Articles
Whose Wife Will She Be?
Some people who asked Jesus questions were searching for truth; others were seeking self-justification. Today’s question is in the latter category. Here is Mark’s account of it (12:18-23). “Some Sadducees (who say that there is no resurrection) came to Jesus, and began questioning Him, saying, ‘Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves behind a wife and leaves no child, his brother should marry the wife and raise up children to his brother. There were seven brothers; and the first took a wife, and died leaving no children. The second one married her, and died leaving behind no children; and the third likewise; and so all seven left no children. Last of all the woman died also. In the resurrection, when they rise again, which one’s wife will she be? For all seven had married her.’”
Whether this circumstance was real or made up, the Sadducees evidently saw in it an unsolvable dilemma which assured them they were correct in denying resurrection from the dead. Jesus’ answer (vv. 24-27) is instructive. Consider four things about it.
One, the Sadducees were wrong. Many people seem to think that the Scriptures can be interpreted in multiple ways, each of which is just as valid as another. Jesus did not say of their denying resurrection, “That’s just your interpretation.” He said, “You are mistaken . . . you do not understand the Scriptures . . . you are greatly mistaken.”
Two, complex situations do not negate simple truth. The law to which the Sadducees referred is recorded in Deuteronomy 25:5-6. It was intended to preserve the name and family heritage of the deceased. The fact that the Sadducees could not decide this case surely did not mean that God could not! Jesus accused them of not understanding either God’s power or His word. Complex or hardship divorce cases in no way change what Jesus said about the subject (Matthew 5:32; 19:6, 9). Died-on-the-way-to-the-creek scenarios do not invalidate passages that teach the essentiality of baptism (Acts 2:38; 22:16; 1 Peter 3:21; etc.). Hypothetical questions neither prove nor disprove truth.
Three, the correct answer sometimes is “none of the above.” It was in this case. There is no marriage in the resurrection. Jesus did not limit Himself to the alternatives His questioners suggested. Sometimes none of them were right.
Four, truth is sometimes found in what the Scriptures clearly imply. After pointing out the mistakes in the Sadducees’ reasoning, Jesus positively made the case for resurrection by citing God’s statement to Moses, “I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob” (Exodus 3:6). God said this long after those patriarchs had died, yet, as Jesus observed, “He is not the God of the dead, but of the living.” Somehow, these men would still live. That somehow is resurrection! While we need to be careful about making unwarranted deductions from Scripture, inference is indeed a valid way of establishing truth.
