June 03 2025

Tuesday June 03

Luke 20:34-40 – Our God is the God of the Living

34 And Jesus answered and said to them, "The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage. 35 But those who are counted worthy to attain that age, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; 36 nor can they die anymore, for they are equal to the angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. 37 But even Moses showed in the burning bush passage that the dead are raised, when he called the Lord 'the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.' 38 For He is not the God of the dead but of the living, for all live to Him." 39 Then some of the scribes answered and said, "Teacher, You have spoken well." 40 But after that they dared not question Him anymore.

Today we're looking at Luke chapter 20:27-40. On this occasion, on Tuesday of Passion Week, before His crucifixion, Jesus is confronted by the Sadducees, a group of Jewish leaders who do not believe in angels, resurrection, or spirits. They pose a hypothetical question about a man who marries a woman and dies, and according to the law of Moses, his brother must marry her. Seven brothers end up marrying this woman, all die without children, and the Sadducees ask, in heaven, if there is a resurrection, which one of these men will she be married to? They think they have Jesus in a dilemma, but He answers them.

In Matthew 22:29, Matthew records Jesus immediate response to their question. Jesus said, "You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God." Jesus points out their ignorance of the Scriptures and the power of God. They only recognize the first five books of Moses, while Jesus acknowledges all 39 books of the Old Testament in the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament available in the time of Jesus). Yet even from the Law of Moses, Jesus affirms there is a resurrection.

As a young pastor, I sometimes preached at funerals, stood by the casket, and said, "This is just a body." I wish I could go back and tell those dear people I was wrong. God created us individually, uniquely, with a body we will live in for eternity. Your spirit, soul, and body are eternal in a sense. According to Scripture, such as Job 14:14; 19:25-27; Psalms 16:9-10; 17:15; Isaiah 26:19; Ezekiel 37; and Daniel 12:2, the bodies of both the lost and the saved will be resurrected one day. These bodies will either go to heaven or to an eternal lake of fire, where they will be tormented day and night forever. Jesus and the Bible teach this truth. My friend, Jesus believed that God has the power to raise us from the dead.

In heaven, we will have glorified bodies, with no need for procreation. Regarding the Sadducees' question about the seven brothers, I’ve always thought after the third or fourth brother, I’d say, "I’m not marrying her; I’m not taking the chance of dying like the rest!" When we question Scripture and try to figure it out logically, we miss the point and like the Sadducees we will misinterpret and wrongly apply the Scripture to our lives.

But Jesus went beyond logic and referred them to the Word of God, particularly what happened to Moses as recorded in Exodus 3. There God identified Himself with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and thus affirmed that these three patriarchs were very much alive. But if they were alive, then they were "out of the body," for they had died (James 2:26). There must be a real world of spirit beings or Moses would not have written these words. (By the way, Moses also affirmed the existence of angels: Genesis 19:1, 15; 28:12; 32:1.)

But Jesus is also basically saying that Exodus 3:6, 15-16 teaches not only the truth of life after death but also the reality of the resurrection. In what way? Not by direct statement but by inference. God is the God of the whole person—spirit, soul, and body (1 Thessalonians 5:23), because He created the whole person. He does not simply "save our souls" and ignore the rest of our being. Inherent in the very nature of God's creative act is His concern for the total person. Hence, He will not keep us disembodied spirits forever but will give us glorious bodies to match our heavenly perfection.

For God’s covenant promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to be fulfilled, they will need resurrected bodies to rule and reign with Him in the millennial reign of Jesus Christ. We have something to look forward to. God knows our future. I love what Job says in Job chapter 19, verses 25-26: "For I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand on the earth. And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God."

God is not the God of the dead, but of the living and He made us whole—soul, spirit, and body—and He knows how to take care of all of them.

God bless!