Some Sadducees, who believed people would not rise from the dead, came to Jesus. They asked, “Teacher, Moses wrote that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, then that man must marry the widow and have children for his brother. Once there were seven brothers. The first brother married and died, but had no children. Then the second brother married the widow, and he died. And the third brother married the widow, and he died. The same thing happened with all seven brothers; they died and had no children. Finally, the woman died also. Since all seven brothers had married her, whose wife will she be when people rise from the dead?”
Jesus said to them, “On earth, people marry and are given to someone to marry. But those who will be worthy to be raised from the dead and live again will not marry, nor will they be given to someone to marry. In that life they are like angels and cannot die. They are children of God, because they have been raised from the dead. Even Moses clearly showed that the dead are raised to life. When he wrote about the burning bush, he said that the Lord is ‘the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ God is the God of the living, not the dead, because all people are alive to him.”
Some of the teachers of the law said, “Teacher, your answer was good.” No one was brave enough to ask him another question.
Then Jesus said, “Why do people say that the Christ is the Son of David? In the book of Psalms, David himself says:
‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit by me at my right side,
until I put your enemies under your control.” ’
David calls the Christ ‘Lord,’ so how can the Christ be his son?”
While all the people were listening, Jesus said to his followers, “Beware of the teachers of the law. They like to walk around wearing fancy clothes, and they love for people to greet them with respect in the marketplaces. They love to have the most important seats in the synagogues and at feasts. But they cheat widows and steal their houses and then try to make themselves look good by saying long prayers. They will receive a greater punishment.”