New Testament · Gospel

Mark 12:26

The Widow's Offering

But concerning the dead rising, have you not read about the burning bush in the Book of Moses, how God told him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? Mark 12:26 · Berean Standard Bible
What It Means

Mark 12:26, in plain English

Then Jesus went straight to their own favorite Scripture: 'Haven't you read what God said to Moses at the burning bush? He said, I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.'

Why it's here

God didn't say 'I was their God.' He said 'I am.' Present tense. Those patriarchs may have died, but to God, they're still alive.

Who's speaking

Jesus quotes from Exodus, the very books the Sadducees held most dear.

Where it sits in the story

Jesus beat them at their own game. He used the one part of the Bible they couldn't dismiss to prove the very thing they were denying.

A Closer Look

The scholarly reading

Jesus argues from the Torah — the only Scripture the Sadducees accepted — citing Exodus 3:6, where God says 'I am' (present tense) the God of the patriarchs, implying they still live.

Language and setting

By using Moses' own text, Jesus meets the Sadducees on their own exegetical ground, demonstrating that the Pentateuch itself supports resurrection through God's ongoing covenant relationship with the dead.

Voice

Jesus cites the burning bush passage from the Book of Moses.

Significance

Jesus delivers a masterful exegetical counterstrike: the very Torah the Sadducees champion contains proof of ongoing life beyond death in God's self-identification at the burning bush.

In context

Mark 12:24–28

24Jesus said to them, “Aren’t you mistaken, because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God?

25When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage. Instead, they will be like the angels in heaven.

26But concerning the dead rising, have you not read about the burning bush in the Book of Moses, how God told him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’?

27He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken!”

28Now one of the scribes had come up and heard their debate. Noticing how well Jesus had answered them, he asked Him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?”

Read all of Mark 12 — Trick questions from every direction, a scribe who almost gets it, and a poor widow who gives everything — two small coins that outweigh them all.

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