Luke 20:27-40

The Sadducees ask Jesus about life after death

27 Then some of the Sadducees came to see Jesus. The Sadducees do not believe that anyone becomes alive again after they die.

28 They wanted to ask Jesus a question. They said to him, ‘Teacher. Moses wrote this in the Bible for us: “A man may die and leave behind a wife but no children. Then that man's brother must marry the widow. Their children will be called the children of the brother who died.” 29 But once there were seven brothers. The oldest brother married a woman. Then he died before they had any children. 30 So the second brother married the widow. But that brother also died without children. 31 Then the third brother married this woman. The same thing happened to all seven brothers. They all died but they had no children. 32 After all this, the woman also died. 33 You teach that one day dead people will become alive again. On that day, whose wife will that woman be? She had married all seven of those brothers.’

34 Jesus answered them, ‘Men and women who are alive in this world are the ones who get married. 35 But God accepts some people who deserve to live with him in the future. He will raise them up after they have died. These people will not marry. They will not have husbands or wives. 36 They cannot die any more. This is because they will live as the angels live in heaven. They are children of God. He has made them alive again to live with him.

37 You should know that God makes dead people become alive again. Moses showed this in his report about the bush in the wilderness. He told us that our Lord God is the God of Abraham. He is the God of Isaac. And he is the God of Jacob. 38 But God is not the God of people who are dead. He is the God of people who are alive. For God, all people continue to be alive.’

39 Some of the teachers of God's Law agreed with Jesus. They said, ‘Teacher, that was a very good answer.’ 40 After that, they were all afraid to ask Jesus any more questions.