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 scribes, who by now seek ways to seize Jesus, watched Him 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."  This question comes from the Sadducees, who, as the Gospel text tells us, did not believe that there was a resurrection.  Neither did they believe in the existence of angels.  For them, life was what they had on earth.  As a party, they held only to the first five books of the Old Testament, the Pentateuch or Torah, the Law of Moses.  They formed a sort of aristocratic landowning class around Jerusalem, and as members of the high priestly caste held many important offices in the temple, exerting much control.  After the Siege of Jerusalem, they disappeared as a party or class entirely.  They imagine the resurrection to simply be a continuation of earthly life.

 

 Jesus answered and said to them, "The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage.  But those who are counted worthy to attain that age, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; nor can they die anymore, for they are equal to the angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.  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.  Here Christ confirms that there will indeed be a resurrection, but not of the kind the Sadducees imagine in their question posed to Christ.  They imagine it to be a continuation of earthly life, including earthly marriage, and so therefore mock this doctrine with an absurd scenario.  But, as Jesus says to them in St. Matthew's Gospel, they are ignorant of the Scriptures, which reveal a complete transfiguration of life in the resurrection, and makes such an earthly question irrelevant.  Moreover, neither do they 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.

 

 In our secular lives, which for most of us in the West means we live in a very secular world and environment, it's tempting to believe that we can simply discount anything "supernatural" and be very comfortable.  Perhaps this is helpful if we are to believe that this world is all there is, for it means that the contest of life is simply about winning at something, regardless of what it is, and gaining what we want in a material sense.  That might be money and other material goods that make us a success.  It could mean having a large extended family we count as our own, or part of the clan we belong to.  It might mean that we focus on politics of some sort, and our goal -- and the yardstick of our behavior and beliefs in life -- is to conform to a set of political or social commitments.  Perhaps a secular life for us means that we focus in on academic or intellectual achievements, or possible creative purpose is found in the arts.  Whatever path we choose in this secular sense, it remains "earthly" and without the need for spiritual or supernatural existence or acknowledgement.  But faith in God, and especially if we're to put our faith in the Scriptures of the Bible, asks us for something more.  It asks us to acknowledge something more that is beyond this world -- not excluding it, but very much including it.  Faith in God asks us for a holistic sense of creation, of the cosmos, which includes realms and existences that are, for want of better language to describe it, supernatural.  That is, a concept that creation includes realms which are multiple in dimension, but also include who we are and our own lives.  Moreover, there are layers to the existence of the supernatural.  Our concept of God as Creator means there is a something that pre-existed the creation of all we know, including supernatural beings such as angels.  This is the image of the reality of the resurrection, even as we also are earthly creatures, fully embodied as creations of God.  Into this life steps even Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the Trinity and Son of God, who chooses voluntarily not only to become one of us, but also to experience human death and Resurrection.  So essential to our understanding of our faith and our lives is this story, that without it, we do not understand quite where we are, who we are, or what we are to be about.  For so much of this story depends upon the "supernatural," on Christ's experience of death, and His liberation of souls in hades, defeat of the devil and death, and Resurrection as almighty Lord who will someday return in judgment and to a transfigured new heaven and new earth (Revelation 2:11).  But, in their question posed to Jesus about the resurrection, all of these things are lost on the Sadducees.  They see only what they see, and imagine in that context that resurrection is nonsensical, and so pose this question without understanding.  Christ corrects them both by referring to the Scriptures they don't acknowledge, but also to the power of God (as He states in St. Matthew's text), of which they are also ignorant.  Stripping away all recognition of life beyond this world might make life seem simpler, for then there is no concern about what is unknown in this sense.  But to do so is to severely limit our lives to only what we have in this world, to the death we experience which will eventually come, and to nothing beyond that.  Moreover, an effective acknowledgement of spiritual life means that we participate in something much greater than we are, that we are known by a Creator who has created us in love and whom we can come to know through faith.  Beauty and mystery in life take on meaning and form, and develop as part of our own faith and awareness of who we are -- even when we are defeated, or alone, or trampled upon by worldly standards of life.  Let us consider the resurrection Christ describes, in which human beings are equal to the angels and sons of God, if we are sons of the resurrection (sons, meaning heirs, regardless of  gender).  Perhaps more importantly, Jesus teaches us the doctrine of life, in which all live to God, including Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, all generations of the righteous, of those who love God, where there is no time or space to divide us in this great cloud of witnesses (Hebrews 12:1).  Modern science speaks of time as dimension, of space as continuum, of existences where matter appears and reappears, of life shaped by expectations, even consciousness.  Faith has taught us that all of this is possible, that nothing is impossible with God.  Let us measure our lives by what is real and true, and has stood the test of time, and hearts that seek the truth and meaning of life.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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 the parable of the Wicked Vinedressers 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.  The Sadducees imagine that the concept of resurrection frames an extension of earthly life, but they are mistaken.  Jesus explains that there is no earthly marriage in the resurrection, for 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.  Moreover, the Sadducees do not comprehend the Scriptures, for in the burning bush passage (Exodus 3:1-6) it's indicated that Abraham and his sons are alive in God, even though they are physically dead.  My study Bible adds 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 were a wealthy landowning class, who formed a kind of aristocracy around Jerusalem.  They did not believe in the resurrection, nor in angels, but followed only the first five books of Scripture; that is, the Pentateuch, or Torah.  Thus, in some sense, their question here reflects their perspective.  We could even note the importance of worldly inheritance and authority in the question.  As their faith was limited to the Scriptures containing the Law of Moses, we see also the importance of Moses' command regarding offspring.  But they rejected the oral traditions of the Pharisees, and the prophets and historical writings as authoritative.  They formed the inherited priestly caste, especially the high priests, and thus assumed many roles within the temple.  They were also favorable to compromise with the Romans.  Thus, their question to Jesus frames a worldly perspective, without the understanding of a life beyond this world in which existence is not the same as we understand it and live it.  It's in a sense ironic that in it is in Jesus' answer to this particular question, and to these particular men, we receive a great teaching about the resurrection, and the life of the resurrection.  Jesus teaches us that first of all, those in the resurrection are the ones who are counted worthy to attain that age.  By that "age," Jesus means a different era of time, not the present age in which we live.  So the first thing Christ indicates is that the resurrection is for those counted worthy of that life.  Jesus explains clearly that in this age, marriage such as we know it does not exist.  Moreover, those who dwell in this age cannot die anymore, for they are equal to the angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.  So, we're given a picture of immortality, and a role, perhaps, which is in some way equal to the angels.  This gives us a picture of a kind of realization of potentials inherent within human beings for a different, and changed, role in the whole perspective of creation itself.  Jesus describes this as equal to the angels, which perhaps gives us the sense of something akin to the angels but not replacing them or their roles.  To be sons of God and sons of the resurrection is in some sense to be perhaps something "like" the angels, and equal to the angels as Jesus says.  But these terms indicate offspring, and heirs; that is, to be both inheritors and products of this special status of those counted worthy.  They indicate a rebirth into something new, and changed, with characteristics that make for a different and new life for those who come into it.  Jesus gives us these intriguing hints, in response to the Sadducees, indicating for all of us that there are hints that were always there in the Scriptures, if one  knows how to read them and to understand them, to see into them.  For all of these things -- for the attainment of the resurrection, for that new life in that new age, for the understanding of the Kingdom which Christ invites us into, to be "sons" of the resurrection and of God -- we need the spiritual eyes and ears to perceive what is there, already hidden in the ancient Scriptures.  Jesus will continually call people to such spiritual sight and hearing, echoing the words from Isaiah, "Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive" (Isaiah 6:9).  Jeremiah echoes the same call to those who cannot perceive, "Hear this, O foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear" (Jeremiah 5:21).  God keeps calling us to this new and resurrected life, the life of the age to come, one in which there is a role for humanity equal to the angels, immortal life, and one prepared for us by Christ who ascended with His human flesh and bearing the scars of the Crucifixion.  For what does He prepare us?  We can but take this glimmer, and follow the path He set out for us to get us there, to make us sons of the resurrection, and sons of God.  "For He is not the God of the dead but of the living, for all live to Him." 

