God is not the God of the dead, but of the living

 

 The same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him and asked Him, saying:  "Teacher, Moses said that if a man dies, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother.  Now there were with us seven brothers.  The first died after he had married, and having no offspring, left his wife to his brother.  Likewise the second also, and the third, even to the seventh.  Last of all the woman died also.  Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had her."  Jesus answered and said to them, "You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God.  For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven.  But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'?  God is not the God of the dead, but of the living."  And when the multitudes heard this, they were astonished at His teaching.

 

- Matthew 22:23-33 

 

On Saturday we read that the Pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle Him in His talk. And they sent to Him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, "Teacher, we know that You are true, and teach the way of God in truth; nor do You care about anyone, for You do not regard the person of men. Tell us, therefore, what do You think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?"  But Jesus perceive their wickedness, and said, 'Why do you test Me, you hypcrites?  Show Me the tax money."  So they brought Him a denarius.  And He said to them, "Whose image and inscription is this?"  they said to Him, "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."  When they had heard these words, they marveled, and left Him and went their way.

 

  The same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him and asked Him, saying:  "Teacher, Moses said that if a man dies, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother.  Now there were with us seven brothers.  The first died after he had married, and having no offspring, left his wife to his brother.  Likewise the second also, and the third, even to the seventh.  Last of all the woman died also.  Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had her."  Jesus answered and said to them, "You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God.  For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven.  But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'?  God is not the God of the dead, but of the living."  And when the multitudes heard this, they were astonished at His teaching.  My study Bible comments here that Christ confirms there will be a resurrection, but not of the kind these Sadducees are imagining.  They consider the resurrection as a continuation of earthly life (including earthly marriage), and so they mock this doctrine with an absurd scenario.  But they're ignorant of the Scriptures, which reveal a complete transformation of life in the resurrection, and therefore make their questions irrelevant.  Moreover, they also fail to understand how Abraham and his sons can be alive in God even when they are physically dead.  It's the clear teaching of Christ, my study Bible adds, that the souls of the faithful who have left this life are sustained before the face of God in anticipation of the final joy of the resurrection. 

 

 We first of all might look at this scene in today's reading as one that exemplifies for us a type of common problem.  That is, the problem with many who criticize Christianity without first understanding its basic principles, or having only a very fragmented or uninformed knowledge about it.  Jesus here uses the elements of faith to express to these men, who form an important class of the ruling parties in Jerusalem, that they know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God.   For, through the power of God, "in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven."  Moreover, the Scriptures clearly reveal this in God's word to Moses, when God revealed Himself to Moses in the mystery of the burning bush, saying, "I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob" (Exodus 3:6).  So, from the story in today's Gospel passage, we may see quite clearly how even those nominally of our faith may remain ignorant of the Scriptures and the power of God.  For it takes not simply a smattering of knowledge of Scripture nor even of a basic sense of what our faith declares to truly have insight and understanding of Christ and what He offers to us.  We read Scripture in a particular way, and we come to know the power of God also through a particular kind of understanding and of faith.  We might first need to understand that the Sadducees formed a particular ruling class among those who led the temple and formed the ruling Council of the Jews.  According to my study Bible, they were a type of aristocratic body, forming a high priestly and landowning class, which controlled the temple and the internal political affairs of the Jews.  For their Scriptures they held only the first five books of what we call the Old Testament; that is, the Torah or Pentateuch.  In contrast to the Pharisees, they rejected belief in angels, the immortality of the soul, and the resurrection of the dead.  After the destruction of the city and temple in the Siege of Jerusalem (in AD 70), they disappeared as a class.  So what we might first conjecture from both this scenario they present to Jesus, and also from what we know of their beliefs, they had a very materialistic approach to faith and their vision of responsibility to God.  That is, their focus was the Law and their inherited duties, positions, and properties.  They also were politically prudent, and and adapted to the presence of the Romans.  Today we live in a very secular culture, where it is possible to have a bare understanding of the values of Christian faith, and criticize on a mistaken or highly uninformed basis.  It's entirely possible to have Scripture quoted and distorted without this understanding or insight that comes from tradition and spiritual or theological understanding.  If we fail to accept the spiritual basis for much of Christ's and the Church's teachings, we will fail to understand Scripture and the Gospels.  Perhaps most powerfully, we will miss the transfiguration of the Cross, the power of Christ's Resurrection, and what it means to be offered eternal life.  Many people separate beliefs into a kind of "two-story world," to use a phrase borrowed from Fr. Stephen Freeman (who writes this blog), and so fail to understand the interconnection of spiritual reality and worldly reality, which is in fact the point of the mysteries and sacraments of faith, and to which the life of Christ points us.  Perhaps the most important focus we take from today's reading is how we can be distracted from true spiritual or theological understanding by an exclusive focus on rules, material life, and the power inherent in position and property.  Whatever way a materialistic perspective forms, with an exclusive focus only on the worldly and to the exclusion of the reality of spiritual life pointed to in Scripture, we will be missing a lot and lacking in understanding of our faith.  Neither will we have insight into Christ's teachings. As we head toward the celebration of Christ's Nativity, let consider the ways in which nominal belief in Christ can still fall short of the depth of beauty and the transformational power of faith, and the reality of the soul.  Wherever we are in our spiritual lives, let us seek to welcome Christ more truly into our hearts, where He can open our eyes more deeply to what is real and what matters for our lives.  For God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.  We need to consider what that really means, and all the "life" that Christ offers to fill the here and now.

 

 

 

 

Are you not therefore mistaken, because you do not know the Scriptures nor the power of God?

 

 Then they sent to Him some of the Pharisees and the Herodians, to catch Him in His words.  When they had come, they said to Him, "Teacher, we know that You are true, and care about no one; for You do not regard the person of men, but teach the way of God in truth.  Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?  Shall we pay, or shall we not pay?"  But He, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, "Why do you test Me?  Bring Me a denarius that I may see it."  so they brought it.  And He said to them, "Whose image and inscription is this?"  They said to Him, "Caesar's."  And Jesus answered and said to them, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."  And they marveled at Him. 

