Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Luke 19:34

"And they said, The Lord hath need of him." — Luke 19:34 (ASV)

By linking Jesus’ approach to the city with the parable of the ten minas by means of “After Jesus said this,” Luke denies an immediate appearance of the kingdom and portrays the rejection of its ruler. Luke’s mention of Bethphage and Bethany locates where Jesus went. Bethany was, of course, important as the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. The Mount of Olives had a significant place in prophecy as the place of the coming Messiah’s appearance (Zechariah 14:4). Luke also stresses the dependability of the prophetic word (v.32; cf. 2:15, 20, 29).

Jesus responded along these lines: It is not legitimate to project earthly conditions into the future state (vv.34–35). Eternal life is actually the life of the age to come (v.36). The believer already participates in that life (vv.37–38); but its full expression, involving the resurrection of the body, must wait till the new age has fully come.

Though in the coming age believers do not become angels (or gods), they do share certain characteristics of angels, such as marriage. The Greek syntax places the comment about angels nearer to “no longer die” than to “neither marry.” This moves the emphasis from the issue of marriage to that of the nature of the Resurrection. God’s children are children characterized by the Resurrection. Invoking, so to speak, the authority of Moses, whom the Sadducees revered, Jesus shows that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are also going to “rise.” Therefore their existence does not lie only in the past but in the future as well; and God is called, in contemporary terms, their God.

Jesus’ answer is approved by some of the teachers of the law, who are happy to see the Sadducees lose their argument. Jesus’ wisdom has silenced all his questioners.