 

 

 

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven

 

 And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him.  Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying:

"Blessed are the poor in spirit,

For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn,

For they shall be comforted.

Blessed are the meek,

For they shall inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

For they shall be filled.

Blessed are the merciful, 

For they shall obtain mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart,

For they shall see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers,

For they shall be called sons of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake,

For theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

 

- Matthew 5:1–10 

 

On Saturday, we read that Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.  Then He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men."  They immediately left their nets and followed Him.  Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets.  He called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.  And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.  Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them.  Great multitudes followed Him -- from Galilee, and from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan. 

 

And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him.  Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying:  My study Bible informs us that in the Old Testament, there were only a select few who were chosen to hear God directly (see Exodus 19:3-13).  Here, God Incarnate speaks to the multitudes face to face.  But here, God Incarnate speaks to the multitudes face to face.  Here Jesus will give us the Sermon on the Mount, over the following two chapters of St. Matthew's Gospel.  According to my study Bible, the mountain is a place where divine action enters human history, the place where God chooses to reveal God to human beings (Matthew 17:1; Genesis 22:2; Exodus 3:1, 19:2; 1 Kings 18:20).  To be seated is the traditional Jewish position for teaching with authority (this tradition is still evident in the Church with the Bishop's chair).  Some early Christian preachers, such as St. John Chrysostom, sat while the people stood.  That Matthew tells us Jesus opened his mouth emphasizes that this teaching is "one-way."  In other words, Christ has come to speak with authority (Matthew 7:29), and the disciples (and we, of course) are there not to discuss or to debate, but to listen.  At the Transfiguration, the Father's voice will say to the disciples present, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!" (Matthew 17:5).

