Dr. Ray Pritchard Christian Blog and Commentary

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Whose Wife Will She Be?

  • Dr. Ray Pritchard
    Dr. Ray Pritchard is the president of Keep Believing Ministries, an Internet-based ministry serving Christians in 225 countries. He is the author of 29 books, including Stealth Attack, Fire and Rain,… More
  • Published Feb 28, 2013

“At the resurrection whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?” (Luke 20:33)

Talk about a run of bad luck.

A woman marries a man who dies leaving her with no children to carry on the family name. So along comes the younger brother who marries her and then dies leaving her with no children. Then another brother and another one and another, until she has married all seven brothers who all managed to die leaving her childless.

And the natural question is, whose wife will she be in the resurrection?

Hard not laugh out loud when you read that story, which is exactly the point the Sadducees wished to make. They concocted a ridiculous example to show the absurdity (to them) of the whole idea of a resurrection of the dead

But Jesus turns the tables on them by saying, in effect, “Fellows, you’ve got it all wrong. You think the next age will be nothing but a continuation of this age. But it’s not. The rules that govern this age don’t govern the next age.”

Jesus then goes to the deeper point that God is not the God of the dead but of the living (Luke 20:38). He adds a wonderful phrase, “For to him all are alive." Here we have the truth underlying the Christian belief in the resurrection of the dead. God will raise the dead because he cannot fail to keep his promise. He who calls himself “the God of the living” will not leave his people in the grave. Our hope for the future rests not in science, not in speculation, not in some proof text, but in the character of God himself!

If you want to know the truth about life after death, there are only two ways to be sure:

1) See for yourself. All of us will do that eventually.
2) Take the testimony of someone who knows.

This is where the words of Jesus take on life-changing power. He’s been there, he entered the realm of death, he experienced it fully, he was as dead as anyone has ever been. On the third day he came back from the dead, never to die again. We have the authoritative word of the Son of God who emerged from the grave with the keys of death and Hades in his hand. Because of Jesus, we are not left to wonder what happens when we die. Death cannot change our relationship with God because he is not the God of the dead but of the living.

Those who know Jesus have entered into a relationship that even death cannot sever. Our hope for the future is as secure as the promises of God. For the Christian, death is not the end but the beginning of life forever with the Lord.

Lord Jesus, you have defeated death once and for all. We look forward that wonderful day when the dead in Christ will rise immortal and incorruptible. Even so, Come, Lord Jesus. Amen.

Going Deeper

Read Luke 20:27-40. How did the Sadducees try to trap Jesus? What basic mistake did they make? On what basis do you believe in the resurrection of the dead? How should a Christian view death?