But
that the dead are raised, even Moses showed at the bush, when he called the Lord ‘The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ Now he is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for all are alive to him.” Some of the scribes answered, “Teacher, you speak well.” They didn’t dare to ask him any more questions.
Luke 20:37-40
Luke 20 [26.] They weren’t able to trap him in his words before the people. They marveled at his answer, and were silent. Some of the Sadducees came to him, those who deny that there is a resurrection. They asked him, “Teacher, Moses wrote to us that if a man’s brother dies having a wife, and he is childless, his brother should take the wife, and raise up children for his brother. There were therefore seven brothers. The first took a wife, and died childless. The second took her as wife, and he died childless. The third took her, and likewise the seven all left no children, and died. Afterward the woman also died. Therefore in the resurrection whose wife of them will she be? For the seven had her as a wife.”
Luke 20 [34.] Jesus said to them, “The children of this age marry, and are given in marriage. But those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage. For they can’t die any more, for they are like the angels, and are children of God, being children of the resurrection. But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed at the bush, when he called the Lord ‘The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ Now he is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for all are alive to him.”
Luke 20 [39.] Some of the scribes answered, “Teacher, you speak well.” They didn’t dare to ask him any more questions.
Luke 20 [41.] He said to them, “Why do they say that the Christ is David’s son? David himself says in the book of Psalms,
‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand,
until I make your enemies the footstool of your feet.”’
“David therefore calls him Lord, so how is he his son?”
Meaning:
The Sadducees, who denied the resurrection, have tried to make it look absurd with the story of a woman married to seven brothers (Luke 20:27-34). Jesus has answered that the children of the resurrection neither marry nor die, for they are like the angels (Luke 20:35-36). Now he goes further. He proves the resurrection from the very books of Moses that the Sadducees treated as their highest authority.
- “even Moses showed at the bush”
Jesus takes them to the burning bush, where God first called Moses to lead Israel out of Egypt. There God said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob” (Exodus 3:6). The Sadducees had appealed to Moses to argue against the resurrection. Jesus answers them from Moses too. He does not choose a clearer verse from the prophets, such as Daniel’s promise that “Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake” (Daniel 12:2); he meets them on their own ground.
- “Now he is not the God of the dead, but of the living”
When God spoke to Moses, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had been dead for centuries. Yet God did not say “I was their God,” but “I am.” The covenant relationship God made with them did not end at their death. God does not call himself the God of people who have ceased to exist. If he is still their God, they must still live before him, and the promises he made to them must still be fulfilled, including the hope of bodily resurrection.
Mark records the same argument: “He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are therefore badly mistaken” (Mark 12:27). Matthew adds that the multitudes “were astonished at his teaching” (Matthew 22:31-33).
- “for all are alive to him”
Only Luke includes these words. From our side, death looks like an end. From God’s side, those who belong to him are alive. Jesus spoke of the beggar Lazarus, who “died, and he was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom” (Luke 16:22). Later he would say to Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will still live, even if he dies” (John 11:25).
- “Teacher, you speak well.”
Some of the scribes, many of whom were Pharisees and believed in the resurrection, were delighted to hear the Sadducees answered so convincingly. Their praise was sincere, though it did not mean they accepted Jesus as Messiah.
- “They didn’t dare to ask him any more questions.”
The chief priests, the spies, and now the Sadducees had all tried to trap Jesus, and each had failed. No one dared to try again. Matthew notes the same result: “No one was able to answer him a word, neither did any man dare ask him any more questions from that day forward” (Matthew 22:46). Now Jesus himself asks the question that no one can answer (Luke 20:41-44).
The Significance of Luke 20:37-40
- A living God and a living hope
God’s faithfulness to his people does not stop at death. Believers can face death knowing that God remains their God.
- Reading Scripture deeply
Jesus found the resurrection in a single phrase, “I am.” Careful attention to God’s word reveals truths that a careless reading misses.
Cross-References:
Exodus 3:6: "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." God’s words at the bush.
Mark 12:27: "He is not the God of the dead, but of the living." The parallel in Mark.
John 11:25: "I am the resurrection and the life." Jesus’ promise to Martha.
Daniel 12:2: "Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life," The prophetic hope.
Conclusion: Jesus showed from the books of Moses that the dead are raised. At the burning bush God called himself the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob long after their deaths, and he is not the God of the dead but of the living, for all are alive to him. Even the scribes admired his answer, and no one dared question him further.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible