23 And tlie same day came to him the Saddueees, which say that there is no resurrection, and asked him,
24 Saying, Master, Moses said. If a man die, having no children, liis brother shall marry his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother.
25 Now there were with us seven brethren : and the first, when he had maiTied a wife, deceased, and, having no issue, left his wife unto his brother :
26 Likewise the second also, and the third, unto the seventh.
27 And last of all the woman died also.
28 Therefore in the resurrection whose wife shall she be of the seven? for they all had her.
29 Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God.
30 For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in mar- riage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.
31 But as touching the resui'rection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying,
32 I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob ? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.
33 And when the multitude heard this, they were astonished at l^s doc- trine.
This passage describes a conversation between our Lord Jesus Christ and the Saddueees. These unhappy men, who said that there was " no resurrection/' attempted, like the Pharisees and Herodians, to perplex our Lord with hard questions. Like them, they hoped " to entangle Him in His talk," and to injure His reputation among the people. Like them, they were completely baffled.
Let us observe, in the first place, that absurd sceptical objections to Bible truths are ancient things. The Sad- dueees wished to show the absurdity of the doctrine of the resurrection and the life to come. They therefore came to our Lord with a story which was probably in- vented for the occasion. They told him that a certain woman had married seven brothers in succession, who had all died and left no children. They then asked ^^ whose wife" this woman would be in the next world, when all rose again. The object of the question was plain and transparent. They meant, in reality, to bring the whole doctrine of a resurrection into contempt. They meant
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to insinuate, that there must needs be confusion, and strife, and unseeml}^ disorder, if, after death, men and women were to live again.
It must never surprise us, if we meet with like objec- tions against the doctrines of Scripture, and especially against those doctrines which concern another world. There never probably will be wanting " unreasonable men," who will "intrude" into things unseen, and make imaginary difficulties their excuse for unbelief. Sup- posed cases are one of the favorite strongholds in which an unbelieving mind loves to intrench itself. Such a mind will often set up a shadow of its own imagining, and fight with it, as if it was a truth. Such a mind will often refuse to look at the overwhelming mass of plain e^ddence by which Christianity is supported, and will fasten down on some one single difficulty, which it fancies is unanswerable. The talk and arguments of people of this character should never shake our faith for a moment. For one thing, we should remember that there must needs be deep and dark things in a religion which comes from God, and that a child may put questions which the great- est philosopher cannot answer. — For another thing, we should remember, that there are countless truths in the Bible, which are clear, and unmistakeable. Let us first attend them, believe them, and obey them. So doing, we need not doubt that many a thing now unintelligible to us will yet be made plain. So doing, we may be sure that " what we know not now we shall know hereafter."
Let us observe, in the second place, what a remarlcoMe text our Lord brings forward, in proof of the reality of a life to come. He places before the Sadducees the words 13