 

Then some Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him; and they asked Him, saying:  "Teacher, Moses wrote to us that if a man's brother dies, and leaves his wife behind, and leaves no children, his brother should take his wife and raise up offspring for his brother.  Now there were seven brothers.  The first took a wife; and dying, he left no offspring.  And the second took her, and he died; nor did he leave any offspring.  And the third likewise.  So the seven had her and left no offspring.  And the third likewise.  So the seven had her and left no offspring.  Last of all the woman died also.  Therefore, in the resurrection, when they rise, whose wife will she be?  For all seven had her as wife."  Jesus answered and said to them, "Are you not therefore mistaken, because you do not know the Scriptures nor the power of God?  For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.  But concerning the dead, that they rise, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the burning bush passage, how God spoke to him, saying, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'?  He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living.  You are therefore greatly mistaken."

 

- Mark 12:13–27 

 

Yesterday we read that Jesus and the disciples came again to Jerusalem.  And as He was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to Him.  And they said to Him, "By what authority are You doing these things?  And who gave You this authority to do these things?"  But Jesus answered and said to them, "I also will ask you one question; then answer Me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things:  The baptism of John -- was it from heaven or from men?  Answer Me."  And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' He will say, 'Why then did you not believe him?'  But if we say, 'From men'" -- they feared the people, for all counted John to have been a prophet indeed.  So they answered and said to Jesus, "We do not know."  And Jesus answered and said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things." Then He began to speak to them in parables:  "A men planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a place for the wine vat and built a tower.  And he leased it to vinedressers and went into a far country.  Now at vintage-time he sent a servant to the vinedressers, that he might receive some of the fruit of the vineyard from the vinedressers.  And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed.  Again he sent them another servant, and at him they threw stones, wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully treated.  And again he sent another, and him they killed; and many others, beating some and killing some.  Therefore still having one son, his beloved, he also sent him to them last, saying, 'They will respect my son.'  But those vinedressers said among themselves, 'This is the heir.  Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.'  So they took him and killed him and cast him out of the vineyard.  Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do?  He will come and destroy the vinedressers, and give the vineyard to others.  Have you not even read this Scripture: 'The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This was the LORD'S doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes'?" And they sought to lay hands on Him, but feared the multitude, for they knew He had spoken the parable against them.  So they left Him and went away.

 

  Then they sent to Him some of the Pharisees and the Herodians, to catch Him in His words.  When they had come, they said to Him, "Teacher, we know that You are true, and care about no one; for You do not regard the person of men, but teach the way of God in truth.  Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?  Shall we pay, or shall we not pay?"  But He, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, "Why do you test Me?  Bring Me a denarius that I may see it."  so they brought it.  And He said to them, "Whose image and inscription is this?"  They said to Him, "Caesar's."  And Jesus answered and said to them, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."  And they marveled at Him.  My study Bible explains that the Herodians were Jewish political supporters of the ruling house of Herod the Great and therefore willing servants of Rome.  This question is design to entrap Jesus in either way He might answer.  A "yes" answer would turn the people against Him, for whom the Roman taxation and occupation were onerous.  A "no" would bring a charge of treason by the Romans.  But Christ's answer defeats their cunning, and shows that a believer can render the state its due while serving God (Romans 13:1-7).  My study Bible explains that as the coin bears the image of the emperor and is properly paid to him, so each person bears the image of God and therefore belongs to God.  Conflict arises only when the state demands that which is contrary to God.  We should keep in mind also that our lives aren't divided into the secular and the sacred -- God is Lord over all of life, including the secular.  Paying taxes and other civil duties aren't detrimental to holiness.  

 

 Then some Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him; and they asked Him, saying:  "Teacher, Moses wrote to us that if a man's brother dies, and leaves his wife behind, and leaves no children, his brother should take his wife and raise up offspring for his brother.  Now there were seven brothers.  The first took a wife; and dying, he left no offspring.  And the second took her, and he died; nor did he leave any offspring.  And the third likewise.  So the seven had her and left no offspring.  And the third likewise.  So the seven had her and left no offspring.  Last of all the woman died also.  Therefore, in the resurrection, when they rise, whose wife will she be?  For all seven had her as wife."  Jesus answered and said to them, "Are you not therefore mistaken, because you do not know the Scriptures nor the power of God?  For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.  But concerning the dead, that they rise, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the burning bush passage, how God spoke to him, saying, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'?  He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living.  You are therefore greatly mistaken."  The Sadducees represent landowners and other wealthy families in Jerusalem.  My study Bible explains that they held many high offices in Israel, and so controlled the temple and the Sanhedrin.  They were different from the Pharisees in that they were politically prudent and adapted to the presence of the Romans.  According to my study Bible, the Sadducees interpreted the law even more rigidly than the Pharisees and differed from them also in that they rejected belief in angels and in the resurrection from the dead at the end of the age.  The Sadducees completely disappeared after the destruction of Jerusalem.  

 