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."  In Greek, this word translated as blessed indicates a kind of contentment.  My study Bible suggests that it indicates heavenly, spiritual exaltation rather than earthly happiness or prosperity.  It describes properties or graces extended by God in response to faithfulness.   In Hebrew, "poor" means both the materially poor, and the faithful among God's people, my study Bible says.  So the poor in spirit, it notes, are those who have the heart of the poor, the same attitude as the poor, and are totally dependent upon God.  

"Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted."  My study Bible tells us that those who mourn are the ones who sorrow over the sufferings of this life (Matthew 9:23), the sufferings of others (John 11:35), the state of the world (Luke 19:41), and also their own sins (Luke 7:36-38).  All of those who mourn in these ways are comforted by the power of God -- both in this world and in the age to come.  Holy sorrow, we are told, is a part of repentance, conversion, and virtuous action.  It is the firstfruit, my study Bible adds, of infinite joy.  This is to be distinguished from ungodly sorrow, a sadness that leads to despair (see 2 Corinthians 7:10).   

"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth."  My study Bible describes meekness as used here by Jesus to mean an attitude of being content with both honor and dishonor.  It says it's an imitation of Christ, who said, "Learn from Me, for I am gentle [meek] and lowly in heart" (Matthew 11:29).  The meek are God-controlled and have mastery over their passions, especially anger.  This is not passive weakness, as one might imagine from a more material perspective, but rather it is strength which is directed and under control.  In the letter to the Philippians, St. Paul writes, "I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need" (Philippians 4:12).  My study Bible adds that the earth that the meek will inherit is not power or possession in this world, but the new earth, which is everlasting (Revelation 21:1).  

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled."  Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness are the one who see the presence of God and God's Kingdom as the most important thing in life, according to my study Bible.  They have what my study Bible calls a desperate craving for what is right before God; this is compared here to a starving person's craving for food (see Matthew 6:33).  "As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God" (Psalm 42:1).  

"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy."   My study Bible describes mercy as love set in motion, expressed in action.  God shows mercy upon us in taking our sufferings, to grant us the Kingdom; and this sets us free from captivity to the evil one.  So, therefore, in view of God's mercy to all, we are in turn expected to be, like God, merciful to all.  

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."  My study Bible explains that "pure" means unmixed with anything else.  So, the pure in heart are those completely devoted to the worship and service of God, and accept no compromises.  With the aid of the Holy Spirit, it notes, those who achieve purity practice all virtue, have no conscious evil in themselves, and they live in temperance.  This level of spirituality is attained by few, but everyone may strive for it.  When the soul's only desire is God, my study Bible explains, and a person holds to this desire, then that person will indeed see God everywhere.  

 

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God."  As Christ is the source of peace, He finds no price sufficient for peace other than shedding His own blood.  In this sacrificial sense of the "food" of the Eucharist He gives us, we find Him revealed as the Reconciler, the Prince of peace (Isaiah 9:5; Ephesians 2:14-16).  The Holy Spirit gives peace to those who imitate Christ, my study Bible notes.  So, therefore, peacemakers share God's peace with those who are around them, imitating Christ's sacrificial love and participating in His work.  So, through God's grace, peacemakers become sons of God themselves. 

"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."  My study Bible tells us that children of God uphold truth, refuse to compromise with the ways of the world and they give themselves to no other (Matthew 6:24, 33; see 1 Corinthians 6:19-20).  Similarly to Jesus, it notes, these will be persecuted for righteousness' sake (see John 15:18-20).   Christ's kingdom is the crown which awaits the righteousness.  

