February 24
“Concerning the dead, that they rise, have you not read in the Book of Moses, in the burning bush passage, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living,’” Mark 12:26-27.
The Lord Jesus was often approached by people who did not believe that He was the Son of God and the promised Messiah and Savior. They were determined to trip Him up in His teachings and make Him look ridiculous. Among those who tried it were the Sadducees, a religious sect of that day which denied the resurrection of the body.
They told Jesus about a woman who had been married to seven brothers. As each brother died, she married the next one. After the seventh brother died, she also died. Their question was, “In the resurrection, whose wife will she be, since all seven had her as a wife?” Since the Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection of the body, they thought that they would have Jesus stumped!
Of course, the all-knowing Son of God stumped the Sadducees instead. He informed them that, “When they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.” Then He went on to inform them that the resurrection of the body is taught in the Old Testament Scriptures, which they – as religious leaders – should have known. “Concerning the dead, that they rise, have you not read in the Book of Moses, in the burning bush passage, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’?”
When God called to Moses from the burning bush (Exodus 3:2-6), while he was herding the sheep of his father-in-law, Jethro, God told Moses, “I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Where were Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the time? They were dead, and their bodies buried. Their bodies were dead, but their souls were alive in heaven. Jesus added, “He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living.” As the almighty God, He will reunite our bodies and souls on the Last Day, Judgment Day, when Jesus returns to this earth. Our bodies will be resurrected and called back to life. Just as Jesus called Lazarus from the grave, He will call us, “Come forth!” As Jesus rose from the grave on Easter morning, He will raise our bodies from the graves.
Death is not the end of our existence. There is a life after death. The souls of the believers in Jesus as God’s Son and the Savior from sin, death, and the devil ascend into heaven at the time of death. The souls of the unbelievers descend into hell. The words of Jesus are clear: “He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned,” Mark 16:16. The resurrection of the body is a vital part of our Christian faith: “I believe in the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.”
In his First Epistle to the Corinthians, the apostle Paul wrote, “If Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable. But now Christ is risen from the dead . . . Death is swallowed up in victory . . . Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ,” 1 Corinthians 15:17-20, 54, 57.
“Thou hast died for my transgression,
All my sins on Thee were laid;
Thou hast won for me salvation,
On the cross my debt was paid.
From the grave I shall arise,
And shall meet Thee in the skies.
Death itself is transitory;
I shall lift my head in glory.” Amen.