Journal: Journal of the Grace Evangelical Society
Volume: JOTGES 34:66 (Spring 2021)
Article: Those Who Are Counted Worthy (Luke 20:35)
Author: William Fiess

JOTGES 34:66 (Spring 2021) p. 55

Those Who Are Counted Worthy (Luke 20:35)

William Fiess

Richlands, Virginia

I. Introduction

In Luke 20:34–38, the Lord responds to a question by the Sadducees regarding the resurrection of the dead. The Sadducees denied the bodily resurrection and give an example of how absurd it is to believe in it. Jesus answers them:

The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage. But those who are counted worthy to attain that age, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; nor can they die anymore, for they are equal to the angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. But even Moses showed in the burning bush passage that the dead are raised, when he called the Lord “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” For He is not the God of the dead but of the living, for all live to Him.

There are a number of interesting elements in this response. However, this article will concentrate on one in particular. How are we to interpret the phrase, “those who are counted worthy to attain that age, and the resurrection of the dead”? It appears Jesus is saying that if a person is going to be resurrected, he must be considered worthy of the honor. This implies that works of some kind are involved.

Dillow makes the comment that the response of the Lord here is “problematic for all interpreters.”1 Not surprisingly, different views of the Lord’s meaning have been offered.

JOTGES 34:66 (Spring 2021) p. 56

II. Different Interpretations

Many assume that Jesus is speaking here of the requirements for entering the kingdom of God, and this involves effort. If we take this verse in isolation from the rest of Scriptures, it is easy to see how some would conclude that a believer can lose his salvation if this effort is not present in his life. Matthew Henry takes this view. He says that even though a person is saved from hell by grace, reaching the world to come involves difficulty, and the believer is in danger of “coming short.” He must “run,” that is, live his life in such a way as to obtain final salvation.2

Of course, in a similar fashion, there are those who argue this verse is saying that if a person claims to be a believer, but there are insufficient works in that person’s life, this lack of works demonstrates he is not a Christian at all. He was never spiritually saved in the first place. Van Oosterzee says that only those in whom the “moral conditions” for the attainment o...