I have to confess, I don’t understand the Sadducees! We meet them in Mark 12:18 and we are told that they don’t believe in the resurrection. What is the point of religion without resurrection? Did they believe only because they thought God would help them in this lifetime? It is certainly true that it is a blessing to know the Lord in this lifetime, but as the apostle Paul highlights “If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.” (1 Corinthians 15:19) While Paul would not have given up the benefits of knowing Christ, he recognises that following Jesus often gets us into more difficulty due to the opposition we face. And yet, despite all the beatings and imprisonments, as Paul considers the resurrection and eternal glory he says the present sufferings are light and momentary. There must be some weight of glory!
So what about the Sadducees? For some reason they don’t believe in the resurrection, it just doesn’t make sense to them. How can the dead be raised? They try to trap Jesus with one of their favourite arguments against the resurrection. It’s an argument about Levirate marriage, where a woman loses a number of husbands and ends up married several times. They think the resurrection can’t work because the woman would have lots of husbands! How will Jesus react to their clever trap?
Sometimes Jesus is very blunt! He tells them straight (twice) that they are wrong (v24,27). Jesus does not have much time for people mocking the resurrection. He tells them plainly that their problem is that they don’t understand Scripture or the power of God. Jesus assures them that the dead will rise and that the number of times you have or haven’t been married won’t be a problem because there is only one marriage in the resurrection life. All who trust in Christ will be married in the fullest sense. Human marriage now is a faint reflection of the marriage between Christ and His people. There will be no one lonely or left out in the new creation, but the focus won’t be on human marriage but on our relationship with the Lord. That doesn’t mean we won’t recognise people and get to know more people. The risen Jesus was recognisable, and we Jesus tells us that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob will be there! Think of all the heroes of the faith, it will be exciting meeting them!
Jesus reassures us the dead will be raised, for two reasons, Scripture and the power of God. Jesus chose to go to the book of Exodus (book of Moses), to prove his point. This is likely because it’s one of the parts of Scripture that the Sadducees accepted. Jesus shows us that the dead are raised from God’s self disclosure “I am the God of Abraham” – Abraham was long since physically dead when God said this, yet God refers to him as alive, because his spirit has gone to be with him, and when Jesus returns, he will be raised physically.
How is this possible? Jesus’ second reason is the power of God. God is able to do this. What fools we are to doubt. Why not let Jesus reassure you today, that for those who belong to Jesus, eternity is safe, you will be raised, your faith is not futile, the weight of glory ahead makes all of the trials now light and momentary by comparison.
Light and Momentary Troubles 
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