Jesus Questioned About The Afterlife Series

When a popular, but not so dignified preacher gave a chapel message at a prestigious university he offended a lot of people. He was straightforward and blunt. He called sin, sin and told the people they were lost without Christ. He presented the plan of salvation to them.

He was not very tactful, and he offended many people with his blunt message. After the chapel message a distinguished professor counseled him. You gave a good message, but you need to change it to be more tactful. He told him if you search the scriptures, you will find that Jesus was the most tactful non-condemning person that ever lived. He suggested he be more tactful like Jesus.

The speaker asked him, if Jesus was the most tactful person who ever lived, how did he manage to get himself crucified?

There were times that Jesus was very non-condemning. When the woman was caught in adultery Jesus said the one who is without sin should cast the first stone. When no one came forward Jesus said, neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more.

When Jesus confronted the false religion of the Sadducees and Pharisees, he became condemning. For Jesus his time had come. The last week of Jesus life horrified the established religious leaders. The Pharisees were offended by the triumphant entry on Sunday. They were angered by the cleansing of the temple on Monday. On this Tuesday he was very untactful as he approached the final 72 hours before his crucifixion.

And Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection. And they asked him a question, saying, 19 “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies and leaves a wife, but leaves no child, the man must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. 20 There were seven brothers; the first took a wife, and when he died left no offspring. 21 And the second took her, and died, leaving no offspring. And the third likewise. 22 And the seven left no offspring. Last of all the woman also died. 23 In the resurrection, when they rise again, whose wife will she be? For the seven had her as wife.”

24 Jesus said to them, “Is this not the reason you are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God? 25 For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 26 And as for the dead being raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? 27 He is not God of the dead, but of the living. You are quite wrong.” (Mark 12:18-27)

This account tells us of the encounter between Jesus and the Sadducees. These were the sophisticated aristocracy class questioning Jesus. Whither their prestigious clout they controlled the temple revenue and had political power. They particularly would have been outraged at Jesus turning over the moneychanger tables at the temple court the day before.

The Sadducees denied the resurrection (Mark 12:18)

Theologically the Sadducees were like the modern-day materialists. For them what you see in this life is what you get. They only accepted the first 5 books of Moses and not the Psalms or the prophets. They believed there is no resurrection and no afterlife. They did not believe in angels. When Jesus mentions angels in verse 25 it is to confront their beliefs.

Other groups had tried to trap Jesus and now these intellectual Sadducees will try. They will try to trap him using their tried-and-true arguments they use to refute the resurrection. Their plan was to make the resurrection of the dead look so ridiculous that Jesus would lose credibility. Their existence as the revered religious leaders depended on discrediting Jesus.

The Sadducees used an argument that had probably already stumped the Pharisees. It was a hypothetical illustration about seven men who died. After each man died a brother would marry the widow. All seven men married the woman without leaving any children. At the resurrection whose wife will she be?

The Sadducees were probably delighted that they had cornered Jesus with a question that would make him look weak. Even the Pharisees probably took delight in this question because they would finally be able to discredit Jesus, they may have thought.

The Sadducees based their question on Deuteronomy 25:5-10 talking about the kinsman redeemer. They would keep that individual’s name carrying on. The children would be an heir to the one that passed away. The story of Ruth and Boaz involves this principle.

The Sadducees thought they had Jesus between a rock and a hard place. Surely, he must either contradict the Scriptures or hedge on the resurrection of believers. How would Jesus respond? Would he have a tactful reply?