In today's reading, we can note the various elements of sacrifice named in these Beatitudes, or blessings of the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 4:17).  These blessings are qualities of life that pertain to the Kingdom and our participation in it; they are ways in which our lives are built up with the particular blessings of God, linked to God's grace for us.  (There is, by the way, another important Greek word often translated as to "bless," but it means to praise.)   If we look at these Beatitudes, we see first of all Jesus naming the poor in spirit as those who are indeed blessed.  In our modern cultural context, particularly perhaps in Western countries, we can look at the word "poor" and wonder how we can associate this with the colloquial understanding of blessing.  But this type of disconnection is exemplary, because it tells us of an adjustment necessary in our understanding.  This sense of the Kingdom is a different set of values, a different way to see things, and asks us to understand something profound and true.  My study Bible, as noted above, gives us the sense of poor within the context of Jewish spiritual history, as those who are utterly dependent upon God.  But in that kind of poverty, that sense of dependency upon God, there is a great reward:  the kingdom of heaven.  To be "poor in spirit" then, does not necessarily mean being materially impoverished, but it does indicate a great shifting of values, where treasure is something different from sheer material accumulation in life.  What becomes most precious is our communion with God, and this in turn defines how we see life.  Jesus goes on to speak of mourning, which follows a sense of loss -- so it is another kind of indication of sacrifice.  But what is mourned is a way of life, a way of being, that is so much less than the comfort of God.  It implies, similarly to the phrase "poor in spirit," that we enter into a different state of seeing; our sins don't make us happy, the suffering of others becomes something we share, and we seek a different life -- that of the kingdom of heaven, a different way to live in this world.  To be meek in a worldly sense is often to suffer or to undergo the seeming loss or sacrifice of not gaining by conquering or "lording it over" others.    But here Jesus says it is these, and the implication seems to be of endurance, who will inherit the earth.  If we hunger and thirst, it doesn't sound like something appealing.  But note that this is a hunger and a thirst for righteousness, and we will be blessed by being filled with that for which we hunger and thirst, the righteousness of reconciliation with God, walking in faithfulness.  To be merciful in some way implies we give something up, we don't exact perfect "justice" in the sense of an eye for an eye.  But we receive mercy in return, which is priceless.  To be pure in heart takes effort.  We are born into a world that surrounds us with faulty thinking, sinful behavior, imperfect understanding, with desires that tempt us and form our perspective in all kinds of ways.  But to become pure in heart is a way of following God on a journey toward something, weeding out the things that get in the way of our pursuit, casting off the things that adulterate the heart.  It is a lifetime journey, but the reward is the most tremendous sight any human being could behold.  To see God is something unthinkable in any other way, impossible otherwise.  To be a peacemaker is difficult; it may require the sacrifice not only of not getting our own way, so to speak, but of learning to reconcile, and the creative effort it takes to do so respectably and with dignity.  But to be sons of God (both male and female, as inheritors) is an honor far beyond any other.  Finally we have what is clearly a kind of sacrifice indicated:  "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."  Imagine being persecuted for righteousness' sake.  One is doing the right thing, and by the standards of God, no less -- and yet one is persecuted.  This is clearly indicative of the martyrs who would come, but also includes anyone who has suffered any form of persecution for righteousness' sake.  It's a sacrifice of comfort, acceptance, social standing and any possible number of things, but for righteousness' sake.  That is, for doing or supporting what is truly right and just in the sight of God, for being faithful to God.  What this leads us to believe is something Jesus affirms elsewhere, that to be a part of the kingdom of heaven is to be blessed beyond all known measure.  Jesus says of John the Baptist, "Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he" (Matthew 11:11).  This is truly a high standard indeed!  If we are to understand sacrifice properly, we have to understand its true meaning here.  No sacrifice is without benefit.  A sacrifice in the ancient world was one which was a communal meal.  In some sense, then, Jesus is teaching us that any of the potential things we forego in order to participate in this kingdom return to us blessings far beyond the value we know, and that to make these kinds of "sacrifices" as described here is to participate in the ultimate blessing, the kingdom of heaven.  Moreover, even on the individual level, none of this is lost or unknown to God, to Christ who loves us:  "And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward" (Matthew 10:12).  In each of the ways Jesus speaks of about what it is to be blessed in this way of the kingdom of heaven, whatever suffering or "doing without" which is implied here is all by way of a kind of investment.  The rewards reaped are far greater than what we cast off or forego.  In the same sense should we think of Christ's sacrifice for all:  to destroy death itself would be to have those whom He loves with Him for an eternity, to offer us the eternal life that is in Him.  May we value what He offers to us as highly as He values us.

 

 

 

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven

 

 And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him.  Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying:

    "Blessed are the poor in spirit,

    For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

    Blessed are those who mourn,

    For they shall be comforted.

    Blessed are the meek,

    For they shall inherit the earth.

    Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

    For they shall be filled.

    Blessed are the merciful,

    For they shall obtain mercy.

    Blessed are the pure in heart, 

    For they shall see God.

    Blessed are the peacemakers,

    For they shall be called sons of God.

    Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake,

     For theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

- Matthew 5:1-10 

 

Yesterday we read that Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.  Then He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men."  They immediately left their nets and followed Him.  Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets.  He called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.  And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of disease among the people.  Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them.  Great multitudes followed Him -- from Galilee, and from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan.   

 And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him.  Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying:. . .  In the Old Testament, my study Bible tells us, there are only a select few who were chosen to hear God directly (see Exodus 19:3-13).  Here, god Incarnate speaks to the multitudes face to face.  The mountain, my study Bible explains, is a place where divine action enters human history.  It is the place in which God reveals God to man (Matthew 17:1; Genesis 22:2; Exodus 3:1, 19:2; 1 Kings 18:20).  The traditional Jewish position for teaching with authority is to do so seated.  Some early Christian preachers, such as St. John Chrysostom, sat while the people stood.  Matthew mentions that Jesus opened His mouth to emphasize that this teaching goes "one-way."  That is, that Jesus has come to speak with authority (Matthew 7:29), and the disciples are there not in order to discuss or to debate, but to listen.  

