What did Christ mean saying, God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.

  • CFN has a new look, using the Eagle as our theme

    "I bore you on eagle's wings, and brought you to Myself" (Exodus 19:4)

    More new themes will be coming in the future!

  • Desire to be a vessel of honor unto the Lord Jesus Christ?

    Join For His Glory for a discussion on how

    https://christianforums.net/threads/a-vessel-of-honor.110278/

  • Read the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ?

    Read through this brief blog, and receive eternal salvation as the free gift of God

    /blog/the-gospel

  • CFN welcomes a new contributing member!

    Please welcome Beetow to our Christian community.

    Blessings in Christ, and we pray you enjoy being a member here

  • Taking the time to pray? Christ is the answer in times of need

    https://christianforums.net/threads/psalm-70-1-save-me-o-god-lord-help-me-now.108509/

  • Have questions about the Christian faith?

    Come ask us what's on your mind in Questions and Answers

    https://christianforums.net/forums/questions-and-answers/

  • Focus on the Family

    Strengthening families through biblical principles.

    Focus on the Family addresses the use of biblical principles in parenting and marriage to strengthen the family.

    Read daily articles from Focus on the Family in the Marriage and Parenting Resources forum.

reddogs

reddogs

Member
Jan 26, 2012
859
295
Christian
Yes
There is no question Christ said it, as we find it in several places..
Mark 12:27
He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living: ye therefore do greatly err.

Luke 20:38
For he is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto him.

So lets begin in Matthew..

Matthew 22:23-33
23 The same day came to him the Sadducees, which say that there is no resurrection, and asked him,
24 Saying, Master, Moses said, If a man die, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother.
25 Now there were with us seven brethren: and the first, when he had married a wife, deceased, and, having no issue, left his wife unto his brother:
26 Likewise the second also, and the third, unto the seventh.
27 And last of all the woman died also.
28 Therefore in the resurrection whose wife shall she be of the seven? for they all had her.
29 Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.
30 For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.
31 But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying,
32 I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.
33 And when the multitude heard this, they were astonished at his doctrine.

Look at what Jesus said to the Sadducees in verses 30-32: "For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?' He is God not of the dead, but of the living" .

The whole passage if you look is a discussion between Jesus and the Sadducees about the resurrection. They denied that there would be a resurrection of the dead and came to see what Christ would say. They posed a hypothetical case of a woman who married seven brothers in turn and asked Jesus which of the brothers would be her husband after the resurrection. Jesus' answer focused on the resurrection: "For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like the angels in heaven" in verse 30. Then he added: "But as for the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read what was said to you by God, I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? He is God not of the dead, but of the living". What did Christ mean?
 
  • Like
Reactions: F345T
Hey All,
The Sadducees are trying to trap Jesus in the web of the question.
Jesus bypasses the trap, and answers the real question.

Matthew 22:32 I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.

He means Abraham, Issac, and Jacob are alive. Their spirits, who they really were, is/was preserved alive in what Jesus called Abraham's Bosom." Luke 16:22

Thus He is the God of the living.

Keep walking everybody.
May God bless,
Taz
 
  • Like
Reactions: GodsGrace and JT4444
WIP said:
He said, "I am the God of....," not "I was the God of....." Present tense vs past tense.
Click to expand...
Those who believe, God can restore to life, thus Christ declares I am the resurrection and the life.
 
reddogs said:
Those who believe, God can restore to life, thus Christ declares I am the resurrection and the life.
Click to expand...
Hey All,

Exodus 3:6 Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.

Jesus ties the identifier "the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob" back to Moses and the bush that would not burn.
(Boy that had to be a site. No wonder Moses had to turn and look at it. Is it possible that Moses met Jesus that day?)

Matthew 22:32 I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.

You are correct reddogs, Jesus stays in present tense through the whole verse.

Don't you find the Sadducees and Pharisees reaction so funny? Matthew tells us Jesus silenced the Sadducees. So the Pharisees got together to figure out a question that would be a trap. Can you just imagine the discussion?

Pharisees X, Y, and Z having discussion:

X. "What can we ask him?"
Y. "I got one."
X. "Well that's pretty good. Ask him."
Y. "No you ask him."
X. "Why don't you ask him Z. You are the lawyer."
Z. "OK"

Do you think the lawyer regretted asking his question?

Matthew definitely had a sense of humor. Look at the last verse of the chapter.

Matthew 22:46 And no man was able to answer him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions.

Real talk:
That shut all of them up.

Keep walking everybody.
May God bless,
Taz
 
  • Haha
Reactions: GodsGrace
reddogs said:
There is no question Christ said it, as we find it in several places..
Mark 12:27
He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living: ye therefore do greatly err.

Luke 20:38
For he is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto him.

So lets begin in Matthew..

Matthew 22:23-33
23 The same day came to him the Sadducees, which say that there is no resurrection, and asked him,
24 Saying, Master, Moses said, If a man die, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother.
25 Now there were with us seven brethren: and the first, when he had married a wife, deceased, and, having no issue, left his wife unto his brother:
26 Likewise the second also, and the third, unto the seventh.
27 And last of all the woman died also.
28 Therefore in the resurrection whose wife shall she be of the seven? for they all had her.
29 Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.
30 For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.
31 But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying,
32 I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.
33 And when the multitude heard this, they were astonished at his doctrine.

Look at what Jesus said to the Sadducees in verses 30-32: "For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?' He is God not of the dead, but of the living" .

The whole passage if you look is a discussion between Jesus and the Sadducees about the resurrection. They denied that there would be a resurrection of the dead and came to see what Christ would say. They posed a hypothetical case of a woman who married seven brothers in turn and asked Jesus which of the brothers would be her husband after the resurrection. Jesus' answer focused on the resurrection: "For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like the angels in heaven" in verse 30. Then he added: "But as for the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read what was said to you by God, I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? He is God not of the dead, but of the living". What did Christ mean?
Click to expand...
I think it's a reference to this fallen, dying world and all those who walk in the flesh and rely on the physical, material things; wealth, fame/popularity, man's approval and acceptance, physical power, etc. These people are the dead.

-VS-

The spiritual promised world to come and all those who walk in the spirit and rely on the spiritual; faith, God's providence, God's promises, God's Word - the Bible, etc. These people are the living.

God's people are a spiritual people. They are the living as they contain the words of Jesus Christ which quicken their very souls. (Jn. 6:63, 68)
 
Josef said:
Hey All,

Exodus 3:6 Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.

Jesus ties the identifier "the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob" back to Moses and the bush that would not burn.
(Boy that had to be a site. No wonder Moses had to turn and look at it. Is it possible that Moses met Jesus that day?)

Matthew 22:32 I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.

You are correct reddogs, Jesus stays in present tense through the whole verse.

Don't you find the Sadducees and Pharisees reaction so funny? Matthew tells us Jesus silenced the Sadducees. So the Pharisees got together to figure out a question that would be a trap. Can you just imagine the discussion?

Pharisees X, Y, and Z having discussion:

X. "What can we ask him?"
Y. "I got one."
X. "Well that's pretty good. Ask him."
Y. "No you ask him."
X. "Why don't you ask him Z. You are the lawyer."
Z. "OK"

Do you think the lawyer regretted asking his question?

Matthew definitely had a sense of humor. Look at the last verse of the chapter.

Matthew 22:46 And no man was able to answer him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions.

Real talk:
That shut all of them up.

Keep walking everybody.
May God bless,
Taz
Click to expand...
If we truly believe and follow Him, the second death cannot hurt us...

Revelation 2:11
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.
 
F345T said:
I think it's a reference to this fallen, dying world and all those who walk in the flesh and rely on the physical, material things; wealth, fame/popularity, man's approval and acceptance, physical power, etc. These people are the dead.

-VS-

The spiritual promised world to come and all those who walk in the spirit and rely on the spiritual; faith, God's providence, God's promises, God's Word - the Bible, etc. These people are the living.

God's people are a spiritual people. They are the living as they contain the words of Jesus Christ which quicken their very souls. (Jn. 6:63, 68)
Click to expand...
Interesting.
 
reddogs said:
There is no question Christ said it, as we find it in several places..
Mark 12:27
He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living: ye therefore do greatly err.

Luke 20:38
For he is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto him.

So lets begin in Matthew..

Matthew 22:23-33
23 The same day came to him the Sadducees, which say that there is no resurrection, and asked him,
24 Saying, Master, Moses said, If a man die, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother.
25 Now there were with us seven brethren: and the first, when he had married a wife, deceased, and, having no issue, left his wife unto his brother:
26 Likewise the second also, and the third, unto the seventh.
27 And last of all the woman died also.
28 Therefore in the resurrection whose wife shall she be of the seven? for they all had her.
29 Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.
30 For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.
31 But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying,
32 I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.
33 And when the multitude heard this, they were astonished at his doctrine.

Look at what Jesus said to the Sadducees in verses 30-32: "For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?' He is God not of the dead, but of the living" .

The whole passage if you look is a discussion between Jesus and the Sadducees about the resurrection. They denied that there would be a resurrection of the dead and came to see what Christ would say. They posed a hypothetical case of a woman who married seven brothers in turn and asked Jesus which of the brothers would be her husband after the resurrection. Jesus' answer focused on the resurrection: "For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like the angels in heaven" in verse 30. Then he added: "But as for the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read what was said to you by God, I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? He is God not of the dead, but of the living". What did Christ mean?
Click to expand...
Commentators miss the Rabbinic context, Jesus' reply only makes sense when its known.

Christ did not (explicitly) prove the resurrection, He explicitly proved life after death which the Sadducees also denied, and that IMPLICITLY proves resurrection of the body because Abraham Issac and Jacob remind God of His promise they and their descendants would PHYSICALLY dwell in the land forever:

7 "And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you.
8 "Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God." (Gen. 17:7-8 NKJ)

3 "Dwell in this land, and I will be with you and bless you; for to you and your descendants I give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father. (Gen. 26:3 NKJ)


13 And behold, the LORD stood above it and said: "I am the LORD God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. (Gen. 28:13 NKJ)

Jesus is implicitly proving the Resurrection, the implied premise well understood:

"Did Abraham Issac and Jacob" receive the land forever, or did they die? Therefore, the Resurrection is taught in the Torah so God can fulfill His promise they receive the land forever."

We see a similar argument in the Talmud:

Whence is the doctrine of the Resurrection derived from the Torah? As it is said, ' Ye shall give the Lord's heave-offering to Aaron the priest' (Num. xviii. 28).

But did Aaron live for ever to receive the offering? Is it not true that he did not enter the land of Israel? Consequently the text teaches that he is to be restored to life (in the Hereafter) and will receive the heave-offering. Hence the Resurrection is deducible from the Torah' (Sanh. 90b). - Abraham Cohen, Everyman's Talmud (Schocken Books, NY, 1995), p 358.

Jesus' argument was understood by His audience, a Scribe confesses Jesus answered the question of the physical Resurrection "well":

Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, "Which is the first commandment of all?" (Mk. 12:28 NKJ)



"Implication" is the interpretive key opening the door to a wealth of teaching. Rabbinic argument assumes the implied premise will be deduced: Jesus asked the Pharisees "if David calls Christ 'my Lord' how can he be David's son? (Mt 22:41-45); " I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob" proves Sadducees twice wrong, not only about the afterlife but the resurrection of the body for daily God is reminded He promised they and their offspring would inhabit the land physically forever. Paul says "what does it mean He ascended, but that He also descended":

9 (Now this, "He ascended "-- what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth?
10 He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)
(Eph. 4:9-10 NKJ)
 
Last edited:
Josef said:
Hey All,

Exodus 3:6 Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.

Jesus ties the identifier "the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob" back to Moses and the bush that would not burn.
(Boy that had to be a site. No wonder Moses had to turn and look at it. Is it possible that Moses met Jesus that day?)

Matthew 22:32 I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.

You are correct reddogs, Jesus stays in present tense through the whole verse.

Don't you find the Sadducees and Pharisees reaction so funny? Matthew tells us Jesus silenced the Sadducees. So the Pharisees got together to figure out a question that would be a trap. Can you just imagine the discussion?

Pharisees X, Y, and Z having discussion:

X. "What can we ask him?"
Y. "I got one."
X. "Well that's pretty good. Ask him."
Y. "No you ask him."
X. "Why don't you ask him Z. You are the lawyer."
Z. "OK"

Do you think the lawyer regretted asking his question?

Matthew definitely had a sense of humor. Look at the last verse of the chapter.

Matthew 22:46 And no man was able to answer him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions.

Real talk:
That shut all of them up.

Keep walking everybody.
May God bless,
Taz
Click to expand...
Well, there is more in that, as the whole question was on the resurrection as the Sadducees didnt believe in it so were trying to basically force Jesus to admit that the first five books of the Old Testament or Torah didnt support it. The 'Levirate obligation' they brought up was that if a woman had no son and became a widow, the brother of her deceased husband should take her as wife, and expanded it to a hypothetical, in which one woman had seven husbands consecutively, all of whom were brothers. They thought Jesus could not answer with anything in the Torah, and yet He answered with the words He had spoke when Moses was at the burning bush, ‘I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'.

And you see in the text in Matthew 22, the issue at stake was the resurrection of the dead. While the Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection, they did not believe in an immortal soul either. So the question of the immortality of the soul was clearly not the issue or what Christ was speaking on, it was the resurrection.
Matthew 22:23-34
23 The same day came to him the Sadducees, which say that there is no resurrection, and asked him,
24 Saying, Master, Moses said, If a man die, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother.
25 Now there were with us seven brethren: and the first, when he had married a wife, deceased, and, having no issue, left his wife unto his brother:
26 Likewise the second also, and the third, unto the seventh.
27 And last of all the woman died also.
28 Therefore in the resurrection whose wife shall she be of the seven? for they all had her.
29 Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.
30 For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.
31 But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying,
32 I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.
33 And when the multitude heard this, they were astonished at his doctrine.
34 But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together.

And here Jesus makes it clear what life He is talking about..
John 11:25
Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:

And when we receive it..
John 5:29
And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom