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 religious leaders in Jerusalem watched Jesus as He taught in the temple, 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."  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.  The Sadducees ask this question perhaps because, unlike the Pharisees, they did not believe in resurrection.  In this scenario, they present what they presume to be a resurrectional image; that is, that they presume it is meant to be a continuation of earthly life, including earthly marriage.  So they effectively seek to mock the doctrine with this absurd scenario.  My study Bible comments here that Christ confirms that there will be a resurrection, but not of the sort the Sadducees present in their question.  The resurrection is a transformed life, one in which those who are counted worthy to attain that age neither marry nor are given in marriage, nor can they die anymore -- for they are equal to the angels.  Jesus calls them sons of the resurrection, meaning of the new life of the resurrection, a transfigured life that is different in nature from earthly life.  Moreover, they fail to understand the Scripture passage of the burning bush, which indicates that the dead are raised, in which Moses called the Lord 'the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob,' as each one of a different generation was alive in God.  They fail to understand how Abraham and his sons can be alive in God even if they are physically dead.  My study Bible comments that it is the clear teaching of Christ the 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 expertise was on Mosaic Law and interpretation of the Scriptures, comment that Jesus has spoken well.

The Sadducees were a wealthy landowning class in Jerusalem, one which has often been referred to as an aristocracy.   They held many of the priestly positions including that of high priest and chief priest, had inherited positions concerning duties of maintaining the temple and the majority of the seats in the Sanhedrin, or ruling Council.  In effect, they controlled the temple and internal political affairs of the Jews.   Essentially we could probably say that the Sadducees were extremely pragmatic as a class, holding to their possessions around Jerusalem, their places in the temple and the political affairs of the Jews, and securing their places as best they could by dealing with the various great powers that vied for control of Judea, such as the Romans.  They did not cherish a messianic hope as did the Pharisees, nor did they believe in resurrection or apparently various aspects of spiritual life.  So, the question about "whose wife" this woman married to seven brothers would be makes some sense in that light.  But Christ's answer essentially refutes this very earthly-oriented sense of life that belonged to the Sadducees.  While the New Testament often gives us a picture of Jesus' tussles with the Pharisees, and His scathing pronouncements about their hypocrisy, the life of the Sadducees was one that Christ's doctrine clearly did not embrace as it was so materially-oriented.   In the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, Jesus clearly tells them in His reply to this question that they know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God (Matthew 22:29, Mark 12:24).  Even their question about marriage -- and whose wife this woman would be -- seems to reflect a materialist perspective, in that the wife seems to be viewed as a possession and a means for gaining offspring.  But Jesus' response opens up an opposite understanding of life.  If resurrection means an eternal life, one without death, then what of the institution of human marriage?  If all live to God, then what of the inheritance of land and possessions, an aristocracy that builds life and purpose upon keeping control of possessions and inherited positions?  In some sense, we can view this confrontation as one in which the Sadducees are clearly at a loss to understand Christ, and only the scribe is aware of Christ's discernment of what is written in the Scriptures, and values such.  According to some sources, it is only when Christ's ministry comes to this acute point at which social upheaval -- and therefore the unwanted attention of the Roman state -- becomes a worrisome possibility that the Sadducees get involved with the decision to do away with Jesus.  In John's Gospel we're told that it was Caiaphas, the high priest that year, who insists that Jesus should be put to death to avoid a greater problem with the Romans.  This is just after the social and political impact of Jesus and His ministry come to an acute crisis with the raising of Lazarus before witnesses who apparently included prominent people from Jerusalem.  Caiaphas says to the Sanhedrin, "You know nothing at all, nor do you consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and not that the whole nation should perish."  But the Gospel of John, unlike the literal-minded Sadducees, understands that Caiaphas "did not say on his own authority; but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for that nation only, but also that He would gather together in one the children of God who were scattered abroad" (see John 11:49-52).  In effect, it is this pronunciation and advocacy for Jesus' death by Caiaphas the high priest that ultimately ushers in the death of the Sadducees for all time.  For with the destruction of Jerusalem that would come in 70 AD, so went the Sadducees from history.  These events should be enough to make us pause to consider Jesus' words over Jerusalem, which we read in Saturday's reading.  Jesus said, "If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes."   It would seem that the Sadducees, not understanding the Scriptures or the power of God, do not know what makes for the peace of Jerusalem, whose name means "foundation of peace."   Their pragmatic politics will not be enough to maintain the peace of Jerusalem, nor indeed in future the well-being and stability of their own people.  Let us consider for our own times what it means when our own material focus blinds us to the greater truths of God, even the spiritual reality at work in our own lives.  For Christ asks us to consider the Scriptures and the power of God, even His promise of life abundantly -- not as that which simply concerns us after our lives in this world, but as that which is also a part of us, as we participate in the life of God in which we're held, "for all live to Him."  If the things of Christ are the things that make for our peace, then let us focus all the more deeply on His word and teachings, and where He leads us, even now.  That would mean especially the life of the kingdom of God in whom "we live and move and have our being" (see Acts 17:25-28).