 

 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."  Blessed in this context is an indication of a heavenly, spiritual exaltation, rather than earthly happiness or prosperity, my study Bible explains.  The material things commonly called blessings are not what is emphasized here in Christ's teaching of the Beatitudes.  In Hebrew, the word for "poor" can mean both the materially poor, and also the faithful among God's people.  Those who are poor in spirit are those who have the heart of the poor.  That is, the same attitude as the poor, who are totally dependent upon God.  

"Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted."  Those who mourn are those who sorrow over the sufferings of this life (Matthew 9:23), the sufferings of others (John 11:35), the state of the world (Luke 19:41), and their own sins (Luke 7:36-38).  All of these, my study Bible tells us, are comforted by the power of God both in this world and in the age to come.  Holy sorrow is also part of repentance, conversion, and virtuous action.  It is the firstfruit of the joy of God.  This kind of sorrow must be distinguished (discerned) from ungodly sorrow, which is sadness that leads to despair (see 2 Corinthains 7:10).  

"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth."  My study Bible comments that meekness is an attitude of being content with both honor and dishonor.  This is an imitation of Christ, who said, "Learn from Me, for I am gentle [meek] and lowly in heart" (Matthew 11:29).  The meek are God-controlled and they have mastery over their passions, most particularly anger.  Meekness, my study Bible continues, is not passive weakness, but it is strength which is directed and under control.  The earth that the meek will inherit is not power or possession in this world, but rather the new earth, which is everlasting (Revelation 21:1).  

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled."  Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness see the presence of God and God's Kingdom as the most important thing in life.  That is, they have a desperate craving for what is right before God, which my study Bible says is comparable to a starving person's craving for food (see Matthew 6:33).  

"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy."  What is mercy?  My study Bible describes it as love set in motion, expressed in action.  God's mercy in Christ, who took our sufferings on Himself in order to grant us His Kingdom, sets us free from captivity to the evil one. In view of God's mercy to all, we in turn are to be merciful to all.  

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."  To be "pure" means to be unmixed, unadulterated with anything else.  Those who are pure in heart, therefore, are completely devoted to the worship and service of God and accept no compromises.  With the aid of the Holy Spirit, those who achieve this type of purity practice all virtue, they have no conscious evil in themselves, and they live in temperance.  My study Bible explains that this level of spirituality is attained by few, but all people may strive for it. When the soul's only desire is God, it notes, and a person's will holds to this desire, then that person will indeed see God everywhere.  

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God."   As Christ is the source of peace, He found no price sufficient for peace other than shedding His own blood.  This kind of peace means reconciliation to God.  Therefore, in so doing, Christ reveals Himself to us as the Reconciler, the Prince of peace (Isaiah 9:6; Ephesians 2:14-16).  My study Bible adds that the Holy Spirit gives peace to those who imitate Christ.  so, therefore, peacemakers share God's peace with those around them, imitating Christ's sacrificial love and participating in His work.  By God's grace, then, peacemakers become sons of God themselves.  

 

"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."  Children of God are those who uphold truth, who refuse to compromise with the ways of the world, and who give themselves to no other (Matthew 6:24, 33; see 1 Corinthians 6:19-20).  Like Jesus, my study Bible notes, these will be persecuted for righteousness' sake (see John 15:18-20).  Christ's kingdom is that crown which awaits the righteous.

Today's reading gives us what are called the Beatitudes.  A beatitude is defined as a "supreme blessedness" according to the Oxford English Dictionary.  That is, in this case, a kind of blessedness that passes an ordinary worldly or earthly understanding.  This is not about accumulating worldly goods, nor counting up our good fortune, even seemingly immaterial things like how many friends we have or how lucky we are to have good family members.  This kind of blessedness is a heavenly blessedness here on earth.  It is a blessedness that surpasses worldly experience and surroundings, and is conferred through the blessings of the kingdom of heaven, which is with us, among us, and within us (Luke 17:20-21).  These blessings confer a state of blessedness upon believers who participate in the kingdom of God even in this world through Christ and the blessedness He brings to us through all that He has done, through His Incarnation, the sacraments of the Church, the giving of the Holy Spirit, and all the ways in which we inherit this Kingdom which He has brought to us, and in which we may participate, even becoming sons and heirs, and more -- even to the extent that we also may become "like Him, like God."  Through this blessedness that Jesus describes, we are those who, through faith and faithful living, may fulfill our creation in that God created humankind in God's own image and likeness.  Jesus Christ is the supreme example brought into the world as Son incarnate as a human being in order to prepare the way for us.  His humanity was itself touched by divinity so that we in turn may also become "sons" -- meaning both heirs, and also to become "like God" -- through His life, suffering, death, and Resurrection.  This is what the Cross means for us, and we should consider these Beatitudes, these blessings Jesus lays out for us, as the supreme crowning blessings of Christianity.  Let us remember, even in the midst of these blessings we are to ponder in Christ's great Sermon on the Mount, that -- as we are wont to remind our readers on this blog -- "we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12).  What this implies is that the blessings of the kingdom of God, the Beatitudes which Christ has just named in the beginning of this great sermon, are the weapons which act against these unseen enemies as described by St. Paul.  We seek this blessedness in order to secure a Kingdom in this world which is not of this world, but which may nonetheless dwell within the world, and particularly within and among us who are faithful to it.  Many of my readers understand the persecutions that faithful Christians undergo, in particular at this time in the world, building upon those of the past.  Especially in the time of distress, we are to remember what we are to be about.  We seek this Kingdom in which we seek Christ's peace, reconciliation with God, a remembrance of our living prayer each day in our lives, our reliance upon God to give us the perspective of true peace within ourselves, so that we may see clearly where we are going and where Christ leads us in our worldly lives.  For even when our worldly life is in turmoil, it is to God's blessings we must turn at all times.  Let us count these blessings even in the midst of persecutions, and let us find His way for us now.   Note that this list of Beatitudes that Jesus gives us to start this sermon begin and end with a reminder of our belonging to the kingdom of heaven.  He starts with the poor in spirit, and finishes with those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake -- and to both He adds, "For theirs is the kingdom of heaven."  Let us remember to Whom we belong at all times, no matter what comes in our lives, where we are, who we are with, for God is present to us and with us always.

