Mark 12:27

27 He's not the God of the dead but of the living. You're badly mistaken!"

Mark 12:27 Meaning and Commentary

Mark 12:27

He is not the God of the dead
This is our Lord's reasoning upon the passage; showing from hence, that since God is the God of these persons, they must be now alive in their souls, for God is not the God of the dead; and that their bodies must rise again, or he will not be the God of their whole persons;

but the God, of the living:
the word "God", in this clause, is omitted in the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Arabic versions, but retained in the Persic and Ethiopic versions; (See Gill on Matthew 22:32);

ye therefore do greatly err;
signifying, that it was not a slight mistake, an error of small importance, but a very great one; inasmuch as it was contrary to the Scriptures, and derogated from the power of God, and destroyed that covenant interest, which God has in his people, and particularly in the principal men of their nation, who were the fathers and founders of them.

Mark 12:27 In-Context

25 When the dead come back to life, they don't marry. Rather, they are like the angels in heaven.

26 Haven't you read in the book of Moses that the dead come back to life? It's in the passage about the bush, where God said, 'I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.'

27 He's not the God of the dead but of the living. You're badly mistaken!"

28 One of the scribes went to Jesus during the argument with the Sadducees. He saw how well Jesus answered them, so he asked him, "Which commandment is the most important of them all?"

29 Jesus answered, "The most important is, 'Listen, Israel, the Lord our God is the only Lord.