This World, That World (8)

Luke 20:34-38 (34) And Jesus answering said unto them, The children of this world marry, and are given in marriage: (35) But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage: (36) Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection. (37) Now that the dead are raised, even Moses shewed at the bush, when he calleth the Lord the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. (38) For he is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto him. We have previously noted that the Lord Jesus was here refuting the doctrine of the Sadducees who affirmed “...that there is no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit...” (ACT 23:8), and the censures written against them by their own countrymen in those days indicate that the Sadducees denied any form of rising after death. They had come to Jesus with a hypothetical case which they thought would expose the folly of such a thing as the resurrection (LUK 20:27-33). Hypothetical arguments can be effective tools in determining the validity of a particular position. But such arguments must be faithful to principles of sound reasoning. The Sadducees' hypothetical test case failed in that it was largely built upon a false assumption, or faulty premise, namely, that the order of this world is a rule for that world (the glory state) and such is obviously not true. Also, the Sadducees based their argument upon the requirement of the Law concerning levirate marriage as given in DEU 25:5-10, thus conceding that the writings of Moses were authoritative. However, their recognition of the authority of the writings of Moses also set them up for a fall. They had not factored in other details from the writings of Moses, to wit, that God's words to Moses from the burning bush (EXO 3:1-6) prove that there is life after the death of the body and thus, a raising up. Thus, by their selective approach to the words of Moses, the Sadducees were guilty of another logical error called inadequate sampling, which is when one forms a generalization on the basis of too few particulars or to the exclusion of particulars which would militate against it. And with a few simple statements that crippled the faulty pillars of the Sadducees' doctrinal house, the Lord Jesus Christ brought it down upon their own heads, leaving them in the condition in which they should have begun: silenced (MAT 22:34). The mouths of gainsayers are to be stopped (TIT 1:9-11) by sound doctrine and reason. Jesus' reference to the account of God speaking to Moses from out of the burning bush shows that He held that the text of EXO 3:1-6 was accurate and preserved intact through copies down to even fine details like the grammar. We know that it must have been a copy under consideration since the original autograph of the Law was ensconced in the ark of the covenant (EXO 25:16; DEU 31:24-26) which was the peculiar trust of the Levites and a fearful penalty was imposed upon any others who looked therein (1SAM 6:19). And mind that the Sadducees obviously conceded that whatever it was Jesus was referring to was the inspired Scripture or they would have argued that point to counter Him. That God back then said to Moses, “I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob...” (EXO 3:6) rather than “I was the God....” was sufficient to prove that there is life after death which implies a resurrection. Jesus was doing as He later inspired Paul to write to Timothy, “Hold fast the form [shape, arrangement of parts] of sound words...,” based upon the valid assumption that God had through copies held fast the form of those words as they were originally penned. Jesus also could not have made such an argument if He thought like some liberal theologians who subscribe to the notion of “conceptual inspiration” of Scripture which maintains that God's inspiration of the prophets was only to give them an essential concept about which they were to write rather than inspiring the prophecy down to the last jot and tittle (MAT 5:18). Those who “...trust in the living God...” (1TI 4:10) may with Jesus bless God as being the “God of the living” Who raises up His elect upon death to live with Him as the “...spirits of just men made perfect” (HEB 12:23) and so never think it a thing incredible “...that God should raise the dead” (ACT 26:8).