For 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 

 

Yesterday we read that the chief priests and the scribes that very hour sought to lay hands on Jesus, but they feared the people -- for they knew He had spoken the parable of the Wicked Vinedressers 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 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."   My study Bible explains that the Sadducees were members of the high-priestly and landowning class who controlled the temple and the internal political affairs of the Jews.  They represented landowners and other wealthy families in Jerusalem.  My study Bible explains taht they held many high offices in Israel, and controlled the temple and the Sanhedrin.  Unlike the Pharisees, however, they were political prudent and adapted to Roman rule.  They denied the resurrection of the dead, rejected belief in angels, and they had no messianic hope beyond this life.  So, in essence, their question as posed here reflects their interests (as inheriting landowners and aristocrats) and orientation (they did not believe in the resurrection of the dead).

 

 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.  In Christ's response, He confirms that there will a resurrection, but not of the sort that the Sadducees imagine.  They consider the resurrection to be a continuation of earthly life, including earthly marriage.  Therefore they mock what they consider to be that doctrine with an outrageous or absurd scenario.  But they are ignorant of the Scriptures, which my study Bible says reveal a complete transfiguration of life in the resurrection, making such earthly questions irrelevant.  Moreover, they do not understand how Abraham and his sons Isaac and Jacob can be alive in God even if they are physically dead on worldly terms.  It is the clear teaching of Christ, my study Bible tells us, 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.

 

Why do Christ's words have such power?  After His explanation of the resurrection and also citing of the Scripture in which Moses declared that the Lord was "the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob," the scribes commend His response, and nobody dared question Him anymore.  This is the word and power of the Logos, bringing meaning, explanation, understanding, and expression -- and even manifestation -- of the things of God.  These men are brilliant and learned enough to grasp the power of Christ's words.  They are stunned into silence, for Christ's understanding of the Scriptures expands and supersedes their own, at least as far as the Sadducees are concerned.  Let's note that this is a kind of confrontation in which all kinds of people are present in the temple to listen.  Some of the Sadducees questioned Him here, but there is also the presence clearly of scribes and others, as well as all the people who want to listen and hear debates they are usually not privileged to hear.  There are scribes present who approve and appreciate Christ's response, so no one dares question Him anymore.  Think of the impact in front of the people who listen with delight to these debates they are present to hear, for they are all afraid to speak in front of the powerful religious leaders about Jesus (John 7:13).  It's no wonder they would have to lie and manipulate Pilate in order to find a way to put Christ to death.  There is no champion of speech that can beat Jesus in dialogue and debate, for His articulation of the realities of God, and the meaning of Scriptures is naturally far beyond that of others who are in authority in the temple, and it is this that rankles, this they do not want to acknowledge, this they resent.  It is His authority when He speaks which they question and demand to deny, for He speaks not as one of them but as Logos, and as the Christ, the Son.  This is what they refuse to acknowledge.  So let us consider what it means that even those who have departed this life are sustained before the face of God in anticipation of the final joy of the resurrection.  It really teaches us that our own lives are so much more than what the world presents to ourselves -- they are so much more than our worldly perceptions.  Like a flower blooming from a seed, we contain so much more in potentials than we can even begin to understand.  But God knows our reality, and it is the power of God that sustains and develops and nurtures us along; the energies of God that feed us what we need to become that bloom that is possible and that awaits before the face of God.  It is Christ who, in point of fact, clearly comes to teach us who we are, to give us the great good news of the gospel in this meaningful sense -- that even when we live our lives in this world, we are preparing for a kind of destiny we don't understand and cannot see.  And this is His message to us, a powerful message beyond the grasp of worldly authority, and beyond even the grasp of death.  In our reading from Friday last week, Jesus asked this question in response to the religious leaders' questions about His authority to teach, preach, cleanse the temple, and engage in the Triumphal Entry:  "The baptism of John -- was it from heaven or from men?"  Today this question is answered in terms of Jesus' authority by His decisive answer revealing the nature of heaven itself, as only the Logos, the Son, could reveal and manifest it.