I’m told that our society is too sophisticated to be interested in the topic of our resurrection and heaven. And then I hear I can only Imagine (a song about seeing Jesus in heaven) all over the radio dial. Deep within us is the desire for heaven and the need to know about the resurrection.

Back in Jesus’ day, there was a group who did not believe in the resurrection and heaven. They were too sophisticated for all that. They sought to belittle Jesus because he taught about the resurrection and heaven. Jesus had an answer for them. He has an answer for us as well.

Both the Pharisees and the Sadducees were important groups in Israel. Both were united in their opposition to Jesus, but they were often at odds with each other. The Pharisees were mostly teachers in the synagogues, they emphasized the whole Old Testament and they believed in the resurrection. The Sadducees were mostly associated with Temple worship, they held to only the Mosaic books of the Law and they did not believe in the resurrection. It was the Sadducees who thought they stumped Jesus in this passage.

Before we look at their puzzler, you need to understand the Mosaic Law concerning levirate marriage (see Deuteronomy 25:5). Because of the way the land and economy was set up in that dispensation, if a man died without an heir, his brother was to marry the widow. The first child they had would be counted as the heir of the dead brother. This law no longer applies to us, but it was central in the book of Ruth. In that book, Boaz is the kinsman redeemer who is a figure of Christ, our Redeemer. Boaz is also the ancestor of Jesus.

Here was the Sadducees’ puzzler. There are seven brothers living in a town. One marries but dies without having children. The next brother does his duty by her and marries her. But he dies without children. On it goes until the last brother and the woman herself dies, childless. Convinced that they had proven that the resurrection is not possible, they smugly give their question to Jesus: At the resurrection, whose wife will she be since the seven were married to her?

Jesus answered with a question. Are you not in error because you do not know the scriptures or the power of God? In the resurrection, there will be no need of marriage and children to replace those who die because no one will die. All will be like the angels in heaven who do not marry or have children. Even if you don’t believe in the resurrection (as the Sadducees) surely you would understand that there is no marrying in heaven.

Then Jesus gets right to the issue. This is not a question of marriage, but of the resurrection. The real problem is that the Sadducees did not know the scripture or the power of God. The Sadducees focused on the Law of Moses, so Jesus reminds them of the time when the Lord first called Moses by the burning bush. Moses was terrified and asked the Lord who he was. This was the Lord’s answer. I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. He did not say I was the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, that is, that they are gone and forgotten. I am the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. That is, that they are still around with him in heaven. The Lord is not the God of the dead, but of the living. Jesus tells them, you are badly mistaken. They did not believe in the resurrection, but they were mistaken or deceived.

We do not want to be greatly mistaken, like the Sadducees. We need to know the Holy Scriptures and the power of God. What does the Bible say about the resurrection? Will we know our loved ones? Will they know us? In Philippians 3:20-21 we read that our lowly bodies will be like Jesus’ glorious body. Just as the disciples could recognize the glorified Jesus, so we will be recognizable.

1 Corinthians 15:40 says that the body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. Our physical bodies are subject to being hurt and diseased here—they are corruptible. But in the resurrection, our bodies are raised incorruptible—we do not get hurt or sick or die. We are able to live in joy to serve the Lord.

In 1 Thessalonians 4, St. Paul writes about the Second Coming of the Lord in order to comfort those who were grieving loved ones’ deaths. He ends by saying that we will be together with the Lord (and with them) forever. In John 14:1-3 we read that Jesus goes to prepare a place for his own so where he is we may also be. This promise is only for those who trust in Jesus.

What about the resurrection? The scripture is clear. The power of God is clear. What is left is your response to the gospel of Jesus. Do you fully trust in Christ for all you need in this life and the next?