Church Fathers Commentary Mark 12:18-27

"And there come unto him Sadducees, who say that there is no resurrection; and they asked him, saying, Teacher, Moses wrote unto us, If a man`s brother die, and leave a wife behind him, and leave no child, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother. There were seven brethren: and the first took a wife, and dying left no seed; and the second took her, and died, leaving no seed behind him; and the third likewise: and the seven left no seed. Last of all the woman also died. In the resurrection whose wife shall she be of them? for the seven had her to wife. Jesus said unto them, Is it not for this cause that ye err, that ye know not the scriptures, nor the power of God? For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as angels in heaven. But as touching the dead, that they are raised; have ye not read in the book of Moses, in [the place concerning] the Bush, how God spake unto him, saying, I [am] the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living: ye do greatly err." — Mark 12:18-27 (ASV)

Glossa Ordinaria: After our Lord prudently escaped the crafty temptation of the Pharisees, it is shown how He also confounds the Sadducees, who tempt Him.

Therefore, it is said: Then come unto Him the Sadducees, which say there is no resurrection.

Theophylact of Ohrid: A certain heretical sect of the Jews called Sadducees denied the resurrection and said that there was neither angel nor spirit. Coming to Jesus, they craftily proposed a story to Him to show that no resurrection would or had ever taken place.

Therefore, the text adds, And they asked Him, saying, Master. In this story, they propose that seven men had married one woman, in order to make people draw back from believing in the resurrection.

The Venerable Bede: They aptly frame such a fable to prove the madness of those who assert the resurrection of the body. However, such a thing might really have happened at some time among them.

Pseudo-Jerome: But in a mystical sense, what can this woman mean? Leaving no seed to seven brothers and dying last of all, she represents the Jewish synagogue, deserted by the sevenfold Spirit that filled those seven patriarchs, who did not leave her the seed of Abraham—that is, Jesus Christ.

For although a Son was born to them, He was nevertheless given to us Gentiles. This woman was dead to Christ, nor will she be joined in the resurrection to any of the seven patriarchs, for the number seven signifies the whole company of the faithful.

Thus, Isaiah says the opposite: Seven women shall take hold of one man (Isaiah 4:1). This refers to the seven Churches, which the Lord loves, reproves, and chastens, adoring Him with one faith.

Therefore, it continues: And Jesus answering, said unto them, Do ye not therefore err, not knowing the Scripture, neither the power of God?

Theophylact of Ohrid: It is as if He had said, "You do not understand what sort of resurrection the Scriptures announce, for you believe that there will be a restoration of our bodies just as they are now, but it will not be so. Thus, you do not know the Scriptures."

"Nor, again, do you know the power of God, for you consider it a difficult thing, asking, 'How can the limbs, which have been scattered, be united and joined to the soul?' But this is as nothing in respect to the divine power."

Then follows the verse: For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as the angels which are in heaven. It is as if He had said there will be a heavenly and angelic restoration to life, when there will be no more decay and we will remain unchanged; for this reason, marriage will cease.

Marriage exists now because of our decay, so that our race may be carried on by succession and not die out. But in the resurrection, we will be like the Angels, who do not need succession by marriage and never come to an end.

The Venerable Bede: We must consider here that the Latin custom does not correspond to the Greek idiom. Different words are properly used for the marriage of men and that of women, but here we may simply understand that "marry" refers to men and "given in marriage" refers to women.

Pseudo-Jerome: Thus, they do not understand the Scripture, in that in the resurrection, people will be like the Angels of God. That is, no one there dies, no one is born, and there are no infants or old men.

Theophylact of Ohrid: They are also deceived in another way by not understanding the Scriptures. For if they had understood them, they would also have understood how the resurrection of the dead can be proved from the Scriptures.

Therefore, He adds, And as touching the dead, that they rise, have ye not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?

Pseudo-Jerome: But I say, "in the bush," which is an image of you; for in it the fire was kindled, but it did not consume its thorns. In the same way, my words set you on fire but do not burn off your thorns, which have grown under the curse.

Theophylact of Ohrid: But I say, I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.

It is as if He had said, "The God of the living." Therefore, He adds, He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. For He did not say, "I have been," but I am, as if they were present.

But someone might say that God spoke this only of Abraham's soul, not of his body. To this I answer that "Abraham" implies both soul and body, so that God is also the God of the body, and the body lives with God—that is, in God's ordinance.

The Venerable Bede: Alternatively, because the soul's survival after death was proven (for God could not be the God of those who did not exist at all), the resurrection of the body could also be inferred as a consequence, since it had done good and evil with the soul.

Pseudo-Jerome: When He says, The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, by naming God three times, He implied the Trinity. But when He says, He is not the God of the dead, by again naming the one God, He implies one substance.

Those who make good on the portion they had chosen live, and those who have lost what they had made good are dead. Ye therefore do greatly err.

Glossa Ordinaria: That is, because they contradicted the Scriptures and diminished the power of God.