 In today's reading, we get both the question from the pro-Roman Herodians and one from the landowning, aristocratic Sadducees.  In both of these testing inquiries of Jesus, we observe a materialistic perspective, and one that we might say is not very spiritual.  That is, the first question is designed to trap Jesus around questions of money and taxes.  Jesus' response focuses in upon the coin or currency itself, as if to shape a perspective on a clear vision of what it means to pay and owe taxes to the state -- and what our duties are to God.  The contrast regarding which authority has domain over which area becomes the crux to Jesus' answer.  Whose image is printed on the coin, minted by the realm of Caesar?  So to return the taxes to Caesar is fitting.  But what belong to God?  And where is God's image?  Our whole lives are under the domain of God, and we are made in God's image, therefore our primary loyalty is to God.  We perhaps should keep in mind that these coins weren't allowed in the temple as they bore the image of Caesar, who was worshiped as a god (see Jesus' cleansing of the temple, including the tables of the money changers, in Monday's reading).  The Sadducees. landowning aristocrats, so to speak, of the Jewish society, with inherited positions and control of the temple, also posit a question with a rather materialistic perspective.  Because they didn't believe in resurrection, nor did their Scriptures include anything but the Torah or Law (the first five books of the Old Testament), they lack a spiritual orientation (neither did they believe in the existence of angels) and general perspective on the reality of the spiritual realm.  Thus, Jesus says to them, "You do not know the Scriptures nor the power of God," and they are therefore mistaken.  He explains of those in the resurrection, "For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.  But concerning the dead, that they rise, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the burning bush passage, how God spoke to him, saying, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'?  He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living.  You are therefore greatly mistaken." So their materialist perspective renders them mute and blind, in a sense, to the true reality of life as it exists in the fuller picture of God's creation, including the angels, the spiritual realm, the resurrection -- and the transformation possible for human beings in the resurrection.  Their blindness extends to their understanding of Scriptures, for they do not understand the meaning of God's words to Moses at the burning bush:  "I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob."   Additionally, we're given to understand, through Christ's words, that where the Sadducees with their materialist perspective see only death, the true God proclaims life:  "He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living.  You are therefore greatly mistaken."  In our modern age, it's quite tempting to adopt such a "down to earth" (so to speak) "materialist" position.  We can just accept the rules as they're taught to us through Scripture, follow them, and leave every other question to either unknowing, or as in this case, scoffing or ridiculing.  But Christ's fuller picture shows us the power of God, and the depth of meaning of the Scriptures, for it shows us the true fullness of life -- and that life is not limited simply to a worldly perspective.  Our real job in life isn't just to collect fortunes and do well materially; neither is it simply to produce offspring or expand the material or political power and property we have in life.  Our job is faith, and that includes the fullness of life as abundance we can't necessarily see, but nevertheless must keep in mind.  For if there is a resurrection, and if God is truly the God of the living, including Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all who come before and after us, if angels do live and work among us, if Christ is who He claims He is, then we are all in a world of unimaginable beauty and transcendent goodness -- which calls us to live according to that greater sense of God's kingdom.  In the course of the past two readings, we've had opportunity to discuss prayer and seeking God's will in Monday's reading and commentary (as in the Lord's Prayer, we pray to our Father in heaven, "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven"), and also the topic of prophets and prophecy in yesterday's reading and commentary.  These men who question Jesus, the Herodians and the Sadducees, understand neither, as they are bereft of these teachings through their exclusion of them.  It was Herod Antipas who had John the Baptist beheaded at his wife's request and through his own extravagant oath at a party; the Sadducees wish to retain their power and places but will be scattered at the Siege of Jerusalem.  Perhaps we should consider, in terms of Jesus' fuller picture of life, what this does to add to our own choices and considerations in our lives, how we are blessed, and how we must see all that we do in this perspective and through the lens of the life of the Kingdom.  For all that we do has a greater impact and importance than we think; we walk even among the great cloud of witnesses who belong to it all and among whom all live to God.

 

 

 

 

 

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, after Jesus told a parable against them, 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 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.  My study Bible explains that the Sadducees were members of the high-priestly and landowning class around Jerusalem, forming a type of aristocracy.  They controlled the temple and internal political affairs of the Jews, holding many high offices.  They denied the resurrection of the dead and the existence of angels, and had no messianic hope beyond earthly life.  They interpreted the Law even more strictly than did the Pharisees.  My study Bible comments that here Christ confirms that there will be a resurrection.  But it is not of the sort that the Sadducees imagine.  They think the resurrection is meant to be a continuation of earthly life (including earthly marriage), and so they mock this doctrine with an absurd scenario.  But, as Jesus says, they are ignorant of the Scriptures, which reveal a complete transfiguration of life in the resurrection, rendering their questions 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 says 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.

Today's passage gives us a bit of a glimpse into the state of religious life at the time of Christ.  Note that it includes at the conclusion of Christ's response to the Sadducees that the scribes tell Him, "Teacher, You have spoken well."  It's good to understand the difference between the different classes in the temple, such as the Pharisees and Sadducees, for their emphasis and outlook differed from one another, and there were disputes over the principles of the Law and interpretation of Scripture, even among the Pharisees themselves.  So Judaism and the state of religious practice and understanding was not a monolith, but one in which there was vigorous debate over the issues of the time (notably, divorce was one of those subjects of debate).  The Sadducees, as a landowning aristocratic class, and in contrast to the Pharisees, adapted to the presence of the Romans.  Their focus was much more "earthly," indeed.  So this question about the man, his wife, and seven brothers comes in that context -- and we can see its "earthly" emphasis, and concerns with inheritance and, essentially, ownership.  There is also the matter of Scriptural understanding and interpretation.  In Matthew's version of this scenario, Jesus' first criticism of the Sadducees is about their lack of spiritual and Scriptural knowledge.  He says to them, "You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God" (Matthew 22:29).  So, in this understanding, we can look at Christ's response in yesterday's reading (above), in which He refuses to be pinned down to choose between two sides of a dilemma, and see something similar happening here.  Jesus not only offers more insight about resurrection, but He also brilliantly shows a proper interpretation of Scripture, referring to the declaration of God to Moses, "I am the God of your father—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob" (see Exodus 3:1-5, 15).  In the declaration of God's name (I AM) also is the present tense understanding of existence in the resurrection, "For He is not the God of the dead but of the living, for all live to Him." It is this understanding of interpreting and reading the Scripture which the scribes praise with admiration when they say, "Teacher, You have spoken well."  It's an important lesson to understand the diversity that even existed in the temple at this time, in which many questions were debated and considered (even, if we look at literature of the period, the notion that God may have consisted of more than one Person).  But, like those in yesterday's reading (see above) who sought to trick Him said in their attempt at flattery, Jesus is one who says and teaches rightly, and does not show personal favoritism, but teaches the way of God in truth, and we are meant to emulate Him.  It doesn't matter what "sides" there are, Jesus does not give in to a dilemma, to following a political party of one sort or another, to twisting religious truth to match one side or another in a debate, or to curry favor with either Sadducee or Pharisee or scribe or anyone else.  Jesus tells the truth, and He won't skimp on His mission of bringing the gospel to the people, and the spiritual truth to the world -- and that's what He does.  Whether He is telling the Sadducees that they don't know the Scripture, or giving a concise and brilliant exegesis of what it means that God "is" the God of the living, He tells the truth, and His goal is not challenging the Sadducees nor impressing the scribes.  He tells the truth when it is the time to do so, and He says what is needed.  So let us attempt in our lives to put God first, and in that context, say and do what we need to say and do, and leave off what is unnecessary.  Let's not look for unnecessary debates, or missions that seem to have nothing to do with where God would call us, or with even being the person God calls us to be.  Let us learn to be like Him.  For what other reason did He come into this world but to teach us to do so?  Let us learn from Him, and be like Him.  If we observe carefully, Jesus is surrounded by people who feel they have a lot to lose, and so do not want to change anything.  The Sadducees hold tightly to their own inherited wealth and positions and cannot understand Scripture nor its interpretation as Christ shows them, but also the Pharisees and scribes -- who have more perspectives in common with Jesus than the others do -- cling to their own places and their hypocrisy, and Jesus will reserve His strongest criticism for them.  But Jesus asks us to resist such impulses and hold fast to what is more important, to our faith and to loving God, and follow that where it leads us, follow Him.  This applies to us today as much as it did to the ones to whom Jesus speaks, who would face such terrible losses within a generation.  Let us learn from Him, as Jesus teaches Himself, that God "is not the God of the dead but of the living, for all live to Him."  Let us be like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and live our faith, here and now.  Let us be those for whom our God is the God of the living and not the dead, for of such is the kingdom of God, and we live to Him.

