Luke 20:29Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Accordingly, the wise Paul ties our resurrection to His, stating, ‘If the dead are not raised, neither was Christ raised;’ and he further concludes, ‘But if Christ was raised from the dead, how can some among you say that there is no resurrection from the dead?’ Those making such claims were the Sadducees we refer to here. However, let us consider the absurdity of their fabricated tale. They pose a scenario involving seven brothers who, in accordance with Moses' law, married a single woman successively, and she passed away childless: in the resurrection, whose wife will she be? The question, nonetheless, is irrelevant and completely at odds with the truth found in the sacred Scriptures. Our Savior’s response sufficiently exposes the folly of their narrative and encourages us to reject both their story and the misguided premise upon which it rests.

Moreover, it is crucial to point out their foolish defiance of the divine Scriptures and to demonstrate their complete misunderstanding of the teachings contained in the holy texts. Let us explore what the holy prophets assert about this matter and the proclamations made by the Lord of hosts through them. Concerning the deceased, He states: ‘I will deliver them from the hand of the grave; I will redeem them from death: Where is thy judgment, O death? O grave, where is thy sting?’ The significance of death's condemnation and its sting was clarified by the blessed Paul when he said: ‘But the sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.’ He likens death to a scorpion, whose sting represents sin, for it brings death to the soul through its venom. He also explains that the law was the means through which sin exerted its power, asserting in another context, ‘I learned sin no other way than through the law; for where there is no law, there is no transgression of the law.’ Therefore, Christ has delivered those who believe in Him from the dominion of the condemning law and has eradicated the sting of death, which is sin; and when sin is abolished, death necessarily follows. For death entered the world through him and because of him. Consequently, as God promises, ‘I will deliver them from the hand of the grave, and from death I will redeem them,’ the blessed prophets confirm these heavenly decrees, speaking to us ‘not according to their own heart, nor according to the will of man, but from the mouth of God,’ as it is written. It is the Holy Spirit speaking through them that articulates the judgment of God and His immutable will.

Hence, the prophet Isaiah proclaims, ‘Thy dead shall rise, and they that are in the graves shall rise again, and they that dwell in the earth shall rejoice; for the dew from thee shall heal them.’ By “dew,” I believe he refers to the life-giving essence of the Holy Spirit, which nullifies death as divine and vital. Blessed David also expresses in the Psalms regarding all who inhabit the earth: ‘Thou takest away their spirit, and they die, and return to their dust: thou sendest forth thy Spirit, and they are built up, and thou renewest the face of the earth.’ Do you hear that the active and life-giving grace of the Holy Spirit will rejuvenate the earth? The “face of the earth” is understood to signify its beauty, and the perfection of human nature can rightly be considered incorruptibility. ‘For what is sown in corruption shall rise in incorruption; what is sown in weakness shall rise in strength; what is sown in dishonor shall rise in glory.’ Furthermore, the prophet Isaiah reassures us that death, which entered the world through sin, does not maintain power over those on earth indefinitely but is abolished through the resurrection of Christ, who renews the creation and restores it to its original state—‘For God created all things for incorruption,’ as it is written; for He declares, ‘He hath swallowed up death, becoming mighty: and God shall take away every tear from every face; He shall remove the reproach of His people from all the earth.’ Sin, which He calls the reproach of His people, was eradicated, thus leading to the destruction of death, and corruption was expelled from humanity. Having done away with these, He also silences the mourning of all, for henceforth there is no longer any reason for human lamentation or complaint.

Let us consider whether the woman with seven husbands may not symbolize the synagogue. The woman from Samaria was told, "You have had five husbands" (John 4:18), representing the Samaritans’ adherence to the five books of Moses. The synagogue can be understood as embodying seven, for while the Samaritans recognized only the Pentateuch, the Jews accepted additional books, including Joshua and Judges. She will not be able to reunite with any of her husbands in the resurrection, for she has distorted the heavenly commandment with her worldly perspective. The Old Testament law does not pertain to a physical brother ensuring the continuation of a deceased brother's lineage but rather signifies the Brother who was destined to embody the wisdom of true devotion, taking from the spiritually dead Jewish people a bride, and from this union, bringing forth new life in the apostles. They were akin to unborn children within the synagogue, yet by divine grace, they were honored with new life.

