Mark 12:27

27 The living God is God of the living, not the dead. You're way, way off base."

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 After the dead are raised up, we're past the marriage business. As it is with angels now, all our ecstasies and intimacies then will be with God.

26 And regarding the dead, whether or not they are raised, don't you ever read the Bible? How God at the bush said to Moses, 'I am - not was - the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'?

27 The living God is God of the living, not the dead. You're way, way off base."

28 One of the religion scholars came up. Hearing the lively exchanges of question and answer and seeing how sharp Jesus was in his answers, he put in his question: "Which is most important of all the commandments?"

29 Jesus said, "The first in importance is, 'Listen, Israel: The Lord your God is one;