail of our relationships in the life to come. He gives enough to show why their objection fails.
Then Jesus takes them to the burning bush. God identifies Himself to Moses as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Those men had died, yet God's relationship with them had not become an abandoned promise.
He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken!
Jesus' answer rests on the living God's enduring relationship with His people. The faithful God has power over death. Our inability to picture risen life cannot place it beyond His reach. We learn to hope by listening to what He has promised.
How We Know
Exodus 3:6 identifies the speaker at the bush as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Jesus appeals directly to that passage and draws its implication for resurrection. The connection is explicit: God's continuing relationship with His people is central to Jesus' answer about their future.
Questions
1 What assumption makes the Sadducees' question seem impossible to answer?
AnswerThey assume marriage arrangements will continue unchanged in the resurrection. Jesus says risen people will neither marry nor be given in marriage, so their objection starts from a mistake.
2 Does Jesus say that people become angels after death?
AnswerNo. He compares risen people to angels in explaining that they will not marry. He does not turn human beings into another kind of creature.
3 Why does Jesus bring up Abraham, Isaac and Jacob?
AnswerGod still names Himself as their God after their deaths. Jesus uses that continuing relationship to teach that God is the God of the living and to defend the resurrection.
4 How can we respond when we cannot picture something God promises?
AnswerWe can ask honest questions and look carefully at Scripture without making our imagination the limit of God's power. We may trust Him while leaving unanswered details with Him.
What This Means for Us
Questions about death can be personal and painful. Someone we love is missing from the table, and we want to know what lies ahead. Jesus does not give us a complete picture here, but He gives us a reason for hope: the God who makes promises remains faithful beyond death.
Bring Him a question or grief you have been carrying. Read His answer without filling its gaps with guesses. We can comfort one another with what God has said and admit what He has not told us.
Prayer
God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, our hope rests in Your power and faithfulness. Comfort those who grieve. Teach us to believe Your promise of resurrection, even when we cannot imagine all that risen life will hold. Amen.