December 2

He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken! — Mark 12:27 BSB

Jesus is the only Teacher whose words about the afterlife we can fully trust. Other people may speculate, but Jesus knows exactly what He is talking about. There is a great mystery about death and what happens afterward. Where do the dead go? Is there life after death? Jesus’ words to the Sadducees offer clarity on these questions. When He says that the dead are "like angels in heaven," He may be referring to the fact that in heaven, there is no separation into families as there is on earth.

But more importantly, Jesus teaches that God is not the God of the dead but of the living. This means that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were still alive in God’s presence even in Moses’ day. Moses and Elijah, too, were alive in Jesus' time, as they appeared with Him on the Mount of Transfiguration. So we can be assured that our loved ones who believed in Christ are just as alive as they ever were.