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The Gospel of Luke Chapter 20:27-47 A Question of the Resurrection 20:27 Now some Sadducees (who contend that there is no resurrection) came to him.
Next it was the turn of the Sadducees to challenge the Lord Jesus Christ. Since they did not believe in the resurrection from the dead, they were—according to Paul—the most miserable of men (1 Cor. 15:16–21). 20:28–32 They asked him, "Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies leaving a wife but no children, that man must marry the widow and father children for his brother. Now there were seven brothers. The first one married a woman and died without children. The second and then the third married her, and in this same way all seven died, leaving no children. Finally the woman died too.
Their question was not sincere—they were assured of their own opinions—they were simply trying to confound Jesus so that he would be shown up as an inferior teacher (compared to them!) They first of all quote the Law of Moses (Deut. 25:5–6) concerning Levirate marriage, and then create a ridiculous hypothetical situation where a man who had six brothers married a wife and died without leaving any children. One by one, according to the Law of Moses, each brother married the widow but each one died childless until, last of all, the woman died too. 20:33 In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For all seven had married her."
The Sadducees not only refused to believe in resurrection, they could only understand it in terms of the present creation. Their argument, as they saw it, proved that the idea of a resurrection— returning again to this life—was silly. Since the woman had been married to seven husbands, whose wife would she be in the event of such a resurrection taking place? 20:34–36 So Jesus said to them, "The people of this age marry and are given in marriage. But those who are regarded as worthy to share in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. In fact, they can no longer die, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, since they are sons of the resurrection.
It is perhaps because they were so wise in their own opinions that Jesus’ reply is not only an explanation but quite a stinging rebuke. Indeed, Matthew’s version of this event begins a rebuke