Luke 20:28
“Saying, Master, Moses wrote unto us, If any man’s brother die, having a wife, and he die without children, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother.”
Certainly! Let’s dive into a Bible study on Luke 20:28, using the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible. Luke 20:28 says: This verse is part of a larger narrative in which Jesus is engaged in a discussion with the religious leaders of his time. They were trying to test him and challenge his authority. In this particular exchange, the Sadducees, who did not believe in the resurrection, posed a question to Jesus regarding the Levirate law.
The Levirate law, derived from the Hebrew word “levir,” which means “brother-in-law,” is described in Deuteronomy 25:5-10. It states that if a man dies without having children, his brother should marry the widow in order to raise up offspring for the deceased brother, thus preserving his name and inheritance. This practice was intended to ensure the continuation of the deceased brother’s lineage and welfare.
In Luke 20:28, the religious leaders are referring to the Levirate law and presenting it as a hypothetical scenario. They suggest a situation where a man dies childless, and his brother marries his widow according to the law. However, they take it to an extreme by posing a question about a woman who has been married to seven brothers consecutively, with none of them leaving any children behind.
The purpose of this question was not genuine curiosity but an attempt to undermine the belief in resurrection. The Sadducees wanted to trap Jesus and expose what they saw as a flaw in the concept of resurrection.
Jesus, aware of their intentions, responds in the following verses, debunking their argument and explaining the nature of the resurrection. He states that in the resurrection, people will neither marry nor be given in marriage. Instead, they will be like angels and will be children of God, being sons of the resurrection (Luke 20:34-36).
By addressing the Sadducees’ challenge, Jesus emphasizes that the resurrection is not limited by the earthly customs and laws. While the Levirate law was applicable in the present age, in the age to come, the dynamics of relationships will be different.
