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Commentary on Luke 20 verses 27–38
This discourse with the Sadducees we had before, just as it is here, only that the description Christ gives of the future state is somewhat more full and large here. Observe here,
I. In every age there have been men of corrupt minds, that have endeavoured to subvert the fundamental principles of revealed religion. As there are deists now, who call themselves free-thinkers, but are really false-thinkers; so there were Sadducees in our Saviour's time, who bantered the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come, though they were plainly revealed in the Old Testament, and were articles of the Jewish faith. The Sadducees deny that there is any resurrection, any future state, so anastasis may signify; not only no return of the body to life, but no continuance of the soul in life, no world of spirits, no state of recompence and retribution for what was done in the body. Take away this, and all religion falls to the ground.
II. It is common for those that design to undermine any truth of God to perplex it, and load it with difficulties. So these Sadducees did; when they would weaken people's faith in the doctrine of the resurrection, they put a question upon the supposition of it, which they thought could not be answered either way to satisfaction. The case perhaps was matter of fact, at least it might be so, of a woman that had seven husbands. Now in the resurrection whose wife shall she be? whereas it was not at all material whose she was, for when death puts an end to that relation it is not to be resumed.
III. There is a great deal of difference between the state of the children of men on earth and that of the children of God in heaven, a vast unlikeness between this world and that world; and we wrong ourselves, and wrong the truth of Christ, when we form our notions of that world of spirits by our present enjoyments in this world of sense.
1.The children of men in this world marry, and are given in marriage, huioi tou aiōnos toutou - the children of this age, this generation, both good and bad, marry themselves and give their children in marriage. Much of our business in this world is to raise and build up families, and to provide for them. Much of our pleasure in this world is in our relations, our wives and children; nature inclines to it. Marriage is instituted for the comfort of human life, here in this state where we carry bodies about with us. It is likewise a remedy against fornication, that natural desires might not become brutal, but be under direction and control. The children of this world are dying and going off the stage, and therefore they marry and give their children in marriage, that they may furnish the world of mankind with needful recruits, that as one generation passeth away another may come, and that they may have some of their own offspring to leave the fruit of their labours to, especially that the chosen of God in future ages may be introduced, for it is a godly seed that is sought by marriage (Mal 2:15), a seed to serve the Lord, that shall be a generation to him.
2.The world to come is quite another thing; it is called that world, by way of emphasis and eminency. Note, There are more worlds than one; a present visible world, and a future invisible world; and it is the concern of every one of us to compare worlds, this world and that world, and give the preference in our thoughts and cares to that which deserves them. Now observe,
(1.)Who shall be the inhabitants of that world: They that shall be accounted worthy to obtain it, that is, that are interested in Christ's merit, who purchased it for us, and have a holy meetness for it wrought in them by the Spirit, whose business it is to prepare us for it. They have not a legal worthiness, upon account of any thing in them or done by them, but an evangelical worthiness, upon account of the inestimable price which Christ paid for the redemption of the purchased possession. It is a worthiness imputed by which we are glorified, as well as righteousness imputed by which we are justified; kataxiōthentes, they are made agreeable to that world. The disagreeableness that there is in the corrupt nature is taken away, and the dispositions of the soul are by the grace of God conformed to that state. They are by grace made and counted worthy to obtain that world; it intimates some difficulty in reaching after it, and danger of coming short. We must so run as that we may obtain. They shall obtain the resurrection from the dead, that is, the blessed resurrection; for that of condemnation (as Christ calls it, Joh 5:29), is rather a resurrection to death, a second death, an eternal death, than from death.
