Some Sadducees Try to Trick Jesus^(A)

²⁷ Some Sadducees, who believed people would not rise from the dead, came to Jesus. ²⁸ They asked, “Teacher, Moses wrote that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, then that man must marry the widow and ·have children [^Lraise up offspring/seed] for his brother [Deut. 25:5–6]. ²⁹ Once there were seven brothers. The first brother ·married [^Ltook a wife] and died, but had no children. ³⁰ Then the second brother married the widow, and he died. ³¹ And the third brother married the widow, and he died. The same thing happened with all seven brothers; they died and had no children. ³² Finally, the woman died also. ³³ Since all seven brothers had married her, whose wife will she be ·when people rise from the dead [^Lat the resurrection]?”

³⁴ Jesus said to them, “·On earth, people [^LThe children of this age] marry and are given to someone to marry. ³⁵ But those who will be worthy ·to be raised from the dead and live again [^Lof the age to come and the resurrection] will not marry, nor will they be given to someone to marry. ³⁶ [^LFor] In that life they are ·like [or equal to] angels and cannot die. They are children of God, because they ·have been raised from the dead [are children of the resurrection]. ³⁷ Even Moses clearly showed that the dead are raised to life. When he wrote about the burning bush [Ex. 3:1–12], he said that the Lord is ‘the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob [Ex. 3:6; ^CGod is still the God of the patriarchs, so they must have a continued existence after death].’ ³⁸ God is the God of the living, not the dead, because all people are alive to him.”

³⁹ Some of the ·teachers of the law [scribes] said, “Teacher, ·your answer was good [well said!].” ⁴⁰ No one ·was brave enough [dared] to ask him another question.