He is not the God of the dead but of the living, for all live to Him

Then some of the Sadducees, who deny that there is a resurrection, came to Him and asked Him, saying, "Teacher, Moses wrote to us that if a man's brother dies, having a wife, and he dies without children, his brother should take his wife and raise up offspring for his brother. Now there were seven brothers. And the first took a wife, and died without children. And the second took her as wife, and he died childless. Then the third took her, and in like manner the seven also; and they left no children, and died. Last of all the woman died also. Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife does she become? For all seven had her as wife."

Jesus answered and said to 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." Then some of the scribes answered and said, "Teacher, You have spoken well." But after that they dared not question Him anymore.

- Luke 20:27-40

At this point in Luke's Gospel, Jesus is being questioned in the temple, by the religious authorities. Yesterday, we read of an attempt to trap Him so that He may be turned over to the Roman authorities, or fall out of favor with the people. He was asked whether or not it was lawful to pay taxes to Caesar. But Jesus understood their aim, and answered skillfully. He asked to see a denarius coin, then demanded of them, "Whose image and inscription is on the coin?" He told them, "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."

Then some of the Sadducees, who deny that there is a resurrection, came to Him and asked Him, saying, "Teacher, Moses wrote to us that if a man's brother dies, having a wife, and he dies without children, his brother should take his wife and raise up offspring for his brother. Now there were seven brothers. And the first took a wife, and died without children. And the second took her as wife, and he died childless. Then the third took her, and in like manner the seven also; and they left no children, and died. Last of all the woman died also. Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife does she become? For all seven had her as wife." After Jesus has been questioned by the chief priests and the scribes, now some Sadducees pose to Him a question. The Sadducees were a landowning, aristocratic and high priestly class -- and they controlled the temple and the Jewish Council. But in contrast with the Pharisees, they did not accept that there was a resurrection of the dead. So, here they engage in a dispute, and pose to Him a question designed to refute the teaching. Not unusually, we get here a special case posed to Christ, designed to confuse a clear set of rules and understanding. But Jesus' answer is a teaching they can't refute. As a landowning class, it seems to me their question reflects a worldview and preoccupation in which property and inheritance would form the backbone of how life is lived, and what determines a worldly reality. But Jesus offers them another, with an entirely different value system and perspective on life.

Jesus answered and said to 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." Here is the perspective not just of an afterlife, but of a spiritual perception of God's point of view; that is, Jesus teaches them the heavenly reality, and what potentials God sees in us. What is it to be equal to the angels, a son of God? The resurrection changes and transforms. And the implication is that this is the age to come. One can only wonder what work and potential is envisioned for the sons of the resurrection and the life of the age to come, that human beings become equal to the angels. It is a glimpse that we are held to be precious for different potentials and priorities, a different life, a different capacity than our worldly preoccupations and priorities! And, what is wonderful about this passage is the tone of Jesus' answer to them: He is teaching, opening their eyes to something, revealing.

"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." Then some of the scribes answered and said, "Teacher, You have spoken well." But after that they dared not question Him anymore. Jesus goes on to teach them that even Moses envisioned the life of the age to come, and understood its reality. And we can even take from this teaching a perspective on time -- that this future reality intersects ours now, so that we can have firm faith in it. To render Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the present tense with God is to understand that they live. And the "living" and the "dead" also take on a new, transfigured meaning -- in the sense in which Jesus taught in an earlier passage in Luke, "Let the dead bury their own dead." What is it to be a son of the resurrection? But there is more to this, to be gleaned from Jesus' answer. God is the God of all -- of those of this age and the age to come. We all live to Him - as my study bible puts it, "both those who are physically alive and those who are deceased, such as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." Therefore we receive in this teaching the communion of saints, a reality of family and relationship mediated by the reality of God, of the kingdom of heaven. And we also see Jesus in His best form, answering all questions with the skill of the most highly trained scholar and law expert. No one dares ask Him another question. He will speak for His faith and teach everybody -- all who come to Him. There is no fear in Him at all. And He gives us, of course, another picture of the heavenly reality, of the spiritual life of transfiguration for those who may become sons of the resurrection, and like angels. He lives to the Father, as we all live to God, and He knows His purpose. Again, we ask the question, for what purpose has God made us if we live to be sons of the resurrection, and equal to the angels?

Let us consider today, then, our own preoccupations with what we do in this life, what we inherit, and family, and consider the perspective with which Jesus presents us. Can we think what it is to be a part of the communion of saints -- a part of the family of all those who live to God? Can we understand this transfiguration and this heavenly identity -- and what of the purpose for which God prepares us for the age to come? How does that change our worldly reality, and transfigure our own expectations of ourselves and the purposes we design for our lives? I think that it must do so -- and shift the way we see ourselves and our purpose in life. Let us pause there, then, in silence as did the Sadducees, and think about what our Teacher has taught us about ourselves, and what it may mean for our purposes and action in life -- a life we live to God, and in which we might be worthy to prepared to become equal to the angels!