(2.)What shall be the happy state of the inhabitants of that world we cannot express or conceive, Co1 2:9. See what Christ here says of it. [1.] They neither marry nor are given in marriage. Those that have entered into the joy of their Lord are entirely taken up with that, and need not the joy of the bridegroom in his bride. The love in that world of love is all seraphic, and such as eclipses and loses the purest and most pleasing loves we entertain ourselves with in this world of sense. Where the body itself shall be a spiritual body, the delights of sense will all be banished; and where there is a perfection of holiness there is no occasion for marriage as a preservative from sin. Into the new Jerusalem there enters nothing that defiles. [2.] They cannot die any more; and this comes in as a reason why they do not marry. In this dying world there must be marriage, in order to the filling up of the vacancies made by death; but, where there are no burials, there is no need of weddings. This crowns the comfort of that world that there is no more death there, which sullies all the beauty, and damps all the comforts, of this world. Here death reigns, but thence it is for ever excluded. [3.] They are equal unto the angels. In the other evangelists it was said, They are as the angels - ōs angeloi, but here they are said to be equal to the angels, isangeloi - angels' peers; they have a glory and bliss no way inferior to that of the holy angels. They shall see the same sight, be employed in the same work, and share in the same joys, with the holy angels. Saints, when they come to heaven, shall be naturalized, and, though by nature strangers, yet, having obtained this freedom with a great sum, which Christ paid for them, they have in all respects equal privileges with them that were free-born, the angels that are the natives and aborigines of that country. They shall be companions with the angels, and converse with those blessed spirits that love them dearly, and with an innumerable company, to whom they are now come in faith, hope, and love. [4.] They are the children of God, and so they are as the angels, who are called the sons of God. In the inheritance of sons, the adoption of sons will be completed. Hence believers are said to wait for the adoption, even the redemption of the body, Rom 8:23. For till the body is redeemed from the grave the adoption is not completed. Now are we the sons of God, Jo1 3:2. We have the nature and disposition of sons, but that will not be perfected till we come to heaven. [5.] They are the children of the resurrection, that is, they are made capable of the employments and enjoyments of the future state; they are born to that world, belong to that family, had their education for it here, and shall there have their inheritance in it. They are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection. Note, God owns those only for his children that are the children of the resurrection, that are born from above, are allied to the world of spirits, and prepared for that world, the children of that family.
IV. It is an undoubted truth that there is another life after this, and there were eminent discoveries made of this truth in the early ages of the church (Luk 20:37, Luk 20:38): Moses showed this, as it was shown to Moses at the bush, and he hath shown it to us, when he calleth the Lord, as the Lord calleth himself, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, were then dead as to our world; they had departed out of it many years before, and their bodies were turned into dust in the cave of Machpelah; how then could God say, not I was, but I am the God or Abraham? It is absurd that the living God and Fountain of life should continue related to them as their God, if there were no more of them in being than what lay in that cave, undistinguished from common dust. We must therefore conclude that they were then in being in another world; for God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. Luke here adds, For all live unto him, that is, all who, like them, are true believers; though they are dead, yet they do live; their souls, which return to God who gave them (Ecc 12:7), live to him as the Father of spirits: and their bodies shall live again at the end of time by the power of God; for he calleth things that are not as though they were, because he is the God that quickens the dead, Rom 4:17. But there is more in it yet; when God called himself the God of these patriarchs, he meant that he was their felicity and portion, a God all-sufficient to them (Gen 17:1), their exceeding great reward, Gen 15:1. Now it is plain by their history that he never did that for them in this world which would answer the true intent and full extent of that great undertaking, and therefore there must be another life after this, in which he will do that for them that will amount to a discharge in full of that promise - that he would be to them a God, which he is able to do, for all live to him, and he has wherewithal to make every soul happy that lives to him; enough for all, enough for each.
If anyone ponders over this answer about the resurrection of the dead, he will find that the Lord is not rejecting marriage but is purging the expectation of physical desire in the resurrection. The words “the children of this age” were not spoken in contrast to the children of some other age. It is like saying, “those born in this generation,” who are children by force of birth, being born and engendering themselves, since without the process of birth no one will pass into this life. This process of birth is balanced by a process of decay and is no longer in store for the person who has once been cut off from life here.
