The Sadducees: What About the Resurrection?^(A)

^18 (B)Then some Sadducees, ^(C)who say there is no resurrection, came to Him; and they asked Him, saying: ¹⁹ “Teacher, ^(D)Moses wrote to us that if a man’s brother dies, and leaves his wife behind, and leaves no children, his brother should take his wife and raise up offspring for his brother. ²⁰ Now there were seven brothers. The first took a wife; and dying, he left no offspring. ²¹ And the second took her, and he died; nor did he leave any offspring. And the third likewise. ²² So the seven had her and left no offspring. Last of all the woman died also. ²³ Therefore, in the resurrection, when they rise, whose wife will she be? For all seven had her as wife.”

²⁴ Jesus answered and said to them, “Are you not therefore ^[a]mistaken, because you do not know the Scriptures nor the power of God? ²⁵ For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but ^(E)are like angels in heaven. ²⁶ But concerning the dead, that they ^(F)rise, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the burning bush passage, how God spoke to him, saying, ^(G)‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? ²⁷ He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. You are therefore greatly ^[b]mistaken.”

Marriage Duty of the Surviving Brother

^5 (A)“If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies and has no son, the widow of the dead man shall not be married to a stranger outside the family; her husband’s brother shall go in to her, take her as his wife, and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her. ⁶ And it shall be that the firstborn son which she bears ^(B)will succeed to the name of his dead brother, that ^(C)his name may not be blotted out of Israel. ⁷ But if the man does not want to take his brother’s wife, then let his brother’s wife go up to the ^(D)gate to the elders, and say, ‘My husband’s brother refuses to raise up a name to his brother in Israel; he will not perform the duty of my husband’s brother.’ ⁸ Then the elders of his city shall call him and speak to him. But if he stands firm and says, ^(E)‘I do not want to take her,’ ⁹ then his brother’s wife shall come to him in the presence of the elders, ^(F)remove his sandal from his foot, spit in his face, and answer and say, ‘So shall it be done to the man who will not ^(G)build up his brother’s house.’ ¹⁰ And his name shall be called in Israel, ‘The house of him who had his sandal removed.’

The Faith of the Patriarchs^(A)

¹⁷ By faith Abraham, ^(B)when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, ^18 [a]of whom it was said, ^(C)“In Isaac your seed shall be called,” ¹⁹ concluding that God ^(D)was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.

¹⁶ For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. ¹⁷ And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; ^(A)you are still in your sins! ¹⁸ Then also those who have ^[a]fallen ^(B)asleep in Christ have perished. ^19 (C)If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.

The Last Enemy Destroyed

²⁰ But now ^(D)Christ is risen from the dead, and has become ^(E)the firstfruits of those who have ^[b]fallen asleep. ²¹ For ^(F)since by man came death, ^(G)by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. ²² For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall ^(H)be made alive. ²³ But ^(I)each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming.

^42 (A)So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. ^43 (B)It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. ⁴⁴ It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.

Our Final Victory

⁵⁰ Now this I say, brethren, that ^(A)flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. ⁵¹ Behold, I tell you a ^[a]mystery: ^(B)We shall not all sleep, ^(C)but we shall all be changed— ⁵² in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. ^(D)For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. ⁵³ For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and ^(E)this mortal must put on immortality. ⁵⁴ So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: ^(F)“Death is swallowed up in victory.”

⁵⁶ The sting of death is sin, and ^(H)the strength of sin is the law. ^57 (I)But thanks be to God, who gives us ^(J)the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

^58 (K)Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing ^(L)that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

¹⁴ And ^(A)God both raised up the Lord and will also raise us up ^(B)by His power.

²⁰ For ^(A)our citizenship is in heaven, ^(B)from which we also ^(C)eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, ^21 (D)who will transform our lowly body that it may be ^(E)conformed to His glorious body, ^(F)according to the working by which He is able even to ^(G)subdue all things to Himself.