The Life of Jesus

That same day, some Tz'dukim came to him. They are the ones who say there is no such thing as resurrection, so they put to him a sh'eilah:

"Rabbi, Moshe said, `If a man dies childless, his brother must marry his widow and have children to preserve the man's family line.'

There were seven brothers. The first one married and then died; and since he had no children, he left his widow to his brother.

The same thing happened to the second brother, and the third, and finally to all seven.

After them all, the woman died.

Now in the Resurrection -- of the seven, whose wife will she be? For they all married her."

Yeshua answered them, "The reason you go astray is that you are ignorant both of the Tanakh and of the power of God.

For in the Resurrection, neither men nor women will marry; rather, they will be like angels in heaven.

And as for whether the dead are resurrected, haven't you read what God said to you,

`I am the God of Avraham, the God of Yitz'chak and the God of Ya`akov'? He is God not of the dead but of the living!"

When the crowds heard how he taught, they were astounded;

but when the P'rushim learned that he had silenced the Tz'dukim, they got together,

and one of them who was a Torah expert asked a sh'eilah to trap him:

"Rabbi, which of the mitzvot in the Torah is the most important?"

He told him, "`You are to love ADONAI your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.'

This is the greatest and most important mitzvah.

And a second is similar to it, `You are to love your neighbor as yourself.'

All of the Torah and the Prophets are dependent on these two mitzvot."

Then, turning to the assembled P'rushim, Yeshua put a sh'eilah to them:

"Tell me your view concerning the Messiah: whose son is he?" They said to him, "David's."

"Then how is it," he asked them, "that David, inspired by the Spirit, calls him `Lord,' when he says,

`ADONAI said to my Lord, "Sit here at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet"'?

If David thus calls him `Lord,' how is he his son?"

No one could think of anything to say in reply; and from that day on, no one dared put to him another sh'eilah.

Then Yeshua addressed the crowds and his talmidim: