The Question about the Resurrection

¹⁸ Some Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him and asked him a question, saying,

Peter and John before the Council

4 While Peter and John^[a] were speaking to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came to them,^{(A) 2} much annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming that in Jesus there is the resurrection of the dead.^(B)

The Question about the Resurrection

²³ The same day some Sadducees came to him saying there is no resurrection,^[a] and they asked him a question:^{(A) 24} “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies childless, his brother shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother.’^{(B) 25} Now there were seven brothers among us; the first married and died childless, leaving the widow to his brother. ²⁶ The second did the same, so also the third, down to the seventh. ²⁷ Last of all, the woman herself died. ²⁸ In the resurrection, then, whose wife of the seven will she be? For all of them had married her.”

²⁹ Jesus answered them, “You are wrong because you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God.^{(C) 30} For in the resurrection people neither marry nor are given in marriage but are like angels of God^[b] in heaven. ³¹ And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God, ³² ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is God not of the dead but of the living.”^{(D) 33} And when the crowds heard it, they were astounded at his teaching.^(E)

¹⁸ who have swerved from the truth, saying resurrection^[a] has already occurred. They are upsetting the faith of some.^(A)

¹³ If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised, ¹⁴ and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation is in vain and your faith is in vain. ¹⁵ We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified of God that he raised Christ—whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised.^{(A) 16} For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised. ¹⁷ If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile, and you are still in your sins. ¹⁸ Then those also who have died^[a] in Christ have perished.

⁶ When Paul noticed that some were Sadducees and others were Pharisees, he called out in the council, “Brothers,^[a] I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. I am on trial concerning the hope of the resurrection^[b] of the dead.”^{(A) 7} When he said this, a dissension began between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. ⁸ (The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection or angel or spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge all three.)^{(B) 9} Then a great clamor arose, and certain scribes of the Pharisees’ group stood up and contended, “We find nothing wrong with this man. What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?”^(C)

The Question about the Resurrection

²⁷ Some Sadducees, those who say there is no resurrection, came to him^{(A) 28} and asked him a question: “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies leaving a wife but no children, the man^[a] shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother.^{(B) 29} Now there were seven brothers; the first married a woman and died childless; ³⁰ then the second^{[b] 31} and the third married her, and so in the same way all seven died childless. ³² Finally the woman also died. ³³ In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had married her.”

³⁴ Jesus said to them, “Those who belong to this age marry and are given in marriage, ³⁵ but those who are considered worthy of a place in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. ³⁶ Indeed, they cannot die anymore, because they are like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection.^{(C) 37} And the fact that the dead are raised Moses himself showed, in the story about the bush, where he speaks of the Lord as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.^{(D) 38} Now he is God not of the dead but of the living, for to him all of them are alive.”^{(E) 39} Then some of the scribes answered, “Teacher, you have spoken well.” ⁴⁰ For they no longer dared to ask him another question.^(F)