Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Luke 19:39

"And some of the Pharisees from the multitude said unto him, Teacher, rebuke thy disciples." — Luke 19:39 (ASV)

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.

This saying of Jesus is a fitting prelude to vv.41–45.