Some Sadducees—who denied the resurrection—approached Jesus and said, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us, if a man dies leaving a childless wife, his brother must take her and raise up offspring for his brother. Now there were seven brothers. Each married the woman and died, leaving her childless. Finally, the woman also died. In the resurrection, whose wife will she be, since all seven had her?”
The Sadducees were a leading religious group, much like the Pharisees, though their differing beliefs and interpretations about some Laws often put them at odds. In today’s terms, they were like denominations—Baptists and Methodists, for example. Despite their disagreements, both groups shared a common disdain for Jesus, largely because He consistently confronted and corrected them both.
The motive behind this question was not sincere curiosity. The Sadducees were attempting to undermine the Pharisees’ belief in the resurrection by using the Law itself as well as provoke the audience. The question was intentionally provocative, touching on sensitive topics—death, barrenness, sexuality—designed to stir controversy. Disorder among the crowds would make Jesus appear dangerous to Roman authorities.
Their appeal to Deuteronomy 25 also echoes two well-known Torah stories: Judah and Tamar, and Ruth and Boaz—both of which appear in Jesus’ own lineage. In Judah’s story, Tamar is left childless after two sons die due to their wickedness, and Judah sinfully withholds the third. Desperate for offspring and inheritance, Tamar conceives by Judah himself. In Ruth’s story, Ruth is also left childless, but through divine providence Boaz redeems her and raises up offspring for the house of Elimelech. Neither story concerns resurrection—yet the Sadducees misuse the Law to present their views in a more reasonable light.
Jesus refuses to debate the Law on their terms and instead exposes the faulty assumptions beneath their question. It ultimately doesn’t matter whose wife she would be—probably none of them. Marriage is for the living, not the dead. And if these men were evil in this life, not serving God, what makes anyone think they would suddenly be righteous in death or worthy of the resurrection? Scripture presents these men as selfish and evil; their childlessness is tied to their behavior. Jesus exposes the flawed assumptions beneath the question and silences their argument.
Jesus’ answer is not about marriage in the resurrection, the heart of his message is about the resurrection itself—and the condition of the human heart. Not all will attain the resurrection. Not all are worthy of that age. Those who are righteous will no longer die, and their purpose will far exceed marriage and procreation. Jesus then delivers a sharp rebuke of the scribes and Pharisees who “devour widows’ houses”—men who exploit women rather than redeem them. Such men, driven by self-interest and pleasure, are hardly fit to be called sons of God or heirs of resurrection life. A message we continue to see repeated throughout the gospels.
In effect, Jesus is saying: stop obsessing over the resurrection and what happens after you die, and start living obedient, faithful lives now. If there is no repentance, no righteousness, no submission to God in this life, then there is no resurrection hope in the next.
The question turned inward sounds like this: Am I living in a way that is worthy of the resurrection? What deeper issues am I avoiding by arguing over laws that no longer apply? The Sadducees could debate the Law endlessly, but they ignored the more pressing question Jesus raises: How are you living this life?
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