The Sadducees and the Resurrection

Sadducees — A Sad Existence

Mark 12:18 CSB

Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him and questioned him:

Sadducees were a politico-religious party within Judaism, the main competition of the Pharisees. Their origin is probably traced back to Zadok the high priest from David and Solomon’s reigns.

The Sadducees certainly held the Pentateuch in higher regard than other Scripture, and it’s quite possible the first five books of Scripture is all they held to as authoritative.

There were rather conservative.

And, they did not believe in the resurrection. The belief that this life is all there is certainly is a very fatalistic worldview that leaves us asking, “What’s the point of life, then?” The question is why did they not believe in a doctrine that is so fundamental to NT faith?

Remember the Sadducees only embraced as undoubtedly authoritative the first five books of the Bible.

Certainly they rejected oral tradition as binding whatsoever.

The OT passages pointing to resurrection are actually vague foreshadows.

But the most significant reason they do not believe in the resurrection is their lack of understanding of Scripture and the power of God (v.24).

An Absurd Conundrum

Mark 12:19–23 CSB

“Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies, leaving a wife behind but no child, that man should take the wife and raise up offspring for his brother. There were seven brothers. The first married a woman, and dying, left no offspring. The second also took her, and he died, leaving no offspring. And the third likewise. None of the seven left offspring. Last of all, the woman died too. In the resurrection, when they rise, whose wife will she be, since the seven had married her?”

The Sadducees were less intent on trying to trap Jesus and more bent on attempting to humiliate Him. Their scenario is rooted in the levirate duty — levirate meaning in-law. This law provided that, in the case a husband is to die without a male heir, the wife will marry the next brother in line so that a male heir can be provided and so the brother’s name will be preserved and His property will be kept in the tribe and family.

The Sadducees present what they believe to be an air-tight case, one they’ve probably used with the Pharisees while engaging in the exact same argument. Their thought is that if you believe in the resurrection, you’re left with impossibly absurd scenarios to which no one can really solve and give a satisfactory answer.

Part of the problem with the answer, and the general belief of resurrection at the time, is that it FALSELY assumed that resurrection life would simply be a continuation of this life. Now that might be slightly oversimplifying the belief of the time, but it seems to be the common concensus of belief. The Sadducees believed that resurrection taught a continuation of this life, and the Pharisees and the rabbis both basically believed that the life to come would simply be a better version of the current life, therefore it would include things like marriage.

I agree with Ron Kernaghan, though, when he says that if we expect the future to be just like the past, which is a quite natural thing to do, but if we expect the future to be a continuation of the past, it limits our faith and restricts God to the boundaries of our experience. Is God not capable of doing a new thing? So Jesus responds to their question:

There’s a lot You Don’t Know

Mark 12:24–27 CSB

Jesus spoke to them, “Isn’t this the reason why you’re mistaken: you don’t know the Scriptures or the power of God? For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage but are like angels in heaven. And as for the dead being raised—haven’t you read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the burning bush, how God said to him: I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob? He is not the God of the dead but of the living. You are badly mistaken.”

While Jesus’ answer to the question over taxation was quite clever, here He is straightforward and even corrective of the Sadducees errant understanding. Two areas that the Sadducees are mistaken on:

They do not understand the Scriptures.

They do not know the power of God.

After giving His assessment, the argues in reverse order of His charge, first dealing with their misunderstanding of God’s power. The resurrection life, Jesus notes, is not a continuation of this life. When the resurrection occurs, mankind becomes like angels (THEY DO NOT BECOME ANGELS!) and are thus do not marry nor are they given in marriage. So, what is Jesus saying? Is there no further/future marriage in heaven, but we maintain the marriage relationship we currently have? Do we become asexual beings, no longer identified as male and female? Is it just that there is no longer physical intimacy in heaven? Honestly, I’ve taken the passage this way based on a simple surface-level reading without giving it much deeper thought or consideration. So, here are some thoughts based on my study:

There is a fundamental change in the resurrection, and God is powerful enough to affect this change. It is not a continuation of our current life. It is a new life ultimately in a new creation/new heaven and earth.