For since the Sadducees indeed denied the resurrection, whilst the Lord affirmed it; since, too, (in affirming it, ) He reproached them as being both ignorant of the Scriptures-those, of course which had declared the resurrection-as well as incredulous of the power of God, though, of course, effectual to raise the dead, and lastly, since He immediately added the words, "Now, that the dead are raised," (speaking) without misgiving, and affirming the very thing which was being denied, even the resurrection of the dead before Him who is "the God of the living,"-(it clearly follows) that He affirmed this verity in the precise sense in which they were denying it; that it was, in fact, the resurrection of the two natures of man.
Virgins, persevere in what you have begun to be. Persevere in what you will be. A great reward, a glorious prize for virtue, and an excellent reward for purity are reserved for you. Do you wish to know from what misery the virtue of continence is free and what advantage it provides? “I will multiply,” said God to the woman, “your sorrows and your groans, and in sorrow you will bring forth your children, and your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall have dominion over you.” You are free from this sentence. You do not fear the sorrows of women and their groans. You have no fear about the birth of children, nor is your husband your master, but your master and head is Christ, in the likeness of and in place of the man. Your fortune and condition are in common. The voice of the Lord says, “The children of this world give birth and are born. Those who will be found worthy of that world and of the resurrection from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage. They will not die anymore, for they are equal to the angels of God since they are the children of the resurrection.” What we shall be, you already have begun to be. You already have in this world the glory of the resurrection. You pass through the world without the pollution of the world. While you remain chaste and virgins, you are equal to the angels of God.
“The Sadducees came and were saying to him, ‘There is no resurrection of the dead.’ ” They are called Sadducees, that is “the just,” because they say, “We do not serve God for the sake of reward.” They do not await the resurrection, and for this reason they call themselves “the just,” since they say, “We should love God without a reward.”
According to the letter of the law, a woman is compelled to marry, however unwilling, in order that a brother may raise up seed to his brother who is dead. The letter therefore killeth, but the Spirit is the master of charity.
Mystically, this woman is the synagogue, which had seven husbands, as it is said to the Samaritan, Thou hadst five husbands, (John 4:18.) because the Samaritan follows only the five books of Moses, the synagogue for the most part seven. And from none of them has she received the seed of an hereditary offspring, and so can have no part with her husbands in the resurrection, because she perverts the spiritual meaning of the precept into a carnal. For not any carnal brother is pointed at, who should raise seed to his deceased brother, but that brother who from the dead people of the Jews should claim unto himself for wife the wisdom of the divine worship, and from it should raise up seed in the Apostles, who being left as it were unformed in the womb of the synagogue, have according to the election of grace been thought worthy to be preserved by the admixture of a new seed.
(de Anna, Serm. 4.) As the saints claim as their own the common Lord of the world, not as derogating from His dominion, but testifying their affection after the manner of lovers, who do not brook to love with many, but desire to express a certain peculiar and especial attachment; so likewise does God call Himself especially the God of these, not thereby narrowing but enlarging His dominion; for it is not so much the multitude of His subjects that manifests His power, as the virtue of His servants. Therefore He does not so delight in the name of the God of heaven and earth, as in that of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Now among men servants are thus denominated by their masters; for we say, 'The steward of such a man,' but on the contrary God is called the God of Abraham.
The Savior also demonstrated the great ignorance of the Sadducees by bringing forward their own leader Moses, who was clearly acquainted with the resurrection of the dead. He set God before us saying in the bush, "I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob." Of whom is he God, if, according to their argument, these have ceased to live? He is the God of the living. They certainly will rise when his almighty right hand brings them and all that are on the earth there.For people not to believe that this will happen is worthy perhaps of the ignorance of the Sadducees, but it is altogether unworthy of those who love Christ. We believe in him who says, "I am the resurrection and the life." He will raise the dead suddenly, in the twinkling of an eye, and at the last trumpet. It shall sound, the dead in Christ shall rise incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For Christ our common Savior will transfer us into incorruption, glory and to an incorruptible life.
The prophet’s words are applicable to those who sin without perceiving their sin. A sinner who has received baptism, although he may be dead toward his soul because he does not perceive his sin, he is alive to God because of the grace of baptism that he possesses. This agrees with the words “God is not of the dead but of the living, for they are all living in him.”
