Church Fathers Commentary Luke 20:27-40

"And there came to him certain of the Sadducees, they that say that there is no resurrection; and they asked him, saying, Teacher, Moses wrote unto us, that if a man`s brother die, having a wife, and he be childless, his brother should take the wife, and raise up seed unto his brother. There were therefore seven brethren: and the first took a wife, and died childless; and the second: and the third took her; and likewise the seven also left no children, and died. Afterward the woman also died. In the resurrection therefore whose wife of them shall she be? for the seven had her to wife. And Jesus said unto them, The sons of this world marry, and are given in marriage: but they that are accounted worthy to attain to that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage: for neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed, in [the place concerning] the Bush, when he calleth the Lord the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Now he is not the God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto him. And certain of the scribes answering said, Teacher, thou hast well said. For they durst not any more ask him any question." — Luke 20:27-40 (ASV)

The Venerable Bede: There were two heresies among the Jews. One was that of the Pharisees, who boasted in the righteousness of their traditions, and for this reason the people called them “separated.” The other was that of the Sadducees, whose name signified “righteous,” claiming to be something they were not. When the Pharisees went away, the Sadducees came to tempt Him.

Origen of Alexandria: The heresy of the Sadducees not only denies the resurrection of the dead but also maintains that the soul dies with the body. Watching for an opportunity to trap our Savior in His words, they proposed a question at the very time they observed Him teaching His disciples about the resurrection, as it follows: And they asked him, saying, Master, Moses wrote to us, If a brother...

St. Ambrose of Milan: According to the letter of the law, a woman is compelled to marry, however unwilling, so that a brother may raise up offspring for his deceased brother. The letter therefore kills, but the Spirit is the source of love.

Theophylact of Ohrid: The Sadducees, relying on a weak foundation, did not believe in the doctrine of the resurrection. Because they imagined the future life in the resurrection to be carnal, they were justly misled. Therefore, reviling the doctrine of the resurrection as an impossibility, they invented the story: There were seven brothers...

The Venerable Bede: They devised this story to prove the foolishness of those who assert the resurrection of the dead. For this reason, they presented a crude fable in order to deny the truth of the resurrection.

St. Ambrose of Milan: Mystically, this woman is the synagogue, which had seven husbands, as it is said to the Samaritan woman, You had five husbands. This is because the Samaritans follow only the five books of Moses, while the synagogue, for the most part, follows seven. From none of them has she received the seed of a continuing lineage, and so she can have no share with her husbands in the resurrection, because she perverts the spiritual meaning of the precept into a carnal one. For the law does not point to any carnal brother who should raise up offspring for his deceased brother. Rather, it points to that brother who, from among the spiritually dead people of the Jews, would claim for himself the wisdom of divine worship as his wife and from her raise up offspring in the Apostles. These Apostles, left as if unformed in the womb of the synagogue, have, according to the election of grace, been deemed worthy to be preserved by the infusion of a new seed.

The Venerable Bede: Alternatively, these seven brothers correspond to the reprobate, who are fruitless in good works throughout the entire life of this world, which revolves in a cycle of seven days. As they are carried away by death one after another, at last the course of this evil world—like the barren woman—also passes away.

Theophylact of Ohrid: But our Lord shows that in the resurrection there will be no carnal relations, and in this way He overthrew their doctrine along with its weak foundation, as it follows: And Jesus said to them, The children of this world marry...

St. Augustine of Hippo: For marriages are for the sake of children, children are for the sake of succession, and succession exists because of death. Where there is no death, therefore, there are no marriages. And so it follows, But they which shall be accounted worthy...

The Venerable Bede: This must not be taken to mean that only those who are worthy will rise again or be without marriage, for all sinners will also rise again and will remain without marriage in that new world. But our Lord chose to mention only the elect, so that He might stir the minds of His hearers to contemplate the glory of the resurrection.

St. Augustine of Hippo: Just as our speech is formed by syllables that appear and then pass away, so too human beings, whose own existence is a sequence of arrivals and departures, make up the order of this world, which is constructed with the temporary beauty of things. But in the future life, the Word we will enjoy is not formed by such a succession of syllables but possesses all things eternally and at once. Therefore, those who partake of that Word—for whom it alone will be life—will neither depart through death nor be replaced by birth, just as it is now with the angels, as it follows: For they are equal to the angels.

St. Cyril of Alexandria: For just as the multitude of angels is very great, yet they are not multiplied by procreation but exist by creation, so also for those who rise again, there is no longer any need for marriage, as it follows: And are the children of God.

Theophylact of Ohrid: It is as if He said: Because it is God who brings about the resurrection, those who are regenerated by the resurrection are rightly called the sons of God. For in the regeneration of those who rise again, there is nothing carnal—neither sexual union, nor the womb, nor birth.

The Venerable Bede: Alternatively, they are equal to the angels and are the children of God because, having been made new by the glory of the resurrection, they rejoice in the perpetual beholding of God’s presence, with no fear of death, no stain of corruption, and no quality of an earthly condition.

Origen of Alexandria: But because the Lord says in Matthew what is omitted here, You do err, not knowing the Scriptures, we must ask the question: where is it written, They shall neither marry, nor be given in marriage? For in my view, no such thing is to be found in either the Old or New Testament. Instead, their entire error crept in from reading the Scriptures without understanding. For it is said in Isaiah, My elect shall not have children for a curse. From this they suppose that something similar will happen in the resurrection. But Paul, interpreting all these blessings as spiritual and knowing they are not carnal, says to the Ephesians, You have blessed us in all spiritual blessings.

Theophylact of Ohrid: To the reason already given, the Lord added the testimony of Scripture: Now that the dead are raised, Moses also showed at the bush, when the Lord said, I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. It is as if He said: If the patriarchs had returned to nothing, no longer living with God in the hope of a resurrection, He would not have said, I am, but, I was. For we are accustomed to speak of things that are dead and gone in this way. But since He said, I am, He shows that He is the God and Lord of the living. This is what follows: He is not a God of the dead, but of the living, for all live to him. For though they have departed from this life, they still live with Him in the hope of a resurrection.

The Venerable Bede: Alternatively, He says this so that after proving that souls endure after death (which the Sadducees denied), He could then introduce the resurrection of the bodies, which along with the souls have done good or evil. But the true life is the one that the righteous live to God, even if they are dead in the body. To prove the truth of the resurrection, He could have brought far more obvious examples from the Prophets, but the Sadducees accepted only the five books of Moses, rejecting the oracles of the Prophets.

St. John Chrysostom: Just as the saints claim the common Lord of the world as their own—not to diminish His dominion, but to testify to their affection in the way that lovers do, who cannot bear to share their love with many but desire to express a unique and special attachment—so too does God call Himself especially the God of these men, thereby not narrowing His dominion but enlarging it. For it is not the multitude of His subjects that manifests His power so much as the virtue of His servants. Therefore, He does not delight as much in the title “God of heaven and earth” as He does in being called “the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” Among men, servants are named by their masters; for we say, “the steward of a certain man.” But in this case, on the contrary, God is called the God of Abraham.

Theophylact of Ohrid: When the Sadducees were silenced, the Scribes, who were their opponents, praised Jesus, saying to Him, “Master, you have spoken well.”

The Venerable Bede: And since they had been defeated in argument, they asked Him no further questions but instead seized Him and handed Him over to the Roman authorities. From this we may learn that while the poison of envy can be subdued, it is very difficult to silence it completely.