 

 

 

 

God is not the God of the dead, but of the living

 

 The same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him and asked Him, saying:  "Teacher, Moses said that if a man dies, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother.  Now there were with us seven brothers.  The first died after he had married, and having no offspring, left his wife to his brother.  Likewise the second also, and the third, even to the seventh.  Last of all the woman died also.  Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be?  For they all had her."  Jesus answered and said to them, "You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God.  For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven.  But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'?  God is not the God of the dead, but of the living."   And when the multitudes heard this, they were astonished at His teaching.

But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together.  Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?"  Jesus said to him, "'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.'  This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like it:  'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'  On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."

- Matthew 22:23-40 

 

Yesterday we read that the Pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle Jesus in His talk.  Jesus is now in Jerusalem and it is the final week of His earthly life.  The Pharisees sent to Him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, "Teacher, we know that You are true, and teach the way of God in truth; nor do You care about anyone, for You do not regard the person of men.  Tell us, therefore, what do You think?  Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?"  But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, "Why do you test Me, you hypocrites?  Show Me the tax money."  So they brought Him a denarius.  And He said to them, "Whose image and inscription is this?"  They said to Him, "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."  When they had heard these words, they marveled, and left Him and went their way.

 

  The same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him and asked Him, saying:  "Teacher, Moses said that if a man dies, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother.  Now there were with us seven brothers.  The first died after he had married, and having no offspring, left his wife to his brother.  Likewise the second also, and the third, even to the seventh.  Last of all the woman died also.  Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be?  For they all had her."  Jesus answered and said to them, "You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God.  For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven.  But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'?  God is not the God of the dead, but of the living."   And when the multitudes heard this, they were astonished at His teaching.  Jesus tells that Sadducees, "You are mistaken."  The Sadducees were an aristocratic party in Jerusalem; they were wealthy landowners who had inherited roles in maintaining the temple, as members of the high-priestly and landowning class who controlled the temple and the internal political affairs of the Jews.  They held only to the Torah, the written Law (the first five Books of the Bible).  In contrast to the Pharisees, they rejected oral tradition.   They believed neither in the resurrection nor in spirits like angels.  In His response to them, Jesus confirms that there will be a resurrection, but not of the nature they are imagining.  The Sadducees consider the concept of resurrection to mean a continuation of earthly life (including earthly marriage), so they mock the doctrine with an absurd scenario.  But, as Jesus tells them, they are ignorant of the Scriptures, which reveal a complete transfiguration of life in the resurrection, which makes their earthly-oriented question irrelevant.  They also fail to understand how Abraham and his sons can be alive in God even if they are physically dead.  My study Bible says 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.  

 

But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together.  Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?"  Jesus said to him, "'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.'  This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like it:  'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'  On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."  My study Bible explains that the Pharisees had found 613 commandments in the Scriptures, and they debated about which one was central.  So the question to Jesus is a significant one and pertinent to their concerns and focus.  Here Jesus sets forth the first and the second commandment, which together constitute the grand summary of the Law.  Although this lawyer has come with malice to test Christ, we know from St. Mark that this man is converted by Jesus' answer (Mark 12:28-34).  Additionally, my study Bible comments that the second commandment cited by Jesus must be understood as it is written:  You shall love your neighbor as yourself -- or more, expressly, "as being yourself."  It's frequently misinterpreted to be understood, "You shall love your neighbor as you love yourself," but this takes away the force of the statement.  How much we love ourselves is not the standard set by Christ.  We are called to love our neighbor as being of the same nature as we are, as being created in God's image and likeness as we are.  Patristic teaching holds that we find our true self in loving our neighbor; that is, these commandments taken together give us a sense of how the love of God is expressed in love of neighbor, and is inseparable from love in action in our lives.