There were two heresies among the Jews, one of the Pharisees, who boasted in the righteousness of their traditions, and hence they were called by the people, "separated;" the other of the Sadducees, whose name signified "righteous," claiming to themselves that which they were not. When the former went away, the latter came to tempt Him.
(ut sup.) They devise this story in order to convict those of folly, who assert the resurrection of the dead. Hence they object a base fable, that they may deny the truth of the resurrection.
Or these seven brothers answer to the reprobate, who throughout the whole life of the world, which revolves in seven days, are fruitless in good works, and these being carried away by death one after another, at length the course of the evil world, as the barren woman, itself also passes away.
Which must not be taken as if only they who are worthy were either to rise again or be without marriage, but all sinners also shall rise again, and abide without marriage in that new world. But our Lord wished to mention only the elect, that He might incite the minds of His hearers to search into the glory of the resurrection.
Or they are equal to the angels, and the children of God, because made new by the glory of the resurrection, with no fear of death, with no spot of corruption, with no quality of an earthly condition, they rejoice in the perpetual beholding of God's presence.
Or He says this, that after having proved that the souls abide alter death, (which the Sadducees denied,) He might next introduce the resurrection also of the bodies, which together with the souls have done good or evil. But that is a true life which the just live unto God, even though they are dead in the body. Now to prove the truth of the resurrection, He might have brought much more obvious examples from the Prophets, but the Sadducees received only the five books of Moses, rejecting the oracles of the Prophets.
And since they had been defeated in argument, they ask Him no further questions, but seize Him, and deliver Him up to the Roman power. From which we may learn, that the poison of envy may indeed be subdued, but it is a hard thing to keep it at rest.
But that the dead rise again, even Moses showed at the bush, as he says, "The Lord God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." To confirm the truth of the resurrection, he could have used much more obvious examples, among which is this: "The dead shall be raised, and those who are in the tombs shall arise." Therefore it is questioned why the Lord chose to bring forth this testimony, which seems ambiguous or not sufficiently relevant to the truth of the resurrection. But the Sadducees accepted only the five books of Moses, rejecting the prophecies of the prophets. Thus, it was foolish to bring forth testimonies from there whose authority they did not follow. Furthermore, to prove the immortality of souls, he used the example from Moses: "I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob" (Exodus III). And immediately he adds,
This was their main object, to rebuke Him before the people, which they were unable to do because of the wonderful wisdom of His answer.
Now the Sadducees resting upon a weak foundation, did not believe in the doctrine of the resurrection. For imagining the future life in the resurrection to be carnal, they were justly misled, and hence reviling the doctrine of the resurrection as a thing impossible they invent the story, There were seven brothers, &c.
But our Lord shows that in the resurrection there will be no fleshly conversation, thereby overthrowing their doctrine together with its slender foundation; as it follows, And Jesus said unto them, The children of this world marry, &c.
As if He said, Because it is God who worketh in the resurrection, rightly are they called the sons of God, who are regenerated by the resurrection. For there is nothing carnal seen in the regeneration of them that rise again, there is neither coming together, nor the womb, nor birth.
Or to the reason above given the Lord added the testimony of Scripture, Now that the dead are raised, Moses also showed at the bush, (Exod. 3:6.) as the Lord saith, I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. As if he said, If the patriarchs have once returned to nothing so as not to live with God in the hope of a resurrection, He would not have said, I am, but, I was, for we are accustomed to speak of things dead and gone thus, I was the Lord or Master of such a thing; but now that He said, I am, He shows that He is the God and Lord of the living. This is what follows, But he is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto him. For though they have departed from life, yet live they with Him in the hope of a resurrection.
But when the Sadducees were silenced, the Scribes commend Jesus, for they were opposed to them, saying to Him, Master, thou hast well said.