The synagogue frequently appears adorned in festive attire, symbolizing the marriage covenant, as it is the mother of believers. However, it is often spurned (cf. Is. 50:1; Jer. 3:1) for being the mother of the unfaithful. To her, the law based on the flesh has perished, paving the way for the spiritual law to prevail. If the holy people of God cherish the seven books of the law with the love of a spouse and heed them as if they were matrimonial commands, they will find fellowship with the Bridegroom in the Resurrection, enriched by the gifts of divine grace, undisturbed by earthly unions.

The Sadducees argued that the law of levirate marriage (Deuteronomy 25:5-6), which permits a woman to have multiple husbands during her lifetime, makes the Pharisees' concept of resurrection implausible. Consequently, they felt it necessary to either deem this law unreasonable or to deny the reality of resurrection; since a divinely established law cannot be unreasonable, they concluded that the law itself disproves the resurrection of the dead. The Sadducees' objection stemmed from what they perceived as the Pharisees' overly physical conception of life after resurrection. In response, Jesus Christ asserts that the Sadducees—and the Pharisees—‘do not know the Scriptures’ and clarifies their misunderstanding by stating that after the resurrection, ‘they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like the angels of God in heaven’ (Matthew 22:30).

The Sadducees based their objection on the belief that a decayed human body cannot rise again. The Lord counters this by stating that the Sadducees do not understand “the power of God” and provides evidence from Scripture (Exodus 3:6) that demonstrates there is life beyond the grave and that a resurrection of the dead will indeed occur.

This continued through the third, fourth, and all the way to the seventh brother, each dying childless, and eventually the woman herself passed away. Now, in the event of the resurrection of the dead, whose wife will she be? For she had seven husbands! It wouldn’t make sense for her to be wedded to all or none, as that would be ridiculous, and a great and divinely inspired lawgiver like Moses could not incorporate such absurdity into his statutes. Thus, based on Moses’ teaching, there appears to be no resurrection.”

The Sadducees, not believing in life after death or the resurrection, presumed that Jesus, whom they believed shared similar views with their Pharisee rivals, would be trapped by their complex question, hoping to mock Him and the concept of resurrection itself. While some rabbinic scholars entertained more profound ideas regarding the afterlife, the prevailing beliefs among the majority were rather simplistic. They envisioned resurrection as a return not just to the body but to previous appetites and desires. It was believed that the resurrected individuals would eat, drink, and marry just as they did in their earthly lives, even rising in the same garments they wore, so they could be easily recognized by those who had known them in life. Remarkably, the question posed by the Sadducees echoed a teaching already prevalent among the Rabbis: that a woman who had two husbands in this life would be joined to the first husband in the world to come. With these crude and materialistic ideas in mind, and firmly rejecting the doctrine of resurrection—which they deemed absent from the Mosaic texts—they approached the Savior with their inquiry.

The mention of ‘some of the scribes’ likely refers to individuals who were not part of the Sadducee faction, which would find it difficult to publicly acknowledge the Lord’s sagacious reply. Instead, they were likely Pharisees, who, despite having joined in testing the Lord alongside the Sadducees, might have taken some satisfaction in the misfortunes of their rivals. As noted in Matthew 22:34 and following verses, the Gospel of Mark indicates that the scribe who posed an earlier question was later impressed by the Lord's handling of the Sadducees and publicly commended Him (Mark 12:23, 32).

It is plausible that this scribe, along with others sharing this sentiment, expressed their approval after the Lord addressed the Sadducees, stating, ‘Master, thou hast spoken well.’ The Lord adeptly demonstrated through Scripture the truth of the resurrection, earning Him recognition even from His adversaries (Luke 20:40-44).

In discussing the Messiah and His lineage, Luke’s account aligns with those of Matthew and Mark, as seen in Matthew 22:41-46 and Mark 12:35-37. The phrase ‘they dared not ask Him’ follows the prior exchanges where, after the Sadducees were humiliated, a scribe inquired about the greatest commandment in the law (Matthew 22:35-40, Mark 12:28-34). Following this, both Matthew and Mark assert that from that point on, no one dared to pose further questions. While Luke chooses to omit the dialogue about the commandment, he emphasizes that the Lord independently posed His question about the Messiah, underscoring that, in their confusion, they refrained from asking Him anything further, following His discussion on resurrection.

The Lord’s inquiry, ‘How then is He Son unto him?’ does not elaborate on the reaction it stirred among His audience according to Luke, yet both Matthew and Mark provide context where the former notes that no one could respond, and the latter records that the crowd was captivated by His teaching.