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

 Then 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

Yesterday we read that after Jesus taught a parable against them in the temple in Jerusalem, the chief priests and the scribes that very hour sought to lay hands on Him, but they feared the people -- for they knew He had spoken this parable against them.  So they watched Him, and sent spies who pretended to be righteous, that they might seize on His words, in order to deliver Him to the power and the authority of the governor.  Then they asked Him, saying, "Teacher, we know that You say and teach rightly, and You do not show personal favoritism, but teach the way of God in truth:  Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?"  But He perceived their craftiness, and said to them, "Why do you test Me?  Show Me a denarius.  Whose image and inscription does it have?"  They answered and said, "Caesar's."  And He said to them, "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."  But they could not catch Him in His words in the presence of the people.  And they marveled at His answer and kept silent.

 Then 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."   The Sadducees ask this question without having any idea of the reality of the Resurrection.  As a group, they did not believe in resurrection, nor did they hold with the oral traditions as did the Pharisees.  Instead, they held as sacred the written Law alone.  They were something of a landowning aristocratic class, holding many important offices in the leadership and ruling class of Israel.  Here, their question reflects their assumptions about the doctrine of resurrection.  They consider the resurrection to be a continuation of earthly life (including earthly marriage), so they mock the doctrine with an absurd scenario.

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.  Jesus confirms that their will be a resurrection, but not the type of life that the Sadducees imagine.  In their understanding, He tells them, they are ignorant of the Scriptures.  If they understood Scripture properly, they would know that it reveals a complete transfiguration of life in the resurrection, which makes their question irrelevant.  Moreover, they don't understand how Abraham and his sons can be alive in God even if they are physically dead.  My study bible tells us that it is the clear teaching of Christ that the souls of the faithful who have departed this life are sustained before the face of God in anticipation of the final joy of the resurrection.  The scribes, whose duty it is to interpret, record, and teach the Scriptures, tell Him, "Teacher, You have spoken well."

 It's interesting to juxtapose today's reading against yesterday's passage from the lectionary (see above).  Yesterday we read that Christ was asked to choose between something worldly and something sacred ("Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?").  But Jesus refused the choice and classified it as a false dilemma, saying, "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."  Today the Sadducees mock the idea of resurrection with a worldly scenario that doesn't apply, and which confuses the life of the resurrection with earthly life.  Jesus' response is therefore to correct them, and to teach how different the life of the resurrection is than the worldly life they live with earthly marriage.  He tells them that those who attain life in the age to come "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."  He cites the Scriptures which already hold the keys to this truth.  Moses himself, in calling the Lord "the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob" affirms that God "is not the God of the dead but of the living, for all live to Him."  That this comes from the burning bush passage is significant, because in the burning bush (Exodus 3) we find a distinct symbol of God's presence in the world, the energies that are alive but do not consume, that are ever-present and eternal, in which all live to Him.  There is something powerful in Jesus' assertion of this life of the age to come, in that the Sadducees, with their very "earthly" vision of life and its meanings, are perhaps forced to reconcile their lack of understanding with the values and meanings of their lives.  If everything is about the Law, about rule, about property, then what is left out?  Clearly the understanding of faith has to include the perspective Jesus offers, in which our very lives become valuable (and in this sense of value is also the understanding of "glory") not for what we have -- including family and property, but for who we are in the sight of God, as we "live to Him," in Jesus' words.  In this way Jesus once again balances our understanding of our lives in the fullness of cosmic reality and the life we have in God.  It's not really a "one or the other" choice, but rather a life in the world that also participates in the life of God.  This is the life of faith that He offers us.  It is a deeper, richer, more blessed concept of living and what is significant to our lives, even as we live in this world.  After the Siege of Jerusalem, the Sadducees died out as a class.  But we are left with this still-pertinent question, bringing into our lives an understanding of how Christ wants us to see the ever-present reality of the Kingdom, and understand the life of the age to come, even as we live our lives in this age.  In the fullness of His teaching, we may live our lives with understanding and deepening faith, measuring what we do and the meanings and values we hold, against the transcendence He offers to us.