2 Thessalonians 2:13-17; Matthew 22:23-33

13 We must thank God at all times for you, friends, you whom the Lord loves. For God chose you as the first to be saved by the Spirit's power to make you his holy people and by your faith in the truth.

14 God called you to this through the Good News we preached to you; he called you to possess your share of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

15 So then, our friends, stand firm and hold on to those truths which we taught you, both in our preaching and in our letter.

16 May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and in his grace gave us unfailing courage and a firm hope,

17 encourage you and strengthen you to always do and say what is good.

23 That same day some Sadducees came to Jesus and claimed that people will not rise from death.

24 "Teacher," they said, "Moses said that if a man who has no children dies, his brother must marry the widow so that they can have children who will be considered the dead man's children.

25 Now, there were seven brothers who used to live here. The oldest got married and died without having children, so he left his widow to his brother.

26 The same thing happened to the second brother, to the third, and finally to all seven.

27 Last of all, the woman died.

28 Now, on the day when the dead rise to life, whose wife will she be? All of them had married her."

29 Jesus answered them, "How wrong you are! It is because you don't know the Scriptures or God's power.

30 For when the dead rise to life, they will be like the angels in heaven and will not marry.

31 Now, as for the dead rising to life: haven't you ever read what God has told you? He said,

32 "I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.' He is the God of the living, not of the dead."

33 When the crowds heard this, they were amazed at his teaching.