The Sadducees’ Question
Scripture: In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had her as wife. (Luke 20.33)
Main Point: The Sadducees tried to trap Jesus by making the resurrection seem absurd, but they failed to understand God’s power and the nature of the age to come.
The Sadducees approached Jesus with what they thought was an airtight argument against resurrection. They cited the law of levirate marriage from Deuteronomy 25, which required a man to marry his deceased brother’s widow to preserve the family line. They concocted a scenario: seven brothers successively marry the same woman, all die childless. Whose wife would she be in the resurrection?
Their question was designed to make resurrection seem absurd, impossible, and illogical. For the Sadducees, this law proved that Moses himself didn’t believe in resurrection because his law addressed only life in this world. People die and need children to preserve their name and legacy. That’s all there is.
But their question revealed a fundamental misunderstanding. They assumed the resurrection life would be identical to this present life, just extended indefinitely. They couldn’t imagine that God might do something new, something beyond their limited earthly categories. When we limit God to what we can understand or imagine, we make Him too small. The God who created all things can certainly create anew.
Reflection: Our inability to fully comprehend the resurrection does not make it untrue—it reveals the limitations of our finite minds before an infinite God. What assumptions about the resurrection life do you need to release to God? How does trusting God’s power help you face questions you cannot fully answer?
Prayer: Lord God, forgive me for trying to limit You to what I can understand. Help me trust in Your power to do immeasurably more than I can imagine. I believe in the resurrection. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
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