The Meaning of Luke 20:38 Explained

Luke 20:38

KJV: For he is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto him.

YLT: and He is not a God of dead men, but of living, for all live to Him.'

Darby: but he is not God of the dead but of the living; for all live for him.

ASV: Now he is not the God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto him.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

For  he is  not  a God  of the dead,  but  of the living:  for  all  live  unto him. 

What does Luke 20:38 Mean?

Context Summary

Luke 20:27-40 - The God Of The Living
Here our Lord answers the materialism of His time. He speaks with the note of absolute certainty concerning the unseen, Hebrews 11:27. Its inhabitants do not die or marry, nor are they subject to the conditions of our earthly life. These are the children of the resurrection. What an inspiring title! May it be applied to us as in Colossians 3:1-4? Too many are "the sons of this age," Luke 20:34, r.v., margin! They adopt this transient earth as their foster parent! We cannot belong to both, though some, like Bunyan's waterman, row in one direction, while they look in another.
How wonderful to find a proof of immortality in that passage about the bush, Exodus 3:6! The fact that Jehovah said, "I am the God of Abraham," proved that the patriarch was in existence somewhere at that moment. Those whom we describe as dead are living people who have died. Death is but a passage, a step. There is no break in the chain of existence. Yonder and here all live unto God, Romans 14:8. [source]

Chapter Summary: Luke 20

1  Jesus confirms his authority by a question of John's baptism
9  The parable of the vineyard
19  Of giving tribute to Caesar
27  He instructs the Sadducees, who denied the resurrection
41  How Jesus is the Son of David
45  He warns his disciples to beware of the scribes

What do the individual words in Luke 20:38 mean?

God now not He is of [the] dead but of [the] living all for to Him live
Θεὸς δὲ οὐκ ἔστιν νεκρῶν ἀλλὰ ζώντων πάντες γὰρ αὐτῷ ζῶσιν

Θεὸς  God 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: θεός  
Sense: a god or goddess, a general name of deities or divinities.
δὲ  now 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: δέ  
Sense: but, moreover, and, etc.
ἔστιν  He  is 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: εἰμί  
Sense: to be, to exist, to happen, to be present.
νεκρῶν  of  [the]  dead 
Parse: Adjective, Genitive Masculine Plural
Root: νεκρός  
Sense: properly.
ζώντων  of  [the]  living 
Parse: Verb, Present Participle Active, Genitive Masculine Plural
Root: ζάω  
Sense: to live, breathe, be among the living (not lifeless, not dead).
αὐτῷ  to  Him 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Dative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
Root: αὐτός  
Sense: himself, herself, themselves, itself.
ζῶσιν  live 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 3rd Person Plural
Root: ζάω  
Sense: to live, breathe, be among the living (not lifeless, not dead).