He is not the God of the dead but of the living, for all live to Him

 Then some of the Sadducees, who deny that there is a resurrection, came to Him and asked Him, 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.  Now there were seven brothers.  And the first took a wife, and died without children.  And the second took her as wife, and he died childless.  Then the third took her, and in like manner the seven also; and they left no children, and died.  Last of all the woman died also.  Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife does she become?  For all seven had her as wife."

Jesus answered and said to them, "The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage.  But those who are counted worthy to attain that age, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; nor can they die anymore, for they are equal to the angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.  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.'  For He is not the God of the dead but of the living, for all live to Him."  Then some of the scribes answered and said, "Teacher, You have spoken well."  But after that they dared not question Him anymore.

- Luke 20:27-40

Yesterday we read that after Jesus gave the Parable of the Wicked Vinedressers (which the leadership perceived was told against them),  the chief priests and the scribes that very hour sought to lay hands on Him, but they feared the people -- for they knew He had spoken this parable against them.  So they watched Him, and sent spies who pretended to be righteous, that they might seize on His words, in order to deliver Him to the power and the authority of the governor.  Then they asked Him, saying, "Teacher, we know that You say and teach rightly, and You do not show personal favoritism, but teach the way of God in truth:  Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?"  But He perceived their craftiness, and said to them, "Why do you test Me?  Show Me a denarius.  Whose image and inscription does it have?"  They answered and said, "Caesar's."  And He said to them, "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."  But they could not catch Him in His words in the presence of the people.  And they marveled at His answer and kept silent.

 Then some of the Sadducees, who deny that there is a resurrection, came to Him and asked Him, 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.  Now there were seven brothers.  And the first took a wife, and died without children.  And the second took her as wife, and he died childless.  Then the third took her, and in like manner the seven also; and they left no children, and died.  Last of all the woman died also.  Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife does she become?  For all seven had her as wife."    The Sadducees were a kind of gentry of Jerusalem, a land-owning class who formed part of the leadership of the Temple.  The question reflects concerns for property and title, as children were considered (as indicated in the question) as belonging to their fathers, extending his name and his property and in this sense, his life and memory.  Among other things, as indicated by the question, they disbelieved in resurrection, and accepted only Mosaic Law as authoritative (as opposed to the oral traditions also held by the Pharisees).  They represented the priestly aristocracy and the power structure of Israel.  The duties of religion for them centered around the Temple.  After the Siege of Jerusalem, the Sadducees died out as a party.

Jesus answered and said to them, "The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage.  But those who are counted worthy to attain that age, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; nor can they die anymore, for they are equal to the angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.  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.'  For He is not the God of the dead but of the living, for all live to Him."  Then some of the scribes answered and said, "Teacher, You have spoken well."  But after that they dared not question Him anymore.   Jesus confirms that there is indeed a resurrection, but it is not the life that the Sadducees imagine.  For them, the concept of resurrection must mean some sort of continuation of earthly life (including earthy marriage), and they are mocking the idea with a rather absurd scenario.  Christ teaches them that they are ignorant of nature of the resurrection, in which there is no death and no marriage.   As Christ shows, they are not considering the evidence of Scripture, which speaks of the Lord as "the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob," and thereby of all who live to Him -- even those such as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob who have physically died.  My study bible tells us that it is the clear teaching of Christ that the souls of the faithful who have departed this life are sustained before the face of God in anticipation of the final joy of the resurrection.

 Christ promises us life, and life in abundance (John 10:10).  In all ways, and through all teachings, one way and another, Christ gives us life and promises us more life.  Thus is the teaching of resurrection always held and kept as promise in all of his teachings, even for our lives in the here and the now.  Eternal life becomes the promise not just of life everlasting but life in this moment, a kind of presence with us and within us that enlivens the life that we have, quickens and deepens its meanings and its foundations, and gives us courage in the nature of God's steadfast love which sustains us through all things.  Even though death, God's love sustains who we are.  The everlasting and eternal nature of this life comes to us even more clearly in Christ's teaching that time is absent from the ultimate nature of things.  In other words, if Abraham and Isaac and Jacob all live to God, as Christ says, then life is sustained as a kind of perennial "now," present and with us.  We understand through this nature of life in God the communion of the saints, who pray with us.  We understand the kingdom of God that lives in us (Luke 17:20-21).  And life in abundance doesn't stop with concepts of resurrection nor even the Kingdom that is present to us, but also is found within the Transfiguration, which illustrates the work of this Holy Kingdom and of the Spirit in each of our lives, also bringing more life -- life in abundance -- to the lives we live and know.  How does prayer pick us up and illuminate our lives through a problem we may be "stuck in"?  How does life in community, in the moment of insight during a church service, as response to true intention, come to us with help from the Helper?  What is it that gives hope and a way when life in worldly terms seems to be blocked somehow?  More than this, Who is it whose own suffering brings meanings to our suffering, who suffers with us?  Let us consider all the ways that Christ brings life overflowing and abundant into our lives as we understand them, and let us consider the nature of our resurrection.  We all live in Him.  That is a promise that spills over into everything we can name or think about.  It is His love that sustains us through all things.