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SUMMARY
Luke 20:37 captures Jesus' profound response to the Sadducees, who challenged the concept of resurrection. In this pivotal verse, Jesus masterfully draws upon the very Law of Moses—which the Sadducees revered as authoritative—to affirm the continued existence of the patriarchs and, by extension, the reality of the resurrection. His argument hinges on God's self-identification to Moses at the burning bush as "the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob," demonstrating that God is a God of the living, not of the dead.
CONTEXT
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
Jesus' response in Luke 20:37 employs several powerful literary devices. Primarily, it showcases brilliant Argumentation from Authority, as Jesus leverages the Sadducees' own revered source—the Law of Moses—to counter their disbelief. This is specifically achieved through Allusion to the narrative of the burning bush in Exodus 3, a foundational text for the Sadducees. By quoting God's self-declaration, "I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob," Jesus employs a sophisticated form of Logical Deduction based on the present tense of God's statement. The implied Rhetorical Question is, "How can God be the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob if they are utterly annihilated?" The answer, clearly implied by Jesus, is that they must still be alive in some form. This masterful use of their own scripture, combined with a subtle yet profound grammatical observation, demonstrates Jesus' unparalleled Rhetorical Mastery and divine wisdom.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
Luke 20:37 is a profound theological statement on the nature of God, the reality of the afterlife, and the enduring power of God's covenant. It asserts that God's relationship with His people transcends physical death; He is not merely a God of history but a God of eternal relationship. The patriarchs, though physically deceased, remain alive to God, signifying an unbroken bond and the promise of future resurrection. This passage underscores the biblical truth that death is not annihilation but a transition, and that God's faithfulness extends beyond the grave, ensuring the ultimate restoration and reunion of His people. It also highlights the continuity between the Old Testament revelation and New Testament truth, demonstrating that the hope of resurrection was implicitly present in the earliest scriptures.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
Luke 20:37 offers immense comfort and profound theological grounding for believers today. It assures us that our relationship with God, and the relationships of our loved ones who have died in faith, are not severed by physical death. Instead, death is viewed through an eternal lens, a transition into a continued, conscious existence with God. This truth transforms our perspective on mortality, replacing fear with hope and sorrow with the anticipation of resurrection. It reminds us that our God is a God of the living, actively sustaining and remembering those who are His, even beyond the veil of physical life. This should encourage us to live with an eternal mindset, prioritizing spiritual realities and trusting in God's unfailing covenant love, knowing that our ultimate destiny is not the grave but eternal life with Him.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
Why did the Sadducees deny the resurrection, and why was Jesus' argument so effective against them?
Answer: The Sadducees denied the resurrection, the existence of angels, and the immortality of the soul because they held a very literal and limited interpretation of the Old Testament, primarily recognizing only the Pentateuch (the Law of Moses) as authoritative scripture. They believed that these doctrines were not explicitly taught in the Law. Jesus' argument was devastatingly effective precisely because he drew his proof from the very Law of Moses that they accepted. By quoting God's declaration to Moses at the burning bush, "I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob" (Exodus 3:6), Jesus highlighted the present tense of God's statement. If God is their God, then Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob must still be alive to Him, even centuries after their physical deaths. This demonstrated that the concept of continued existence beyond death was implicitly, yet powerfully, present in the scriptures they held sacred, leaving them without a counter-argument (Luke 20:39-40).
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
Luke 20:37, while focusing on the patriarchs' continued existence, finds its ultimate fulfillment and deepest meaning in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Jesus, in confronting the Sadducees, not only affirms the resurrection but also foreshadows his own role as the embodiment of life and resurrection. He is the one through whom the promise of eternal life, implicitly present in God's declaration to Moses, is made manifest and accessible to all believers. As the resurrection and the life, Jesus demonstrates God's power over death by his own triumph over the grave (1 Corinthians 15:20-22). The patriarchs are alive to God because God is eternal and faithful; but believers are alive in Christ because he has conquered death and holds the keys of Hades and Death (Revelation 1:18). Thus, Jesus' argument for the resurrection from Moses' Law ultimately points to himself as the one who brings that hope to fruition, ensuring that all who believe in him, though they die, yet shall live (John 11:25-26).