Question #54

In Lk 20:37-38, how could Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob be "all living to him (God)", since they all died hundreds of years before Jesus said this?
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This is a very simple question for Jehovah’s Witnesses to answer. As with all questions that narrowly focus on one verse or one phrase within a verse, or even one word or letter, it is usually advisable to read the context. In this case the immediate context states:

“In fact, neither can they die anymore, for they are like the angels, and they are God’s children by being children of the resurrection. But that the dead are raised up even Moses disclosed, in the account about the thornbush, when he calls Jehovah ‘the God of Abraham and God of Isaac and God of Jacob.’ He is a God, not of the dead, but of the living, for they are all living to him.”

Jesus had been asked a question by the Saducees who did not believe in a resurrection and he answered by explaining that Jehovah will indeed bring the dead back to life because he is the God of the living and he has the power to resurrect any whom he chooses. Obviously, Jesus was not saying that Abraham was actually living. The point of discussion had to do with the resurrection, which the Jews understood to mean a return from the grave. What Jesus was saying is that although they were dead from a human standpoint “they are all living to him.” Since God has the power and intent to bring the dead back it is as though they have not died.

Ironically, just as the Saducees did not believe in a resurrection, the untaught masses of churchgoers today do not believe in a resurrection either. Although claiming to be Bible believers, the basic doctrines of Christendom, such as the immortal soul, are really rewrapped beliefs that originated in ancient Babel. Actually, the belief in an undying soul is as old as humanity itself, going back to the Garden of Eden and the first lie from the Father of the lie: "You positively will not die." 

Hope for Dead Loved Ones