Mark 12:23

In the resurrection therefore, when they shall rise, whose wife shall she be of them? for the seven had her to wife.

Mark 12:23 (KJV)

Context

This verse records the climax of a question posed to Jesus by the Sadducees, a Jewish group who denied the resurrection. They present a hypothetical case rooted in the Mosaic law of levirate marriage (Deuteronomy 25:5-6), which required a brother to marry his deceased brother’s widow to raise offspring for him. In their scenario, a woman marries seven brothers in succession, each dying childless.

The Sadducees ask whose wife she will be in the resurrection, since all seven had her. Their question is not a genuine inquiry but a trap designed to make the doctrine of the resurrection seem absurd. They assume that the age to come is merely a continuation of present earthly life, including its institutions such as marriage.

Meaning

The phrase “when they shall rise” directly references the resurrection, a doctrine the Sadducees rejected. Their question reveals a fundamental misunderstanding of both the Scriptures and the power of God. Jesus’ response in Mark 12:24-25 corrects this error by explaining that in the resurrection people neither marry nor are given in marriage but are like the angels in heaven.

Jesus teaches that marriage is an institution for the present age, given for companionship and procreation. In the resurrection, life is transformed; there is no death, so there is no need for marriage to perpetuate the human race. The Sadducees’ error lay in projecting present earthly conditions into the age to come, failing to grasp that resurrection life is a new creation, not a return to the old order.

Biblical connections

The parallel account in Luke 20:33 presents the same question, confirming the importance of this encounter. The Sadducees’ premise that the resurrection would be a continuation of earthly marriage is the foundation of their challenge. Jesus’ response in Mark 12:24-25 directly addresses this flawed premise, revealing that they knew neither the Scriptures nor the power of God.

Application

This passage calls readers to examine their own understanding of the resurrection. The Sadducees’ mistake was limiting God’s power to their own expectations. Believers are encouraged to trust that God’s purposes for the age to come transcend present human institutions and to find their hope in the reality of resurrection life rather than in the continuance of earthly arrangements.

Reflection

Mark 12:23 shows the Sadducees attempting to discredit Jesus through a hypothetical dilemma. Yet their question, asked in unbelief, serves to highlight the reality of the resurrection and the transformed nature of life in the age to come. The verse underscores that resurrection is not a return to the present order but a new creation, where God’s power is fully displayed.