I was recently participating in a prayer group in which we focused in part on a section St. Paul's letter to the Romans (Romans 6:3-11).  In that part of his letter, St. Paul writes, "Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life" (verses 3-4).  In other words, St. Paul writes that baptism is both baptism into the death and the resurrection of Christ; so we take on that new life into which He was resurrected.  And St. Paul's understanding of baptism pertains deeply to today's passage.  Jesus tries to give insight into the Scriptures to the Sadducees, who reject any Scripture beyond the Torah (or Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible).  He tells them about this resurrected life, and tries to explain the condition of those in this life.  It is images like the one He describes here when He says, "they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven" that contribute to an ideal of monastic life, which is often called the "angelic life."  This is so precisely because, as St. Paul says, we are baptized both into His earthly death, and also His resurrected life.  We take on the qualities of that resurrection through baptism and the work of the Holy Spirit, and through our faith.  That is, aspects of that resurrectional life become part of the fruits of the Spirit.  Of course, the qualities of that life are many and varied beyond our imaginations and understanding, but this is part of the experience of the Church and its myriad saints and faithful.  It is this life into which we are baptized that helps to make it possible for us to break destructive habits, to take on hopes we don't think are possible, to accept that although we might find ourselves in very difficult circumstances, there is a way in which we might transcend them and in which God can help to transfigure them and fill them with meanings we could not discern otherwise.  These are all aspects of that resurrectional life into which we're baptized and in which we might participate -- even highly tangentially and partially -- while we yet live in this world as faithful.  And so Christ also explains to the Sadducees, just as would inspire St. Paul to his own understanding, that God is the God of the living and not the God of the dead.  In Luke's version of this passage, Jesus says, "For He is not the God of the dead but of the living, for all live to Him" (Luke 20:38; my italics added for emphasis).  That "for all live to Him" include us, we the living and the faithful, and this also informs St. Paul's declaration in the letter to the Hebrews that "we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses" (see Hebrews 12:1-3).    (After writing about the witnesses to faith Abraham and his descendants in chapter 11, St. Paul draws those to whom he writes into the understanding of their continuation in and with Christ's flock and the promise of Christ.)  And so, Jesus speaks of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in today's passage as "the living," and will draw all those in the resurrectional life -- into which we are also baptized thanks to Christ's Passion -- so that the Sadducees and others who listen in the temple, as well as all those who have read ever since including us, will start to ponder just what that life is which He promises and about which He speaks in reference to the Kingdom of God.  When we think about our own faith, we should also remember that additional phrase added in St. Luke's Gospel, "for all live to Him."  For insofar as St. Paul writes, we are baptized into His death and His resurrection and we participate -- through the Cross -- in that newness of life described here.  It permeates in moments of darkness with light that shines there, even if the darkness cannot take it in (John 1:5).

 

 

You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God

 

 The same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him and asked Him, saying:  "Teacher, Moses said that if a man dies, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother.  Now there were with us seven brothers.  The first died after he had married, and having no offspring, left his wife to his brother.  Likewise the second also, and the third, even to the seventh.  Last of all the woman died also.  Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be?  For they all had her."  Jesus answered and said to them, "You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God.  For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven.  But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'?  God is not the God of the dead, but of the living."  And when the multitude heard this, they were astonished at His teaching.

 

- Matthew 22:23-33 

 

Yesterday we read that, after their confrontation with Jesus in the Temple, the Pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle Him in His talk.  And they sent to Him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, "Teacher, we know that You are true, and teach the way of God in truth; nor do You care about anyone, for You do not regard the person of men.  Tell us, therefore, what do You think?  Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?"  But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, "Why do you test Me, you hypocrites?  Show Me the tax money."  So they brought Him a denarius.  And He said to them, "Whose image and inscription is this?"  They said to Him, "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."  When they had heard these words, they marveled, and left Him and went their way.

 

  The same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him and asked Him, saying:  "Teacher, Moses said that if a man dies, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother.  Now there were with us seven brothers.  The first died after he had married, and having no offspring, left his wife to his brother.  Likewise the second also, and the third, even to the seventh.  Last of all the woman died also.  Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be?  For they all had her."  Jesus answered and said to them, "You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God.  For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven.  But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'?  God is not the God of the dead, but of the living."  And when the multitude heard this, they were astonished at His teaching.  My study Bible comments that Christ confirms there will be a resurrection, but not the sort the Sadducees imagine.  The Sadducees were a landowning aristocratic class, who did not hold with a doctrine of resurrection.  They followed strictly the written law in the first five books of the Bible (that is, the Torah), and not the oral teaching and interpretations followed by the Pharisees.  They imagine the resurrection to be a continuation of earthly life, including earthly marriage -- and thereby mock the doctrine with an absurd scenario.  But they are ignorant of the Scriptures, as Christ says, which reveal a complete transfiguration of life in the resurrection, and make such earthly questions irrelevant.  Additionally, they fail to understand how Abraham and his sons can be alive in God even if they are physically dead.  My study Bible states 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 Sadducees as a class would disappear after the Siege of Jerusalem.  As they were a property owning class, also holding many high offices in the society and the priesthood, this is perhaps not very surprising.  But one can't help but wonder if it is also connected to their failure to grasp the notion of resurrection, an insight into the Scriptures which Jesus reveals here.  They were exceptionally prudent and adapted to Roman rule.  But the failure of imagination, a steadfast literal interpretation of the Books of the Law, seem to imply a strong focus on earthly life, and this is evidenced in their question which is focused on concepts of inheritance -- a topic which was very important to the Sadducees as a class and even historically in religious disputes over the Law.  Jesus seems to teach us in today's reading that it is essential to understand Scripture not as a kind of textbook, but as a type of literature with its own kind of language, conveying more than the absolute literal forms on the page, and asking us for insight, grasping our comprehension in ways that do not necessarily seem obvious.  Jesus tells them that they don't understand resurrection, because they neither know the Scriptures nor the power of God.  These are things that are not simply earthly concepts, but require us to use a spiritual imagination and insight to grasp.  Moreover, Christ gives us a taste of what it means to perceive the Scriptures with such insight and spiritual imagination or understanding, when He tells them, "But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'?  God is not the God of the dead, but of the living."  That is, in the very language of the Scripture, the words of God reportedly said to Moses (Exodus 3:6, 15) imply a timelessness that is a part of the resurrection, where those who have died in the world yet live to God.  Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob belonged to different generations, yet all live in the presence and reality of God.  And this is an example from Christ Himself as to how we need to read and understand Scripture.  The experience of earthly life alone cannot supply us with the necessary insight for things we need to understand in our capacity for spiritual life and the nurturing of the soul, the turning to the higher things that take us forward and guide us into God's will for us.  God calls us not just to earthly concepts of justice but beyond that to mercy, to a right-relatedness that is not necessarily deserved, and to a life beyond this world.  Jesus teaches us to pray not that we impose our worldly understanding on God, but that God's will be done on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10).  Contrary to the Sadducees, who did not believe in the resurrection, nor by most reports even the existence of angels, Christ points us to the saints who live and by whom we are surrounded (the "great cloud of witnesses" to which St. Paul refers in Hebrews 12:1), and from the beginning, the Church has understood that we also invoke the prayers of the saints as intercession, and we pray and worship together with the angels who worship in heaven, revealed in the vision of Isaiah (Isaiah 6:3) and also in the Revelation.  Christ taught us that "where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them" (Matthew 18:20).  Therefore we are to understand that the worldly life we live is permeated also with the spiritual, with the reality of heaven even in our midst, invoked in our prayers, witnessed by our faith, even revealed in worship.  A nominally successful worldly material life is not enough to teach us how to be successful faithful Christians nor to prepare us for the fullness of our faith.  For that we need more, we need the capacity to grasp the things that are given to us that are not simply material, but are necessary components for a deeper, richer life that fills the soul and can translate into a kind of order for the world in which our relatedness to all of creation, including to one another and to the blessings we have, is formed and shaped into something more than what is merely dictated by expedience or abstraction, but a substance of love that is present to us in the things that turn our minds and hearts to God.   There is an insight, and a fullness to life, that just isn't found elsewhere, a more full dimension to who we are and what we can be to which we are called.  Let us remember the disappearance of the Sadducees and consider how this might be related to a failure to hear and grasp the things that call us to a deeper life, which are not merely worldly or material, but which magnify our souls.  The material circumstances of the world and temporal life shift and change; there is one thing that anchors us midst the changes and helps us to transcend through them (Matthew 24:35).