 

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). 

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven

 

 And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him.  Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying:

"Blessed are the poor in spirit,

For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn,

For they shall be comforted.

Blessed are the meek,

For they shall inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

For they shall be filled.

Blessed are the merciful,

For they shall obtain mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart,

For they shall see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers,

For they shall be called sons of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake,

For theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

 

- Matthew 5:1-10 

 

On Saturday we read that Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.  Then He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men."  They immediately left their nets and followed Him.  Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets.  He called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.  And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.  Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them.  Great multitudes followed Him -- from Galilee, and from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan.   

And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him.  Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying: . . .  My study Bible comments here that in the Old Testament, only a select few were chosen to hear God directly (see Exodus 19:3-13).  Here, God Incarnate speaks to the multitudes face to face.  Throughout the Bible, and therefore with Jesus in the Gospels, the mountain is a place where divine action enters human history, the place where God reveals God to human beings (Matthew 17:1, Genesis 22:2; Exodus 3:1, 19:2, 1 Kings 18:20).  To be seated is the traditional Jewish position for teaching with authority, my study Bible explains.  There are some early Christian preachers (for an example, St. John Chrysostom) who sat while the people stood.  Matthew says that Jesus opened his mouth to emphasize that this teaching is directed "one way," that Jesus is speaking with authority (Matthew 7:29), and the disciples are there not to discuss or debate, but rather to listen (see Luke 6:47-48, John 14:23-24).

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."  To be blessed in this context does not indicate a conventional, worldly sense of material blessing.  My study Bible comments that the blessedness of the Beatitudes indicates heavenly, spiritual exaltation, rather than earthly happiness of prosperity.  In Hebrew, to be "poor" means both the materially poor, and also the faithful among God's people.  The poor in spirit are those who have the heart of the poor, the same attitude as the poor, and are totally dependent upon God.  

"Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted."  Those who mourn are those who sorrow over the sufferings of this life (Matthew 9:23), the sufferings of others (John 11:35), the state of the world (Luke 19:41), and their own sins (Luke 7:36-38), my study Bible says.  All of these are comforted by the power of God, both in this world and in the age to come.  

 

 "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth."  My study Bible explains that meekness is an attitude of being content with both honor and dishonor.  It is an imitation of Christ, who said, "Learn from Me, for I am gentle [meek] and lowly in heart" (Matthew 11:29).  The meek, it says, are God-controlled and have mastery over their passions, particularly anger.  Meekness is not, therefore, a passive weakness, but rather strength which is directed and under control.  The earth which will be inherited by the meek is not power or possession in this world, but rather the new earth, which is everlasting (Revelation 21:1).  

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled."  Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness are those who see the presence of God and God's Kingdom as the most essential thing in life.  As my study Bible puts it, they have a desperate craving for what is right before God, which is comparable to a starving person's craving for food (see Matthew 6:33). 

"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy."  Mercy is love which is set in motion and expressed in action, according to my study Bible.  This is similar to hearing and doing Christ's commandments, given in the spirit of the compassion of God.  My study Bible says that God's mercy in taking our sufferings on Himself in order to grant His Kingdom sets us free from captivity to the evil one.  In view of God's mercy to all, we are in turn to be merciful to all.  

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."  In the context of Scripture, "pure" here means to be unmixed with anything else.  Therefore, the pure in heart, my study Bible explains, are those completely devoted to the worship and service of God, and accept no compromises.  With the help of the Holy Spirit, those who achieve this kind of purity practice all virtue, have no conscious evil in themselves, and live in temperance.  To be pure in this sense is to be of one essence from inside to out, such as a natural pearl of pure nacre.  This level of spirituality is attained by few, my study Bible says, but all may strive for it.  When the soul's only desire is God, and a person's will holds to this desire, it explains, then that person will indeed see God everywhere.  (See also Romans 14:14.)

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God."  As Christ is the source of peace, my study Bible explains, He found no price sufficient for peace other than shedding His own blood.  In so doing, He reveals Himself to us as the Reconciler, the Prince of peace (Isaiah 9:6; Ephesians 2:14-16).  Moreover, it says, the Holy Spirit gives peace to those who imitate Christ.  Therefore, peacemakers also share God's peace with others around them; they imitate Christ's sacrificial love and they participate in Christ's work.  By God's grace, peacemakers become sons of God themselves ("sons of God" meaning heirs, and therefore including all children of God, with no distinction of gender).

"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."  My study Bible says that children of God are those who uphold truth, refuse to compromise with the ways of the world, and give themselves to no other (Matthew 6:24, 33; see 1 Corinthians 6:19-20).  Like Christ Himself, these will be persecuted for righteousness' sake (see John 15:28-30).  Christ's kingdom is the crown which awaits the righteous.  

Today's reading begins the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5 - 7), in which Jesus introduces the kind of life those who seek the Kingdom of God must lead.  Another title for Christ's homily, as suggested by my study Bible, might be "The Righteousness of the Kingdom."  The Sermon on the Mount contains several sections; today's reading begins the first, called the Beatitudes (or "blessings").  Here in today's reading, and continuing in tomorrow's, Jesus describes the joys of true discipleship, the blessed way of life.  My study Bible comments that the people of God await the rewards Jesus promises in this section.  So who are the people of God?   In a modern world, it seems increasingly difficult to appreciate the blessedness of which Christ preaches in the Sermon on the Mount.  Our spectacle-oriented life, as succored through media, and especially through images which suggest what "real life" and "the good life" are all about, does not give us an accompanying sense of what it means to be blessed in the ways of which Christ speaks here.  If anything, what all too often accompanies the images we get as consumers of media is an associated anxiety over what we might have that others don't (and vice versa), or trying to catch up with the things we think we need.  All too often, what is left out of this picture of life that we consume daily are the intangibles, and the sense of emptiness or isolation such a focus can produce is cured only through a willingness to find His way -- a focus on something of an entirely different nature, something that is linked to our souls, and to the humility and values which Christ teaches.  So let us look at these blessings which we're taught in today's reading, and focus on them.  What does it mean to be poor in spirit, to have the mind of the poor -- or, in other words, to become totally dependent upon God for our lives and our sense of ourselves?  Suppose we were to cultivate such an aspect of the self deliberately as identity?  What is it to mourn the things that afflict the world, our own sins and those of others?  Suppose we were to see loss of this kind of blessedness, and the things that are destructive to such values, as a severe affliction to our whole world (which includes ourselves)?  To be meek is to put our desires in harness first to the love of God, to understand that we serve something with our choices, and to take a look at the world and make the choice for ourselves that it is God's love we want to serve with our lives:  this is what it is to be the meek who shall inherit the earth.  To hunger and thirst for righteousness is something more than a simple formula for what might be called "social justice," whittled down to a simple slogan that benefits someone.  To hunger and thirst for righteousness is the willingness to live God's righteousness, to seek that light which shines in the soul, to see the icon of God which we're meant to be and live that way in our relationships to sense of ourselves, our communities, and the world.  To be merciful is to learn that simple earthly justice does not satisfy the fullness of what true justice is, for true justice knows the heart, and what possible choices mean, which paths we might seek down the road, which only God's love knows for certain.  The pure in heart are those for whom this kind of devotion is everything, a lifetime study, a work that begins with humility and the willingness and discipline to cast out what makes them stumble internally, even to struggle with temptation, including things that sound good but fail to deliver that in truth.  To be a peacemaker is the capacity to rise above a simple sense of material justice, to serve a greater good than an infantile version of "good versus evil" which fails to understand complexities and depths of human life, and fails to work for that which nurtures abundant life (John 10:10).  Finally, to be persecuted for righteousness' sake is to be willing to risk the hatred or envy of others for the sake of the love of God, the ways that God calls upon us to live.  These are the intangible, beautiful, blessed things of Christ which the Beatitudes introduce to us here in this start to the Sermon on the Mount, in which Jesus expounds on what it is to live the life to which He calls all of us.  Let us remember His mercy and His love, for these are the things that truly make life blessed and worth living.  We have been given the tools of intelligence and creativity, as human beings we are capable of so much -- but without the blessedness of which Christ speaks those things are so frequently turned to destructive ends and means toward toil and suffering, even if seemingly well-intentioned.  Let us, then, seek first this blessedness of Christ's Kingdom to feed the deep needs which even a whole world can't fill.

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 the parable of the Wicked Vinedressers 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.   

 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."   The Sadducees were members of a high priestly class, for the most part what we might call an aristocratic group of landowners around Jerusalem.  It was their responsibility to maintain the temple.  They believed only in what is called the Written Torah.  Unlike the Pharisees, they rejected the oral traditions built up around the Law.  Neither did they hold with the concept of resurrection and of angelic spirits.  As a class, they disappeared after the Siege of Jerusalem in 70 AD.  From their perspective, we can see how questions of inheritance and a very "earthly" notion of marriage,  in combination with their rejection of the immortality of the soul and the resurrection, would bring about this strange question as a test for Jesus.

