The Case of the Seven Husbands

Intro

Last week, we saw the Pharisees and Herodians, two groups of unlikely allies, join forces to try to stump Christ with a trick question. This morning, it’s the Sadducees’ turn to challenge Jesus. Stand with me as we read Luke 20:27-33.

This is God’s Word, and if you will let it, it will change your life.

Luke 20:27–33 ESV

27 There came to him some Sadducees, those who deny that there is a resurrection, 28 and they asked him a question, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies, having a wife but no children, the man must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. 29 Now there were seven brothers. The first took a wife, and died without children. 30 And the second 31 and the third took her, and likewise all seven left no children and died. 32 Afterward the woman also died. 33 In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had her as wife.”

Pray

Thus we have another group seeking to pin Jesus down with a question. With the Pharisees and Herodians, the issue wasn’t doctrinal so much as it was political - “should we pay taxes to Caesar?” This time, the Sadducees take a different approach.

We don’t know a lot about this group of religious and political leaders. Most scholars trace the Sadducees back to Zadok, a high-priest during the days of Kings David and Solomon (LBD). In fact, there are no historical sources of information from the Sadducees themselves - almost everything we have is either biblical (esp. from the Gospels and Acts) or comes from Pharisaical sources (Josephus and rabbinical/midrashic writings).

What we do know is that Sadducees rejected the idea of a future resurrection, as well as the existence of angels and demons. They also rejected the Pharisee traditions, preferring to interpret the Law for themselves (AYBD). And to a Sadducee, challenging teachers of the Law was a badge of honor.

Perhaps that’s why they feel confident in their line of attack. To a Sadducee, the idea of a resurrection was preposterous. So they set out to prove that.

To get exactly what they’re doing, all you have to do is look online. It won’t take you long to find stories that are “click-bait:” headlines that are made to get lots of attention. Whether it’s a senator “shutting down” another senator during a committee hearing, or someone who asks a poorly-worded question and “immediately regrets it,” there is a portion of the population that thrives on their side defeating the other in viral videos.

That’s our version of what the Sadducees are trying to do to Jesus. They set up an absolutely absurd scenario, just to prove how ridiculous the idea of a resurrection is. The scene involves seven brothers. The first gets married, but dies before providing his wife with a child.

Under the Law of Moses, the next brother would be required to secure his brother’s inheritance by marrying the wife and trying to have a child to carry on the first brother’s legacy. It was a means of continuing the family heritage, as well as providing for the widow.

According to these Sadducees, that’s what happens, but the second brother also dies without child. The process continues, so that all seven have married her, and none is able to produce offspring. Finally the woman dies, widowed seven times. So the Sadducees ask, “In the resurrection, who’s wife will she be?”

No one in their right mind would ever expect this to happen in real life. There is no way. So the Sadducees aren’t asking about a real situation. Their making an argument: in effect they are really saying “See how ludicrous this resurrection idea really is?” It’s call a reductio ad absurdum - you take you’re opponents argument and show that it leads to an absurd conclusion. You can almost hear the headline they wanted: “Local Rabbi Gets Cocky, Then Get’s Schooled on Ridiculous Resurrection Claims.” (Maybe I should write some of these headlines, huh?)

Not so fast. Jesus sees what’s going on. Luke doesn’t say this, but Matthew and Mark both have Jesus telling the Sadducees that they are, well, wrong:

Matthew 22:29 ESV

29 But Jesus answered them, “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God.

The Sadducees are oblivious, both to what God has said and what he will do. They do not know the Scriptures. They do not know God’s very power. If they did, according to Jesus, they would not hold their beliefs about the resurrection. He quickly describes the resurrection life:

Luke 20:34–36 ESV

34 And Jesus said to them, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage, 35 but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage, 36 for they cannot die anymore, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.

Jesus is saying that there is no marriage in that time, because there is no need for marriage. Marriage on earth has pragmatic and spiritual reasons - it demonstrates the nature of God’s love and provides protection and care for both spouses (and their children). Marriage is the fundamental element of society, too. It is vastly important on this side of the grave.

But then, marriage will no longer be necessary. As “sons of the resurrection,” we will not be subject to death. We will not need to provide a heritage or family legacy. We will not marry, not be given in marriage. That is a thing of the past and present, but not the future.

But what’s more important for the text this morning is the great truth Jesus turns toward in verses 37-38:

Luke 20:37 ESV

37 But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed, in the passage about the bush, where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.

Jesus goes to the burning bush to demonstrate that the resurrection isn’t a foreign concept within the Scripture. How does God identify himself at the burning bush?

Exodus 3:6 ESV

6 And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

God does not identify himself as “I AM.” Not yet, at least. He says that he is the God of four men: Moses’ father, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. That may not sound like a proof of resurrection, but consider verse 38:

Luke 20:38 ESV

38 Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all live to him.”

God Is Not the God of the Dead, But of the Living

Think about the implications of that. What kind of God would take glory in being the divine head over some men who once lived and are now dead as door knobs? What God would want his entire reputation built upon rotting corpses? What God would be worthy of our worship simply by being worthy of the worship of people who once lived ages ago but who are no more? I love the comment by I. Howard Marshall in his commentary on this verse: “only living people can have a God” (Marshall, NIGTC Luke, 743).

That points us to a glorious truth: resurrection is a reality, and not merely a delusion or dream. It was a reality when the Son of God rose from the dead on that glorious Easter morning, and it is just as real for us, God’s children. Paul points to Christ’s resurrection as the foundation of our faith and as the sure promise of God. The truth of the resurrection is as real as the pew you’re sitting on - and more so!

In addition, the nature of this “second life” is permanent. This isn’t some form of re-incarnation where the person keeps becoming “reborn” as different people or things until they finally achieve some sort of oneness with the universe or some life force. When a person dies in Christ, his relation with God through that Great Mediator is secure for all eternity.

So the question really boils down to this: do you believe? Do you believe in the reality that God will raise up his people after death to live forever? Do you believe that God has already raised Christ from the dead? Most importantly, have you been raise to life in Christ? See, we are all dead in our trespasses and sins, but God in Christ can resurrect you, bringing you from death to life. Will you trust him to save you from your sins?

Invitation