Objection:
In Matthew 22:32, Christ declares that He is not the God of the dead but of the living. Yet He said, “I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” That proves that the souls of these patriarchs, who died long ago, are really alive in heaven.
Answer:
Let us look at this passage of Scripture in its context. We read that there came to Christ “the Sadducees, which say that there is no resurrection.” Matthew 22:23. Mark introduces the incident in exactly the same language (see Mark 12:18). Luke says, “The Sadducees, which deny that there is any resurrection.” Luke 20:27. Hence we may properly conclude that the only point at issue in the discussion that the Sadducees raised on this occasion was whether or not there was to be a resurrection.
That this was the one point at issue is made even more apparent by the hypothetical case that the Sadducees described and the question they asked. They cited Moses’ command that if a man’s brother dies without children, he should marry the widow and raise seed to his brother. Now, said they, a man died, his brother married the widow, then the brother died, and another brother married the widow, and so on through seven brothers, when the seventh finally dying, and afterward the woman dying.
Then comes the Sadducees’ question: “Therefore in the resurrection whose wife shall she be of the seven? for they all had her.” Matthew 22:28.
The Sadducees, who affirmed their belief in Moses and their disbelief in the resurrection, apparently thought they had asked an unanswerable question and, therefore, proved incredible the idea of a resurrection. Christ dissolved the dilemma by declaring, “In the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.” Verse 30. Note that the discussion continues to focus on a specific future event, “the resurrection.”
Now, strictly speaking, though Christ had dissolved the dilemma, He had not thereby given a Scriptural proof that there is to be a resurrection, which was the real point at issue, for the Sadducees, as fervently as the Pharisees, affirmed their belief in the books of Moses. Hence Christ proceeds immediately to offer proof that the dead will be raised: “But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, 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.” Matthew 22:31, 32. Mark introduces Christ’s proof with similar language: “And as touching the dead, that they rise…” Mark 12:26. Luke records, “Now that the dead are raised, even Moses shewed…” Luke 20:37.
But for some reason, the believers in the immortal-soul doctrine believe that “Moses showed” and that Christ quoted Moses to show, not that “the dead are raised,” but that their immortal souls have never died! There have always been those who believed that an airy entity leaves the body at death, who did not, therefore, believe that there would ever be a bodily resurrection. Belief in one does not logically necessitate faith in the other. Hence, if Christ simply proved that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were then living as immortal souls in bliss, He did not thereby prove that there would be a resurrection.
But, as we have seen, the question at issue was, Will there be a resurrection? Did Christ answer the question? Did He prove that there would be a resurrection? It indeed gives small honor to our Lord to reason that He did not, when He expressly declared that His reference to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was intended to prove “that the dead are raised.” We prefer to conclude that the Lord demonstrated His point rather than that the immortal-soul advocates have established theirs! We cannot conclude that both have!
Only one question remains for examination: If “God is not the God of the dead, but of the living,” then must not Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob be living? The answer is found in the discussion of a prior objection (see No Death In New Testament Times). Indeed, that objection, so confidently brought forward to show that when Christ came, an undying quality was given to Christians, is really the refutation of the whole objection before us. Under that objection, evidence was presented to show that the believer in God has “passed from death unto life” and that, therefore, God does not regard his sleep in the grave as eternal, but only as a little interval between the earthly life and the heavenly.
That God does speak in terms of the assured future as though it were already present is clearly stated by Paul: “God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.” Romans 4:17. This statement is made concerning Abraham! Again, take Paul’s words regarding all Christians: “For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living.” Romans 14:7-9. And why are we still “the Lord’s,” even though we die? Because we “sleep in Jesus,” and the “dead in Christ shall rise” in the resurrection of life.” (See 1 Thessalonians 4:14, 16; John 5:29).
Only as we understand the matter in this way do we avoid a conflict between two texts of Scripture: (1) “God is not the God of the dead,” and Christ is (2) “Lord both of the dead and living.” In the first, Christ is speaking to the Sadducees, who held that all men, good and bad, suffered eternal extinction at death. In the second, Paul speaks of those who have died in “the Lord” and who thus simply “sleep” for a little while till they are called forth at the resurrection of life. Therefore, God is indeed the God of all who have died.
