Texts in Conversation
In Matthew 22, Jesus argues for belief in resurrection by saying that God is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and declaring that he is God of the living. 4 Maccabees uses similar logic, teaching that the patriarchs do not die to God but live to him.
Share:
2500 BCE
1000+ CE
4 Maccabees 7:19
Pseudepigrapha, Wisdom and Poetry
16 If, then, an old man, through religion, despised tortures even to death, then certainly religious reasoning is ruler of the emotions. 17 But perhaps some might say, “It is not all who conquer emotions, as not all possess wise reasoning.” 18 But those who have meditated upon religion with their whole heart, these alone can master the emotions of the flesh: 19 they who believe that to God they don’t die; for, as our forefathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, they live to God. 20 This circumstance, then, is by no means an objection, that some who have weak reasoning are governed by their emotions,
Matthew 22:32
New Testament
29 Jesus answered them, “You are deceived because you don’t know the scriptures or the power of God. 30 For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 31 Now as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, 32 ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead but of the living!” 33 When the crowds heard this, they were amazed at his teaching.
Search:
Notes and References
"... Additionally, Jesus provided scriptural support for the reality of the resurrection. The covenant formula, “I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob” demonstrates that he is “God not of the dead, but of the living.” The precise logic of the argument is difficult to follow. It is complicated by Luke’s addition “for all live to him [i.e., God]” (Luke 20:38) — a possible allusion to 4 Maccabees 7:19; 16:25. Perhaps, by knocking down the Sadducees’ disbelief in any sort of afterlife, Jesus has opened the way to believing the entire eschatological program: life even now in the presence of God for the faithful departed, and eternal life in the age to come at the resurrection ..."
Green, J. B.
Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels: A Compendium of Contemporary Biblical Scholarship
(p. 780) InterVarsity Press, 2018
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
Your Feedback:
Leave a Comment
Anonymous comments are welcome. All comments are subject to moderation.
User Comments
,