Luk 20:27-40
Sadducees Ask About the Resurrection
27 There came to him some Sadducees, those who deny that there is a resurrection, 28 and they asked him a question, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies, having a wife but no children, the man must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. 29 Now there were seven brothers. The first took a wife, and died without children. 30 And the second 31 and the third took her, and likewise all seven left no children and died. 32 Afterward the woman also died. 33 In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had her as wife.”
34 And Jesus said to them, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage, 35 but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage, 36 for they cannot die anymore, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. 37 But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed, in the passage about the bush, where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. 38 Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all live to him.” 39 Then some of the scribes answered, “Teacher, you have spoken well.” 40 For they no longer dared to ask him any question.
Sadducees Ask About the Resurrection
27 There came to him some Sadducees, those who deny that there is a resurrection, 28 and they asked him a question, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies, having a wife but no children, the man must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. 29 Now there were seven brothers. The first took a wife, and died without children. 30 And the second 31 and the third took her, and likewise all seven left no children and died. 32 Afterward the woman also died. 33 In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had her as wife.”
34 And Jesus said to them, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage, 35 but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage, 36 for they cannot die anymore, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. 37 But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed, in the passage about the bush, where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. 38 Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all live to him.” 39 Then some of the scribes answered, “Teacher, you have spoken well.” 40 For they no longer dared to ask him any question.
Let me explain the context of this passage. Jesus came to Jerusalem, knowing that He ought to be crucified according to Scriptures. And He started rebuking the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and Sadducees openly in front of everyone. In order to trap him in his words, they used several strategies by sending spies. One such strategy is found here.
I don't want to go into the details of this passage. Even with a cursive reading of this text, we can know the reason why Sadducees were asking this question. It is not because they wanted to know about issues related to marriage and divorce but to show that their worldview of 'no afterlife' is correct. Only with their worldview, they thought that the above apparent contradiction could be resolved.
Jesus answers them in two ways. One by showing the correct view of marriage (v.34-36), and also by exposing the logical fallacy of 'no afterlife'(v.37-38).
Likewise, cessationists believe in 'no revelatory gifts' after apostolic era because most of them have empiricism as their worldview. Very prominent cessationists of our age like John MacArthur, R.C.Sproul etc are all empiricists and believe that classical apologetics is better than presuppositional apologetics. So with this worldview, they interpret scripture.
One prominent argument for cessationism is lack of reliable empirical evidence. But we know that science and empiricism is fallible, so we don't need empirical evidence for believing in revelatory gifts. Click here to read about science and its fallacies.
The other argument is, miracles were performed for the attestation of the message of the gospel, that it is from the Lord. But we see that in many instances, Jesus and apostles were preaching and teaching without performing any miracles. And there are may other reasons why revelatory gifts were performed. Apart from attestation of the message, they were also performed out of compassion (Mat 15:32) and also for the edification of the church (1Cor 12:7).
Sadducees believed in one falsehood and with that falsehood they interpreted the scripture. Likewise cessationist believe in the infallibility of senses and they interpret Scripture. Both of them commit a very similar error.
Let us therefore stop being like a Sadducee and start believing in Scriptures. Miracles have not yet ceased. Only faith in miracles has ceased for some Christians.
If you have liked this, you can also read Miracles and Medicine
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