27 Then some of the Sadducees, who deny that there is a resurrection, came to Him and asked Him, 28 saying: “Teacher, Moses wrote to us that if a man’s brother dies, having a wife, and he dies without children, his brother should take his wife and raise up offspring for his brother. 29 Now there were seven brothers. And the first took a wife, and died without children. 30 And the second [a]took her as wife, and he died childless. 31 Then the third took her, and in like manner the seven [b]also; and they left no children, and died. 32 Last of all the woman died also. 33 Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife does she become? For all seven had her as wife.”
34 Jesus answered and said to them, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage. 35 But those who are counted worthy to attain that age, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; 36 nor can they die anymore, for they are equal to the angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. 37 But even Moses showed in the burning bush passage that the dead are raised, when he called the Lord ‘the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ 38 For He is not the God of the dead but of the living, for all live to Him.”
39 Then some of the scribes answered and said, “Teacher, You have spoken well.” 40 But after that they dared not question Him anymore.
Luke 20:27-40
The Sadducees: what about the resurrection? The Sadducees, a wealthy and powerful sect within the Sanhedrin did not believe in the resurrection so they came up with a complex hypothetical situation to challenge Jesus. I see this as less of a “lets trick him into condemning Himself” and more of a genuine intellectual challenge hoping to call into question the resurrection itself.
Using historical biblical precedent, Jesus made clear that God is the God of the living, not the dead, and that in the resurrection there would be no more marriage or death. This cut off the challenge at the knees and silenced the Sadducees (for now) after the scribes acknowledged His position.