We, like the angels, will offer the entirety of all of our actions as worship unto God. Romans 12:1-2 will be our life, not something we must be exhorted to do.

Being fruitful and multiplying, what I call the “creation command” because it occurs at creation as a fundamental calling for earthly life, will no longer be necessary. There will be no more death and therefore no more need to be fruitful and multiply. (Couple this with the fundamental goal of pro-creation: our foremost evangelism field, and this point really seems to become clear.)

I think it’s quite probable that we do not loose sexual identity in heaven — we are still male and female. Dr. Akin notes that “our gender does serve a role in identifying us.”

Just because we live in a highly sexualized culture, that does not mean it is necessary for our ultimate good or enjoyment. Again Dr. Akin notes that “No one will be deprived of one thing that is necessary for maximum joy, optimal happiness, and complete satisfaction.”

I believe in a “return to the garden” motif where we find our ultimate satisfaction in the presence of God and our relationship with Him.

Finally, I think it’s hard to build an entire theology of relational afterlife off of this one statement. What does seem certain about Jesus’ statement here is that we are mistaken if we believe the life to come is simply a continuation of the life we have now.

For the person who thinks that life is as good as it gets right now, you are sorely mistaken. This is but a shadow world, and the best is yet to come.

For the person stuck in a hopelessly difficult situation in this life, rejoice. There is a life that is far better than you could ever imagine that awaits you in the resurrection. Surrender your life to Jesus and rest in the hope of eternity!

So the Sadducees do not understand the power of God, His ability to bring about an entirely new world and life in the resurrection, but they also fail to truly understand God’s word.

Mark 12:26–27 CSB

And as for the dead being raised—haven’t you read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the burning bush, how God said to him: I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob? He is not the God of the dead but of the living. You are badly mistaken.”

Notice what Jesus says…again… “Haven’t you read in the book of Moses.” Now again, this is a particularly stinging rebuke for the Sadducees, because they claim to be faithful experts on the book of Moses, again, probably only seeing it as authoritative! Jesus takes them back to Exodus 3:6 when He says “the passage about the bush.” If there is no resurrection, then God’s promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob died with them when they died. There is no on-going nature to the covenant, no foundation for certainty that the promises will still stand. IF there is no resurrection, then truthfully the promises of God ended with their death, leaving the promises of God unfulfilled and finite. Consider the implications of what the Sadducees believe. No wonder we would consider their lack of belief in the resurrection a pitiable belief, because if it were true, what type of God would we be left with? One who make finite promises…a god who would be incapable of making good on the things he claimed.

But, He is NOT the God of the dead, but of the living. He was not the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He IS the God of their God. He made a forever covenant with them, to keep and protect them. Should we think that when they faced their chief enemy — death — that God abandoned them and did not keep and protect them then? Certainly not.

Jesus’ assessment of the Sadducees’ rejection of the resurrection? “You are badly mistaken.” On their own turf, the Book of Moses, Jesus defeats their dead belief by reminding them that God is the God of the living.

And His ultimate show of the certainty of the resurrection will come in just about a week’s time, when Jesus Himself, after suffering the pains of a cruel death on the cross, will talk out of a borrowed tomb, forever promising victory over death for all who will place their faith in Him.

Settle the issue of eternity quickly.

The issue is not whether or not we will be married in heaven. The question is simply will you be in heaven? Surrender your life to Christ. May today be the day of salvation.

Yearn for the life this world cannot offer.

No matter the highs or lows you journey through in this life, there is a better life to come. Our place there is prepared by Christ Himself, and it is a glorious city, a city lit by the light of God’s own glory. God’s throne is at the center of it, and it is a beautiful place of unity and perfection, a place of eternal joy. Friends, take hope: there is a better life to come.