Marriage in the *resurrection

The Life of Jesus Christ - Chapter 9 - Jesus' last week in Jerusalem - Part 7

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An online Bible Study course by Barrie Wetherill about the life of Jesus. This book is in EasyEnglish Level B. Use the links below for other online Bible Study books and commentaries that will help you. Or go to the Word List, which explains words with a *star.

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Matthew 22:23-33

Now the Sadducees came to Jesus. The Sadducees were men who believed the first 5 books in the Bible. But they did not believe in a resurrection. (Resurrection means a new life that God gives people after death. The *Old Testament clearly taught this. For example, read Psalm 16:9-11, Daniel 12:2, and Job 19:23-27. There are also many other chapters where the Bible mentions the resurrection.)

There was a law in Deuteronomy 25. If a married man died without children, then his brother must marry the woman. They would count their first child as the dead man’s child. This was the law in some other countries too. Its purpose was to help widows. The Sadducees pretended that seven brothers all married the same woman, one after the other. None of them had children. They asked Jesus who would be married to the woman in the resurrection.

Jesus replied that in the resurrection there is no marriage. But he proved the resurrection in a very interesting way. He said:

Jesus is talking about words which are in Exodus 3:6, and in many other places. Every time, it is clear what the Bible means. It does not mean, ‘God was the God of Abraham while Abraham was alive’. And so it means that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are still alive. They are waiting for the resurrection.

The Sadducees and *Pharisees both believed the Bible. But Jesus said that they did not understand. These groups read the Bible with their own ideas. They decided for themselves what the words meant.