Today it's the Sadducees who come to taunt Jesus. They do not believe in the resurrection, so their question is intended to ridicule the very idea of the resurrection of the dead.
"Then the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him with a question. 'Teacher,' they said, 'Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother.'" (Mark 12:18-19) The Sadducees mainly follow only the laws of Moses contained in the first five books of the Bible. They consider Moses the ultimate authority, largely disregarding the remainder of the Scriptures. In their question to Jesus they refer to this passage from Deuteronomy 25:5-6, "If brothers are living together and one of them dies without a son, his widow must not marry outside the family. Her husband's brother shall take her and marry her and fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to her. The first son she bears shall carry on the name of the dead brother so that his name will not be blotted out from Israel." This practice was known as "levirate marriage" from the root word "levir" which means "brother-in-law". This law helped to carry on the family name and it prevented properties from passing out of the family line.
The Sadducees do not interpret any of the writings of Moses as supplying any evidence for the resurrection from the dead, so they reject the idea. They make up a ridiculous scenario when asking Jesus their question regarding the resurrection, "Now there were seven brothers. The first one married and died without leaving any children. The second one married the widow, but he also died, leaving no child. It was the same with the third. In fact, none of the seven left any children. Last of all, the woman died too. At the resurrection whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?" (Mark 12:2-23) Though they don't believe in a resurrection, when they try to imagine it the Sadducees can only picture it as a continuation of life as we know it.
"Jesus replied, 'Are you not in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God?'" (Mark 12:24) The Sadducees believe they know the Scriptures, or at least the only Scriptures they recognize as having any authority. They have rejected the idea of a resurrection and therefore cannot recognize any references to it in the books of Moses. They have blinded themselves to the truth. Jesus says, "If you truly knew the Scriptures, you would know there is a resurrection. If you had any inkling of the awesome powers of Almighty God, you would not doubt He is able to give new life to the dead."
He continues, "When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven." (Mark 12:25) While we live in these mortal bodies, there is a need for us to "be fruitful and multiply". (Genesis 1:28) The human race would quickly have died out if no one had married or conceived children. But in the resurrection there will be no need for us to be fruitful and multiply. We are going to live forever in immortal resurrected bodies and we will no longer be governed by the laws of a mortal life.
Jesus now uses the words of Moses, whom the Sadducees consider the ultimate authority on all things, to prove His point that yes indeed Moses believed in a resurrection of the dead. Moses believed in it because he believed the words of the God who spoke to him. "Now about the dead rising---have you not read in the Book of Moses, in the account of the burning bush, how God said to him, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.?' He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. You are badly mistaken!" (Mark 12:26-27) God said to Moses, "I am the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob." This one little word "am" proves that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are still living. God cannot still be the God they worship and serve if they are not still alive to worship and serve Him. In Moses' day the bodies of these men were dead and buried, the souls of these men were alive and well in the presence of the God who created them.
If the Sadducees intend to follow the words of Moses, then they must take to heart what God Himself said to Moses. The God who created Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob created them with eternal souls. Those souls are with God. If God is able to do this, He is certainly able to raise their bodies from the dead. If God was able to create Adam from the dust of the ground, He is certainly able to call from the grave bodies that were once alive.
The Sadducees came to Jesus hoping to make sport of Him, but He has used the very Scriptures they treasure against them. As always, Jesus gets the best of His enemies. As always, He uses God's word to do so. God's word is the end to all arguments because God is the ultimate authority. His word is true and it will stand forever.
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