12:26a
Jesus then moves the focus on to the key area of belief (or, more accurately, area of unbelief) relating to the Sadducees, namely the resurrection. So as well as questioning the underlying presuppositions in the Sadducees question, Jesus then goes on to address their whole underlying worldview. Jesus points them to the Book of Moses (ie the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible), for this was the part of the Old Testament that the Sadducees focused on and claimed to actually believe! Moreover, He homes in on Moses himself, whom the Sadducees would claim to be following.
12:26b,27
“I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob”. Jesus then declares that “He is not the God of the dead, but of the living” (NIV). See the assumption made here by Jesus. It is implicit, rather than explicit, in these words that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are alive, yet Jesus considers it absolute proof. God is the God of life, not death. “You are badly mistaken!”. A correct understanding of Scripture is so important. It is notable that in dealing with supposedly trap questions, like the one here and the earlier one on divorce, Jesus points us back to the original plan of God and His dealings with people in Genesis and Exodus. The early books of the Bible are so important to us and we should study them diligently.
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