But
about the dead, that they are raised; haven’t you read in the book of Moses, about the Bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are therefore badly mistaken.
Mark 12:26-27
Mark 12 [18.] There came to him Sadducees, who say that there is no resurrection. They asked him, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote to us, ‘If a man’s brother dies, and leaves a wife behind him, and leaves no children, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up offspring for his brother.’ There were seven brothers. The first took a wife, and dying left no offspring. The second took her, and died, leaving no children behind him. The third likewise; and the seven took her and left no children. Last of all the woman also died. In the resurrection, when they rise, whose wife will she be of them? For the seven had her as a wife.”
Mark 12 [24.] Jesus answered them, “Isn’t this because you are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God? For when they will rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. But about the dead, that they are raised; haven’t you read in the book of Moses, about the Bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’ ? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are therefore badly mistaken.”
Mark 12 [28.] One of the scribes came, and heard them questioning together. Knowing that he had answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the greatest of all?”
Meaning:
The Sadducees had tried to make the resurrection look absurd with their story of a woman married in turn to seven brothers (Mark 12:18-23). Jesus first told them they were mistaken, “not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God” (Mark 12:24), and explained that in the resurrection people “neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven” (Mark 12:25). Now he goes to the real question, whether the dead rise at all, and he answers it from the books of Moses, the part of Scripture the Sadducees valued most.
- “But about the dead, that they are raised”
The Sadducees’ puzzle was about marriage, but their real target was the resurrection itself. Jesus did not let the discussion stay on the side issue. He spoke directly to the belief they denied. And instead of quoting the prophets or the psalms, which the Sadducees did not treat as binding, he chose a passage from the Law of Moses, so that they could not escape his argument.
- “In the book of Moses, about the Bush”
In those days the Scriptures were not divided into numbered chapters and verses, so a passage was often named by its subject. “The Bush” meant the account in Exodus 3, where Moses saw a bush burning in the wilderness that was not consumed. There God called to him and said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob” (Exodus 3:6). In the same conversation God revealed his name: “I AM WHO I AM” (Exodus 3:14).
- “I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob”
When God spoke these words to Moses, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had been dead for centuries. Yet God did not say, “I was their God.” He said, “I am.” He still called himself their God, and he still identified himself by his relationship with them.
Jesus’ point goes deeper than the tense of a verb. God had made a covenant with the patriarchs, binding himself to them with promises, and they died without seeing those promises fulfilled. If death had ended their existence, God’s covenant would have ended with it, and he would be the God of a memory. But the living God does not attach his name to people who have ceased to exist. His faithful love is stronger than death. Jesus could even say of himself, “before Abraham came into existence, I AM” (John 8:58).
- “He is not the God of the dead, but of the living”
Those who belong to God are alive to him, and the God who is faithful to them will raise them up. Jesus made the same promise in his own name to Martha at the grave of Lazarus: “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will still live, even if he dies” (John 11:25). Within days of this conversation he would rise from the dead himself, the first fruits of all who will be raised (1 Corinthians 15:20).
- “You are therefore badly mistaken”
Jesus ended where he began, but more strongly. The Sadducees were not slightly wrong; they had seriously misunderstood God. Their argument had been clever, but his answer exposed their ignorance of their own Scriptures. Some of the scribes, who were Pharisees and believed in the resurrection, were impressed, and one of them came forward with a question of his own (Mark 12:28).
The Significance of Mark 12:26-27
- God is faithful beyond death
The God who binds himself to his people does not let death break that bond. Those who belong to him are held by a love that the grave cannot end.
- Hope for those who grieve
Believers need not “grieve like the rest, who have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:13), for God is the God of the living, and their loved ones in Christ are alive to him.
- Read Scripture closely
Jesus drew a great truth from a familiar verse. Careful, believing attention to God’s word reveals depths that a quick reading misses.
Cross-References:
Exodus 3:6: "Moreover he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”" The words at the bush that Jesus quoted.
John 11:25-26: "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will still live, even if he dies. Whoever lives and believes in me will never die." Jesus is the resurrection.
1 Corinthians 15:20: "But now Christ has been raised from the dead. He became the first fruits of those who are asleep." The resurrection of Jesus guarantees ours.
Exodus 3:14: "God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM,”" The living God revealed at the bush.
Conclusion: Answering the Sadducees from the books of Moses, Jesus pointed to the burning bush, where God said, “I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob,” long after those men had died. God does not call himself the God of people who no longer exist, so the patriarchs must be alive to him and will share in the resurrection. He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, and those who denied this were badly mistaken. The passage gives every believer a firm hope founded on the faithfulness of God.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible