Mark 12:18-27

Mark 12:18–27 KJV (WS)

18 Then come unto him the Sadducees, which say there is no resurrection; and they asked him, saying, 19 Master, Moses wrote unto us, If a man's brother die, and leave his wife behind him, and leave no children, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother. 20 Now there were seven brethren: and the first took a wife, and dying left no seed. 21 And the second took her, and died, neither left he any seed: and the third likewise. 22 And the seven had her, and left no seed: last of all the woman died also. 23 In the resurrection therefore, when they shall rise, whose wife shall she be of them? for the seven had her to wife. 24 And Jesus answering said unto them, Do ye not therefore err, because ye know not the scriptures, neither the power of God? 25 For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as the angels which are in heaven. 26 And as touching the dead, that they rise: have ye not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? 27 He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living: ye therefore do greatly err.

Exegetical Idea: The resurrection is real and radically different from earthly life, as proven by Scripture and grounded in the power of the living God.

Homiletical Idea: Because the living God is faithful to His Word, we can be certain that death is not the end.

Introduction

Imagine standing at a funeral.

The music is soft, the flowers are fading, and the family sits in silence as the casket is lowered.

In that moment, even the most confident people begin to wonder: Is this really the end?

We live in a world that doesn’t like to think about death.

Some avoid it.

Others mock it.

You’ll hear people say, “When you’re gone, you’re gone,” or “No one really knows what’s on the other side.”

The Sadducees of Jesus’ day were the same way.

They were the intellectuals, educated, powerful, and sophisticated.

They didn’t believe in angels, spirits, or resurrection.

To them, death was the final curtain call.

So when they approached Jesus in the temple, they weren’t asking for truth; they were testing Him with a smirk.

Their question about seven brothers and one wife was meant to make the whole idea of resurrection look ridiculous.

But Jesus wasn’t rattled.

In fact, He turned their question into one of the most profound truths in Scripture.

A truth that still gives hope at the graveside, courage in suffering, and confidence in a world afraid of death.

He said, “God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”

Here’s the heart of His message, and the heart of ours today:

Because the living God is faithful to His Word, we can be certain that death is not the end.

This morning, we’ll walk through Jesus’ conversation with these skeptics and discover three life-changing truths:

What unbelief gets wrong about God’s power,

What Scripture reveals about God’s faithfulness, and

How that truth gives believers unshakable confidence beyond the grave.

Transition:

Let’s step into the temple courts where Jesus meets the skeptics head-on and shows that the living God’s promises outlast the power of death.

Body

Point 1: The Skeptics’ Question: When We Can’t Imagine God’s Power, We Mock His Promises

Explain (vv. 18–23)

The story opens with the Sadducees, a powerful, wealthy, and theologically conservative group that denied the resurrection because they accepted only the Torah (Genesis–Deuteronomy) as authoritative.

They were the aristocrats of Israel, deeply tied to the Temple system.

They were more political than spiritual, and skeptical of anything supernatural.

They approach Jesus not to learn, but to laugh at the idea of resurrection.

They construct a hypothetical scenario drawn from Deuteronomy 25:5–10, the law of levirate marriage.

This is where a man was to marry his deceased brother’s widow to preserve the family name.

In their absurd version, seven brothers all die, each marrying the same woman, leaving no children.

Then they smirk: “In the resurrection, whose wife will she be?”

They believed they’d exposed resurrection as illogical.

How could God sort out such tangled relationships?

But their question reveals a deeper issue.

They could not imagine God doing something greater than what they had seen on earth.

Their reasoning stopped where their imagination ended.

Key Word

ἀνάστασις (anástasis) “resurrection,” literally “rising up again.”

The Sadducees couldn’t grasp a power that could re-create life, not just reassemble it.

Cultural Insight

The Sadducees’ question mirrors modern skepticism:

“You really believe there’s life after death?”

“You think bodies will come out of graves?”

“Isn’t heaven just wishful thinking?”

Their mockery comes from the same source…limited vision of divine power.

Illustration

You might compare it to a blind man mocking color:

“You say there’s blue and green, but I’ve never seen it, so it must not exist.”

The problem isn’t the truth; it’s the limitation of perception.

Transitional Sentence

The Sadducees’ question reveals how unbelief disguises itself as intellect, but Jesus exposes the real issue behind their clever argument.

Point 2: The Savior’s Correction: Doubt Grows Where Scripture and God’s Power Are Ignored

Explain (v. 24)

Jesus doesn’t entertain their scenario; He diagnoses their hearts.

“Are you not therefore mistaken, because you do not know the Scriptures nor the power of God?”

He identifies two roots of theological error.

The same two that still feed spiritual confusion today:

Ignorance of Scripture

They had Scripture in hand but not in heart.

They read the Bible selectively, rejecting what didn’t fit their system.

They failed to see resurrection truth even in the Torah (e.g., Genesis 22, Exodus 3).

Ignorance of God’s Power

They believed in a God who created the world, but not in a God who could re-create it.

Their theology limited the Almighty to human categories.

Key Word

πλανᾶσθε (planāsthe) — “You are mistaken,” or “You have gone astray.”It’s the same word used for wandering sheep. They had drifted from truth not through lack of religion, but through lack of revelation.

Cultural Background

In rabbinic debate, the Sadducees often prided themselves on intellect.

Jesus cuts through their sophistication.

“Your problem isn’t that you think too deeply, it’s that you don’t think biblically.”

Illustration

It’s like someone who argues that the sun doesn’t exist because it’s cloudy today.

They confuse their limited perception with absolute reality.

Likewise, when we reduce God to what we can comprehend, we end up worshiping a smaller version of ourselves.

Transitional Sentence

Having exposed their ignorance, Jesus now replaces it with revelation, showing them what resurrection life actually looks like.

Point 3: The Scripture’s Revelation: The Living God Promises a Transformed, Eternal Life

Explain (vv. 25–27a)

Jesus now answers what the Sadducees never expected, not with philosophy, but Scripture.

First, He corrects their assumption:

“When they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.”

They assumed resurrection meant a mere continuation of earthly life.

Jesus reveals that resurrection life is radically different.

It is not a return to mortality, but a transformation into immortality.

Key Words

ἰσάγγελοι (isángeloi) “Like angels.”

Not that we become angels, but that we share their immortality and spiritual nature.

ἐν τῇ ἀναστάσει (en tē anastasei) “In the resurrection.”

Jesus speaks of it as a certainty, not a possibility.

Then He proves resurrection from the very Scriptures the Sadducees claimed to believe: Ex 3:6

Have you not read in the book of Moses, in the burning bush passage, how God spoke to him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?

He is not the God of the dead, but of the living.

Historical Insight

By quoting Exodus 3:6, Jesus appeals directly to the Torah, the Sadducees’ sole source of authority.

Notice the present tense “I am.”

The covenant name Yahweh implies continual relationship.

If God IS Abraham’s God, Abraham must still live.

Death cannot dissolve what God’s covenant has joined.

Illustration

Think of a parent who outlives their child’s absence abroad, the relationship endures, even unseen.

If a human parent’s bond survives distance, how much more the eternal bond between God and His people, which not even death can sever?

Or use the seed illustration (1 Cor. 15):

The seed must die to live again, but what rises looks nothing like what was buried.

Resurrection isn’t reanimation; it’s transformation.

Transitional Sentence

The Sadducees wanted to debate doctrine; Jesus delivered revelation, a living God whose promises outlast the grave.

Point 4: The Believer’s Confidence: The Faithfulness of the Living God Secures Our Hope Beyond Death

Explain (v. 27b)

Jesus ends with a final, emphatic rebuke:

“You are greatly mistaken.”

The word “greatly” (πολύ) underscores that their error isn’t small, it’s eternal in consequence.

To deny resurrection is to deny the very faithfulness of God who made covenant promises to His people.

For believers, this verse isn’t a rebuke but a reassurance:

If God is the God of the living, then those who belong to Him can never truly die.

His faithfulness continues beyond the grave.

He is not finished with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and He is not finished with you.

Key Word

ζῶντος (zōntos) — “Living.”

God’s defining attribute is life itself.

To know Him is to share in that life (John 17:3).

Illustration

Think of Adoniram Judson, who, near death after decades of suffering in Burma, said:“I go with the gladness of a boy bounding away from school. I feel so strong in Christ.”

That’s the confidence of someone who believes death cannot end what God has begun.

Or recall a graveside scene: when a believer says goodbye to a loved one, the heart aches but hope endures, because the relationship is not broken; it’s simply awaiting reunion in resurrection.

Application

We can know that God’s Word and power guarantee that death is not the end.

We can experience deep confidence and peace in the living God’s faithfulness.

We can trust His Word when life feels fragile, live with eternal perspective, and share this hope with others.

Transitional Sentence

When Jesus finished, the Sadducees were silent, but believers walk away singing.

Because if God is the God of the living, then life with Him never ends.

Conclusion

When Jesus finished speaking, the Sadducees had nothing left to say.

The debate was over, but the truth had only begun to echo: God is the God of the living.

Every covenant name He’s ever spoken still stands.

He is the God of Abraham, which means Abraham still lives.

He is the God of Isaac and Jacob, which means His promises still breathe.

And He is the God of every believer who has ever trusted His Word.

You see, the question isn’t just, “What happens when we die?”

The deeper question is, “Whose God is yours?”

If you belong to the God of the living, then death is not your master.

It’s just the doorway to His presence.

When you stand by a hospital bed or graveside, when fear whispers that this is the end, remember:

The living God is faithful to His Word , and because of that, death is never the end for those who trust Him.

Final Line

You can leave today with the same certainty Jesus gave that day in the temple — that the One who calls Himself ‘the God of the living’ will never let death have the last word over your life.

The same Jesus who silenced the Sadducees is alive today. He didn’t just teach about resurrection, He proved it when He rose from the dead.

The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob became the God who raised Jesus, and He offers that same eternal life to you.

Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.”

If you’ll turn from your sin and trust Him today, you can know the God of the living.

You can know the One who forgives sin, defeats death, and keeps every promise He’s made.

Will you trust the risen Christ today?