Luke 20:27–47

Marriage When the Dead Rise

²⁷The Sadducees do not believe that people rise from the dead. Some of them came to Jesus with a question. ²⁸“Teacher,” they said, “Moses wrote for us about a man’s brother who dies. Suppose the brother leaves a wife but has no children. Then the man must get married to the widow. He must have children to carry on his dead brother’s name.

²⁹“There were seven brothers. The first one got married to a woman. He died without leaving any children. ³⁰The second one got married to her. ³¹And then the third one got married to her. One after another, the seven brothers got married to her. They all died. None left any children. ³²Finally, the woman died too. ³³Now then, when the dead rise, whose wife will she be? All seven brothers were married to her.”

³⁴Jesus replied, “People in this world get married. And their parents give them to get married. ³⁵But it will not be like that when the dead rise. Those who are considered worthy to take part in what happens at that time won’t get married. And their parents won’t give them to be married. ³⁶They can’t die anymore. They are like the angels. They are God’s children. They will be given a new form of life when the dead rise.

³⁷“Remember the story of Moses and the bush. Even Moses showed that the dead rise. The Lord said to him, ‘I am the God of Abraham. I am the God of Isaac. And I am the God of Jacob.’ ³⁸He is not the God of the dead. He is the God of the living. In his eyes, everyone is alive.”

³⁹Some of the teachers of the law replied, “You have spoken well, teacher!” ⁴⁰And no one dared to ask him any more questions.

Whose Son Is the Christ?

⁴¹Jesus said to them, “Why do people say that the Christ is the Son of David? ⁴²David himself says in the Book of Psalms,

“ ‘The Lord said to my Lord,

“Sit at my right hand

⁴³until I put your enemies

under your control.” ’

⁴⁴David calls him ‘Lord.’ So how can he be David’s son?”

⁴⁵All the people were listening. Jesus said to his disciples, ⁴⁶“Watch out for the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in long robes. They love to be greeted in the market places. They love to have the most important seats in the synagogues. They also love to have the places of honor at dinners. ⁴⁷They take over the houses of widows. They say long prayers to show off. God will punish those men very much.”