New Testament in a Year

²⁷ Then some Sadducees—men who believed that death is the end of existence, that there is no resurrection— ²⁸ came to Jesus with this:

“The laws of Moses state that if a man dies without children, the man’s brother shall marry the widow, and their children will legally belong to the dead man, to carry on his name. ²⁹ We know of a family of seven brothers. The oldest married and then died without any children. ³⁰ His brother married the widow and he, too, died. Still no children. ³¹ And so it went, one after the other, until each of the seven had married her and died, leaving no children. ³² Finally the woman died also. ³³ Now here is our question: Whose wife will she be in the resurrection? For all of them were married to her!”

^34-35 Jesus replied, “Marriage is for people here on earth, but when those who are counted worthy of being raised from the dead get to heaven, they do not marry. ³⁶ And they never die again; in these respects they are like angels, and are sons of God, for they are raised up in new life from the dead.

^37-38 “But as to your real question—whether or not there is a resurrection—why, even the writings of Moses himself prove this. For when he describes how God appeared to him in the burning bush, he speaks of God as ‘the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ To say that the Lord is some person’s God^[a] means that person is alive, not dead! So from God’s point of view, all men are living.”

³⁹ “Well said, sir!” remarked some of the experts in the Jewish law who were standing there. ⁴⁰ And that ended their questions, for they dared ask no more!

⁴¹ Then he presented them with a question. “Why is it,” he asked, “that Christ, the Messiah, is said to be a descendant of King David? ^42-43 For David himself wrote in the book of Psalms: ‘God said to my Lord, the Messiah, “Sit at my right hand until I place your enemies beneath your feet.”’ ⁴⁴ How can the Messiah be both David’s son and David’s God at the same time?”

⁴⁵ Then, with the crowds listening, he turned to his disciples and said, ⁴⁶ “Beware of these experts in religion, for they love to parade in dignified robes and to be bowed to by the people as they walk along the street. And how they love the seats of honor in the synagogues and at religious festivals! ⁴⁷ But even while they are praying long prayers with great outward piety, they are planning schemes to cheat widows out of their property. Therefore God’s heaviest sentence awaits these men.”