What is the meaning of Luke 20:29? Now there were seven brothers “The Sadducees came to Jesus and asked a question: ‘Now there were seven brothers…’” (Luke 20:29). • This opening line signals that what follows is a real‐life legal scenario rooted in the law of Moses (see Deuteronomy 25:5-6), not a fanciful riddle. • By mentioning “seven,” the Sadducees push the case to an extreme to challenge the truth of the resurrection, a doctrine they denied (Acts 23:8). • Similar wording appears in parallel passages—Matthew 22:25 and Mark 12:20—showing this was a well-known story line used to corner Jesus. • The number seven also hints at completeness (Genesis 2:2-3), emphasizing that every possible earthly husband is exhausted in their example. The first one married a wife “The first one married a wife…” (Luke 20:29). • Marriage here reflects the divine institution established in Genesis 2:24—one man, one woman, covenant commitment. • According to levirate law, if a married man died without offspring, his brother was to marry the widow to provide an heir and preserve the family line (Deuteronomy 25:5-10; Ruth 4:5-10). • The Sadducees build on this law to pose their dilemma, assuming earthly marriage norms must continue unchanged into the resurrection age. Jesus will soon correct that misunderstanding (Luke 20:34-36). But died childless “…but died childless.” (Luke 20:29). • Childlessness triggers the levirate responsibility; without children, the deceased’s name and inheritance risk extinction (Numbers 27:8-11). • In Scripture, being childless carried social and spiritual weight, yet God repeatedly showed His ability to bring life from barrenness (e.g., Sarah in Genesis 21:1-2; Hannah in 1 Samuel 2:21). • The Sadducees assume a tragic outcome to intensify the problem: no children, six more brothers to go, and—so they think—an insoluble marriage tangle in the resurrection. • Their focus on earthly lineage misses the greater hope: in the resurrection, identity and inheritance are secured by God Himself, not by human offspring (John 1:12-13; 1 Peter 1:3-4). summary Luke 20:29 sets the stage for Jesus to reveal that earthly institutions—even marriage—serve a temporary purpose. The first brother’s death without children highlights humanity’s limits and the Old Testament provision to sustain family lines, but the Sadducees’ hypothetical cannot trap the Lord. By affirming the resurrection, Jesus will show that God’s eternal plan surpasses earthly arrangements, ensuring life and legacy through His power rather than human effort. |
    |