born to them will be regarded as the child of the deceased.’ Now, there were seven brothers:
the first married, but died without children. The second married the woman, but also died
childless. And then the third married her, and in this same way all seven died, leaving no
children. Last of all the woman died. On the day of the resurrection, to which of them will
the woman be a wife? For all seven had her as a wife.”

And Jesus replied, “Taking a husband or a wife is proper to people of this world, but for
those who are considered worthy of the world to come, and of resurrection from the dead,
there is no more marriage. Besides, they cannot die, for they are like the angels. They are
sons and daughters of God, because they are born of the resurrection.

Yes, the dead will be raised, as Moses revealed at the burning bush, when he called the
Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. For God is God of
the living, and not of the dead, for to him everyone is alive.”

Some teachers of the law then agreed with Jesus, “Master, you have spoken well.” They
didn’t dare ask him anything else.

Reflect:

On the hypothetical case (which was not hypothetical at all, given the then practice) that the
Pharisees brought before Jesus to debate the issue of the resurrection, there is one element
missing: Where is the voice of the woman in the story? Whereas the law mandated that the
woman be married to the dead husband’s brothers one after the other, we do not find any
provision for listening to the woman’s voice, how she felt about the successive deaths of her
husbands, and if she wished to continue the practice. It is as if she were a dead entity already
with no resurrection in sight. We need to apply what Jesus says today – that God is God of
the living – to life after death as well as to life before death, to breathe life into those silenced
by the society.

© Copyright Bible Diary 2022