 

 

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.

On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets

 The same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him and asked Him, saying:  "Teacher, Moses said that if a man dies, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother.  Now there were with us seven brothers.  The first died after he had married, and having no offspring, left his wife to his brother.  Likewise the second also, and the third, even to the seventh.  Last of all the woman died also.  Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be?  For they all had her."  Jesus answered and said to them, "You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God.  For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven.  But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'?  God is not the God of the dead, but of the living."  And when the multitude heard this, they were astonished at His teaching.

But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together.  Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?"  Jesus said to him, " 'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.'  This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like it:  'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'  On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."

- Matthew 22:23-40

Yesterday we read that, as Jesus disputed with the elders and chief priests in the temple, the Pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle Jesus in His talk.  And they sent to Him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, "Teacher, we know that You are true, and teach the way of God in truth; nor do You care about anyone, for You do not regard the person of men.  Tell us, therefore, what do You think?  Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?"  But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, "Why do you test Me, you hypocrites?  Show Me the tax money."  So they brought Him a denarius.  And He said to them, "Whose image and inscription is this?"  They said to Him, "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."  When they had heard these words, they marveled, and left Him and went their way.

 The same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him and asked Him, saying:  "Teacher, Moses said that if a man dies, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother.  Now there were with us seven brothers.  The first died after he had married, and having no offspring, left his wife to his brother.  Likewise the second also, and the third, even to the seventh.  Last of all the woman died also.  Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be?  For they all had her."  Jesus answered and said to them, "You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God.  For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven.  But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'?  God is not the God of the dead, but of the living."  And when the multitude heard this, they were astonished at His teaching.   My study bible comments here that Jesus affirms there will be a resurrection, but not of the nature that the Sadducees imagine here.  They consider the resurrection to be a continuation of earthly life (including earthly marriage), and therefore they mock the doctrine of resurrection with this absurd scenario and question.  But Jesus teaches that they are ignorant of the Scriptures, which reveal a total transfiguration of life in the resurrection, and render their "earthly" orientation irrelevant.  Additionally, they don't understand how Abraham and his sons can be living in God even if they're physically dead.  My study bible states that it is the clear teaching of Christ that the souls of those faithful who have passed from this world are "sustained before the face of God in anticipation of the final joy of the resurrection."

But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together.  Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?"  Jesus said to him, " 'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.'  This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like it:  'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'  On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."  My study bible comments that the Pharisees had found 613 commandments in the Scriptures, and that they debated about which one was central.  Actually, many of these questions posed to Christ in the temple are representative of questions strongly debated in Jesus' time, such as the issue of divorce, or the doctrine of resurrection.  Here, the Pharisees pose a question of central importance to their own practices.  Jesus answers with a first and second in rank of importance, and states that they constitute a grand summary of the Law (so both are necessary for understanding).  Although this lawyer has come with malice to test Christ, my study bible says, we do know from St. Mark's account of this story that the man is converted through Christ's answer (see Mark 12:28-34).   The second commandment, my study bible adds, needs to be understood as written:  You shall love your neighbor as yourself, meaning, "as being yourself."  Often it's misinterpreted to read "as you love yourself," but this is not the true force of the statement.

It's important to understand that the questions posed to Jesus are not considered to be trivial nor pointless; they are questions hotly debated in His time and reflect disputes over doctrine which were central to the concerns of these religious authorities and the ruling or governing bodies of the people and the temple.  Hence, we're not to take them lightly either.  On them will also hang Jesus' life and death, since several are designed simply to trap Him in order to make a case against Him.  In yesterday's reading, for example, when Jesus is asked about paying taxes to Caesar, a wrong answer could easily have Him put to death for promoting treason against Rome.  Nothing discussed here is taken lightly or without depth of consequences for Jesus, and even for Israel.  Therefore when we read these stories we should understand that Jesus knows full well He's on trial for His life when He answers; He has already several times avoided being put to death both in some sense "miraculously" for example in Luke's reporting of Jesus' rejection in His hometown of Nazareth (Luke 4:16-30) and also deliberately by avoiding direct conflict with the religious leaders for a time, such as when He withdraws to the Gentile region of Tyre and Sidon, made clear in Mark's version of Jesus' encounter with the Syro-Phoenician woman (Mark 7:24-30).  So when we read these stories, it's important to understand the great significance of what Jesus is saying.  His teaching will cost Him His life, and He's well aware of the fact that everything He says will count for the sake of posterity, just as 2,000 years later we read and learn from these stories in the Gospel.  So to give us the power of Resurrection before His death on the Cross, Jesus teaches about the revelation in Scripture (and the Sadducees' ignorance of those Scriptures, for they held only the Torah -- the first five books of the Bible -- to be essential).  This, in fact, is much closer to the positions of the Pharisees -- and so we should understand that yet again, when Jesus speaks and answers, He is putting Himself in the middle of important disputes among the powerful.  Jesus has no position of power except that the multitudes listen to Him and think Him to be a prophet, and so He courts danger all the time -- especially given the fickle nature of crowds.   So powerful is His teaching that He even wins over the lawyer from the Pharisees who questions Him about which commandment is greatest in the Law.  But let us note, interestingly, that once again Jesus holds onto His own authority in a subtly repeated way:  He does not answer the question as it is posed.  There are, in fact, two greatest commandments, one first and one second, but both go hand and in hand and cannot be separated one from the other; moreover, they sum up all the Law and the Prophets.   So powerful is His speaking that eventually He silences all those who approach with important questions.  They will have to find another way to trap Him and render Him worthy of the penalty of death; they won't be able to do so without false witnesses and lies.  In order to give us the truth, Jesus risks His life with every question and every answer.  None of these questions are trivial for His time and neither are they trivial for us.  People who have come after Christ have also risked their lives for faith in His word, for the preaching of these Gospels and the message contained therein.  What does it mean to you that the doctrine of eternal life, of a transfigured state after life in this world, has been given to us by Christ?  How is it meaningful to you that all live in Christ -- those who have passed as well as we who are living and present today in this world?  How is that important to you and why?  Does it make a difference that we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses, or that when we worship those witnesses, including uncountable numbers of angels, as well as Christ, the Father, and the Holy Spirit are present with us?   Christ gives us a teaching that indicates that there are no real barriers to life, and all is present in God, and with us.  And it is the same with the teaching of the two commandments:  one is not separable from the other, but everything begins with the love of God, for God is the source of everything good, and particularly of the love we can learn and expand so that we live through God's will in the right relation to all.  Jesus risks His life every moment in order to bring to us the doctrine that there is no real separation from God, and that in fact in God all divisions disappear:  we can love neighbor as if there is no division between us, we live together with the saints, and life is one in God's sustaining love.  Let us hold precious this doctrine, as it's been given to us at great cost by those to whom it was most dear.

You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven

Wedding at Cana.  Fresco, 14th century.  Serbian Orthodox Monastery of Visoki Decani, Kosovo

 The same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him and asked Him, saying:  "Teacher, Moses said that if a man dies, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother.  Now there were with us seven brothers.  The first died after he had married, and having no offspring, left his wife to his brother.  Likewise the second also, and the third, even to the seventh.  Last of all the woman died also.  Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be?  For they all had her."  Jesus answered and said to them, "You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God.  For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven.  But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, "I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'?  God is not the God of the dead, but of the living."  And when the multitudes heard this, they were astonished at His teaching. 

- Matthew 22:23-33

On Saturday we read that the Pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle Jesus in His talk in the temple at Jerusalem.  And they sent to Him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, "Teacher, we know that You are true, and teach the way of God in truth; nor do You care about anyone, for You do not regard the person of men.  Tell us, therefore, what do You think?  Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?"  But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, "Why do you test Me, you hypocrites?  Show Me the tax money."  So they brought Him a denarius.  And He said to them, "Whose image and inscription is this?"  They said to Him, "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."  When they had heard these words, they marveled, and left Him and went their way.

 The same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him and asked Him, saying:  "Teacher, Moses said that if a man dies, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother.  Now there were with us seven brothers.  The first died after he had married, and having no offspring, left his wife to his brother.  Likewise the second also, and the third, even to the seventh.  Last of all the woman died also.  Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be?  For they all had her."  Jesus answered and said to them, "You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God.  For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven.  But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, "I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'?  God is not the God of the dead, but of the living."  And when the multitudes heard this, they were astonished at His teaching.  My study bible say here that in this passage Christ confirms that there will be a resurrection, but it is not at all what the Sadducees are imagining.  There are some important things to understand for us in this passage.  First of all, the Sadducees consider that resurrection would be a continuation of earthly life (including earthly marriage), therefore they mock the doctrine with this absurd scenario.  But they are ignorant of the Scriptures, as Jesus says, which reveal a complete transfiguration of life in the resurrection, and makes their particular question irrelevant.  Moreover, they can't understand how Abraham and his sons can be alive in God, even if they are physically dead, thus Jesus says they do not know the power of God.  My study bible says 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.

Perhaps the most important thing we can take from Christ's response to the Sadducees is that God's power of life is so total that even the dead live in God, that God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.  In the power of God, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob all live, regardless of earthly time period in which they walked in this world, regardless of the generations to which each belonged.  Whatever the power of God and the power of life in God, all live outside of time and present with one another.  Moreover, Jesus teaches us that in the resurrection there is no reproduction, and additionally, there is no marriage -- they neither marry nor are given in marriage -- and so the entire organization of life as we know it is quite different.  The significance of this we must ponder, as well, in the context of Jesus' teachings on marriage, and that in the married couple, "the two shall become one flesh."  Therefore what Christ implies is that earthly marriage has an eternal character due to the power of God, but that the character of life is changed in the resurrection.  What we are given to understand is the extraordinary power of life in God; that the things which are temporal pass away, but that somehow life itself becomes magnified, more potent and powerful.  Life in God is without time as we know it, which implies that it is without the types of changes that occur with time as we understand life in this world.  This is why the call of repentance in earthly lives is so strong and powerfully emphasized in our faith; it is in this world that time brings its changes and adaptations, and thereby we are given periods and lessons for learning, teachings to adapt to, possibilities which repentance gives us before the eternal reality of the resurrection and a different sort of life.  Then we become, in Christ's words, like angels of God in heaven.  One may only stand and ponder what these words mean; surely Jesus suggests the aspect of that life that there is no more earthly marriage, but what else does this imply about what our lives are like?  Angels are beings of immense light and beauty, whose thoughts themselves carry the power of great beauty.  What then will we become, and what are we being prepared for by the words and teachings of Christ?  Surely we must come to understand that the great emphasis on materialism as an end in itself, and whatever that brings to us, is out of focus and balance.  We are given to know that we are called to something while still in this worldly life, a set of values which are eternal, a holiness which links us to the life of God which will carry over into the resurrection, the power of the Holy Spirit which permeates even our worldly lives, and certainly our prayer which also links the living and the dead -- or rather those who live in the power of God though they do not live in this world.  The Sadducees are those who placed great stock in their worldly lives, wealthy landowners who did not believe in the Resurrection and held only those first five books (the Pentateuch or Torah) as sacred, in contrast to the Pharisees.  They formed a kind of aristocratic class which disappeared after the Siege of Jerusalem.  Note that Christ says they know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God.  In Christ's words -- and possibly even in the disappearance of the Sadducees -- we can read something about the power of God and the enduring, overriding reality which permeates this world and establishes life in the next.  Regardless of the presence and power of the sheer material the world seems to present to us, the whole message of Christ's ministry is one of a revelation of God which endures and grows in its power and effect.  His greatest caution comes in the form of an absolute statement regarding the allegiance we choose in life, when He says, "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon" (Matthew 6:24).  There is a way to look at life and the world as purely material, and there is a way to look at life and the world as a place in which all things intersect, even our lives are held by God, our souls have weight and bearing, and the spirit interacts with all as one whole -- even in preparation for a continuation of life we know is to come.  All of it counts, all of it important; there is no part to be left out, and no part without life that is in God. In the icon, above, of the wedding at Cana, site of Christ's first sign in John's Gospel, we have displayed not only the eternal quality of marriage, but a number of other signs we can contemplate about God's life and presence.  The water turned to wine is a sign of God's extraordinary power of life and presence among us.  The communion between Mary and her Son present to us an image of intercession, the saints in heaven who continually pray on our behalf, and in particular Mary, the Theotokos or "God-bearer."  Let us consider what Christ's holiness is for, and the entire power and revelation of the Incarnation, as we go forward in this time of expectation in Advent.  Christ came that we might have life, and have it abundantly (John 10:10) -- and all of His teachings and presence reflect this. 

God is the not the God of the dead, but of the living

 The same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him and asked Him, saying:  "Teacher, Moses said that if a man dies, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother.  Now there were with us seven brothers.  The first died after he had married, and having no offspring, left his wife to his brother.  Likewise the second also, and the third, even to the seventh.  Last of all the woman died also.  Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be?  For they all had her."  Jesus answered and said to them, "You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God.  For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven.  But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'?  God is the not the God of the dead, but of the living."  And when the multitudes heard this, they were astonished at His teaching.

- Matthew 22:23-33

On Saturday, we read that the Pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle Jesus in His talk.  He is now in Jerusalem teaching daily in the temple. They sent to Him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, "Teacher, we know that You are true, and teach the way of God in truth; nor do You care about anyone, for You do not regard the person of men.  Tell us, therefore, what do You think?  Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?"  But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, "Why do you test Me, you hypocrites?  Show Me the tax money."  So they brought Him a denarius.  And He said to them, "Whose image and inscription is this?"  They said to Him, "Caesar's."  And He said to them, "Render therefore unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."  When they had heard these words, they marveled, and left Him and went their way.

The same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him and asked Him, saying:  "Teacher, Moses said that if a man dies, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother.  Now there were with us seven brothers.  The first died after he had married, and having no offspring, left his wife to his brother.  Likewise the second also, and the third, even to the seventh.  Last of all the woman died also.  Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be?  For they all had her."  Jesus answered and said to them, "You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God.  For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven.  But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'?  God is the not the God of the dead, but of the living."  And when the multitudes heard this, they were astonished at His teaching.  As the text explains, the Sadducees did not believe in resurrection or life after death.  They formed a landowning group and were a type of aristocracy, but completely disappeared as a party after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD.  In light of their beliefs, their question makes sense.  Jesus confirms that there will be a resurrection, but not the sort the Sadducees imagine.  They think the resurrection is just a continuation of earthly life, including earthly marriage, and so they're making fun of this absurd scenario, says my study bible.  But their understanding of Scripture is faulty and limited, because Scripture reveals a complete transfiguration of life in the resurrection, making their question irrelevant.  They also fail to understand how Abraham and his sons can be alive in God even if they are physically dead.  My study bible says, "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."

 God is the God of the living, says Jesus.  We have to really consider what this means, to be living.  Not only do all live in God, but God, we know, is the source of life itself.  Jesus' doctrine is called the "way of life" by His early followers.  And Jesus has promised us "life in abundance," as well as "rivers of living water."  What does all this mean, in the context of today's reading?  The Pharisees mock the doctrine of resurrection, but Jesus teaches them that they don't really know nor understand the Scriptures which speak of the nature of God and of those who are alive in God.  "I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob" is from Exodus 3:6, in which God called to Moses from the burning bush.  The phrase I AM gives us the key:  this is the Being that is being itself, life itself.  The bush that burns with a fire that is pure energy, that doesn't consume it, is another sign of pure life.  God tells Moses God's name:  I AM THAT I AM.  God is pure life, pure being.   To live in God therefore means an ontological reality that is something that adds life to us.  The present tense of all these sentences found in Exodus in the experience of the burning bush tells us of life also:  "I am" characterizes eternal life.  That "I am" the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob" gives us present tense, an eternal present, in which all who have lived -- no matter the generation -- are all eternally present in the reality of God.  This is where "life in abundance" comes in, and the sense in which Jesus conveys what resurrection really is and means.  Christ has come to give us a sense of this life, so that we may be born or "reborn" into it, and that it may be added unto us.  To be quickened into this life is also a way of being anointed by the Holy Spirit, as in baptism.  It is a transforming kind of life, one that adds the energies of grace to who we think we are, baptizing our lives into something new and greater, and giving us resources to draw upon for a future different from the past.  All of these things, in our lives in this world and beyond, become a part of the living reality of life in Christ.  They are a part of the reality of life in abundance, and the communion of saints upon whom we can call in prayer.  It's important that we understand the abundant quality of life as that which infuses our faith, and adds to our own experience of ourselves, helping us to find forbearance, patience, a joy that passes understanding, and other qualities that add to a life in abundance in the here and now, and create growth.  These are "spiritual fruits."  Marriage, in this picture, isn't just a material joining or contract between two people.  Rather, it's a God-ordained ministry of love, in which two people grow in learning love for one another, becoming "one flesh."  This is a spiritual component to our lives that reflects a heavenly reality and adds to what we understand of our own lives.  The beauty of His word teaches us how much more there is to who we are, revealing deep mysteries of true life.