What Old Testament teachings connect with the resurrection theme in Luke 20:33? Setting the Scene • Luke 20:33 recounts the Sadducees’ challenge: “In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will she be? For all seven were married to her.” • Their hypothetical rests on the Old Testament law of levirate marriage (Deuteronomy 25:5-10). • Jesus answers (Luke 20:34-38) by affirming bodily resurrection and rooting His case in Moses’ writings—texts the Sadducees claimed to honor. Old Testament Roots Behind the Question • Deuteronomy 25:5-6 – Levirate marriage: “When brothers dwell together and one of them dies without having a son, the wife of the deceased shall not marry outside the family. Her husband’s brother shall take her … so that his name will not be blotted out of Israel.” – The Sadducees build their seven-brother scenario directly on this statute. • Exodus 3:6 – “I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” – Jesus cites this (Luke 20:37) to prove resurrection: the patriarchs still live to God. • Genesis 38 (Judah & Tamar) – A narrative example of levirate duty, showing the law’s practical outworking long before Moses codified it. Prophetic Witnesses to Bodily Resurrection • Job 19:25-27 – “Yet in my flesh I will see God.” • Psalm 16:10 – “You will not abandon my soul to Sheol, nor will You let Your Holy One see decay.” • Isaiah 26:19 – “Your dead will live; their bodies will rise.” • Hosea 6:2 – “After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up.” • Ezekiel 37:1-14 – Vision of dry bones made alive, portraying national and individual resurrection. • Daniel 12:2 – “Many who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to everlasting life, and others to shame and everlasting contempt.” How These Texts Illuminate Luke 20:33 • The Sadducees limited Scripture’s testimony by accepting only the Pentateuch; Jesus meets them there, proving resurrection from Exodus 3:6. • The ongoing covenant relationship (“I am,” not “I was”) implies the patriarchs still exist—necessitating future bodily life. • The levirate law itself presupposes posterity and inheritance beyond death; it never denies resurrection and, when read with the prophets, harmonizes with it. • Together, Moses, the historical books, Psalms, and Prophets create a cumulative case: God redeems not merely souls but bodies, guaranteeing a future age where earthly marital arrangements no longer define relationships (Luke 20:34-36). Takeaways for Today • Scripture speaks with one voice—Moses, prophets, and Christ agree on resurrection. • God’s covenant faithfulness extends beyond the grave; our identity and relationships find ultimate fulfillment in the coming age. • Confidence in bodily resurrection fuels present faithfulness, knowing, as Jesus declares, “He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to Him all are alive” (Luke 20:38). |
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