I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? He is not the God of the dead but of the living. When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at his teaching.
The Sadducees were another sect of the Jews like the Pharisees. The Pharisees were the sect that lived by the laws of the Old Testament. They were like the “Bible lawyers”, they could argue right and wrong based on what the Old Testament books of Moses and the Prophets said. The Pharisees just wanted every Jew to keep the law perfectly. The Sadducees were the “socially elite” of the Jews the families that had stature in the community. Like many families in the church today these were the ones who enjoyed special seats in Church and had the leaders ask them what should happen and when and how things should be done. They wanted nothing to change in the Jewish system, because that would result in there lose of position and power. Jesus was a threat to both of these groups and they found themselves as allies in opposing the work of Jesus among the people.
The Pharisees had tried to trap Jesus first with their question on the taxes and now the Sadducees took a shot. The Pharisees believed that there was some kind of life after death, but the Sadducees believed that when you die you are done! They felt that the body stayed in the ground and that was the end of your existence, your heaven and hell were what you experienced here in this life. So the Sadducees asked Jesus a question about the resurrection of the dead. Their scenario had a women that was married 7 times and they wondered who would be her husband in the resurrection. Jesus clearly stated to them that they did not understand the type of life that we would have in the resurrection. We will not be reborn to a life just like here on earth, rather we will have a heavenly existence and there will be no marriage there. Then Jesus spoke to their unspoken question about whether the resurrection was real, when He said that God is a God of the living not the dead. God does not want to be worshipped by dead people but by live people!
What one question would you like to ask Jesus about life after death?
What hope does the resurrection of the dead give to you?
Comments
Post has no comments.