Jesus answered and said to them, "The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage.  But those who are counted worthy to attain that age, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; nor can they die anymore, for they are equal to the angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.  But even Moses showed in the burning bush passage that the dead are raised, when he called the Lord 'the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.'  For He is not the God of the dead but of the living, for all live to Him."  Then some of the scribes answered and said, "Teacher, You have spoken well."  But after that they dared not question Him anymore.  Jesus explains that there will be a resurrection, but not of the sort the Sadducees imagine.  Their question is framed in a very earthly idea of life, including marriage, but Jesus explains that in the resurrection, the change of life is total.  The understanding of the resurrection is contained in the Scriptures, as Moses calls the Lord the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, indicating all live in God although they lived at different times on earth and are physically dead -- which they fail to understand.  Therefore the Scriptures themselves contain an indication of the total transfiguration of life after death.  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.  

How can we understand the total transfiguration of life that occurs in the resurrection?  Moreover, this concept is linked to our understanding of the communion of saints, with whom we pray even as we pray in this world?  How can we understand our liturgical worship, and that the angels worship with us even as we worship in our churches?  This "mystical" (if you will) aspect of our faith remains with us, and is undeniable, although so many today would also seek to reject it.  Perhaps, like the Sadducees in some sense, our material focus is so great in our present modern world that it is much easier to dismiss notions of life existing beyond this world, in ways we can't "scientifically" test and prod or prove, and so it is just simpler to reject it.  Nevertheless, Christ's teaching here form part and parcel of our faith.  They remain alive to us today, even as in our worship services we pray for those who have passed, we commemorate saints of the past, we hold memorials for our loved ones, and all are contained and, indeed, alive in the reality of the Church.  When one venerates an icon, it is not a form of worship but rather a form of prayer; we invoke the prayers of the saints, our loved ones, and angels even as we would ask a fellow believer to pray with us or for us.  St. Paul calls the communion of saints the "great cloud of witnesses" in Hebrews 12:1-2.  For his contemporaries, he invokes this great cloud of saints as those who help us, as believers in the world, to run our race of faith, to persist to the end and to endure despite the hardships, even as Christ endured the Cross.  This is a very real and concrete testimony of help -- an active and present help for our faith coming from this communion of saints, connected to believers always through prayer.  In our worship services, we evoke the great song heard by Isaiah in the worship of the angels and the Lord's glory filled the temple:  "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!" (see Isaiah 6:1-4).  When we hear this hymn in our own churches, we are to understand that this heavenly worship continues with us and among us, and that the vision of Isaiah was for all, at all times, and remains present with us.  The point is that, contrary to the assumptions of the Sadducees, and of people today who'd prefer that we leave out anything that can't be explained through Aristotelian level science, our faith is one that remains couched in mystery, or the mystical, however one would want to put it.  We interact with beings we don't see with our five senses, we worship together with those who have passed and who yet "live to God."  The whole of the kingdom of heaven remains a mystery, in the sense that it is unknowable in its entirety, as God also remains unknowable in God's entirety.  And yet this Kingdom lives among us and within us, and is populated by those with whom we pray, both saints and angels uncountable, in their entirety unknowable and unnameable.  It is just the way Jesus described the work of the Spirit to Nicodemus, even as He attempted to teach the mystery of Holy Baptism:  "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit" (John 3:8).  What we mustn't forget is that our faith is one that will always include mystery; we participate in the life of Christ, and even that is not explicable and knowable in its entirety.  We walk and pray and persist in our faith with the great cloud of witnesses which is beyond our grasp, and yet we "know" all of this, for it dwells even in our hearts.  We live and pray and "run our race" (as St. Paul puts it) completely in participation with all of these things, with God who is at once unknowable and yet closer than our hearts.  We live with this mystery, we "seek the Lord, in the hope that [we] might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:27-28).   Life opens to us in all dimensions; we are sadly lost if we leave out the mystical, and the reality of this Kingdom which is even still present to us, and alive.

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 preached the parable of the Wicked Vinedressers, 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.   Jesus confirms that there will be a resurrection, but that the Sadducees are mistaken in their assumptions about what that means, and even the nature of eternal life.   The party of the Sadducees was a wealthy landowning aristocratic class from around Jerusalem.  After the Siege of Jerusalem this party would no longer exist.  Through this question, they reveal their assumptions about the doctrine of revelation, in which they did not believe -- that it was a continuation of earthly life, including earthly marriage.  Therefore they mock it with an absurd scenario.  But, as Jesus says, they are ignorant of the Scriptures, which reveal a complete transfiguration of life in the resurrection.  My study bible says this makes their earthly question (and others like it) irrelevant.  In addition, they don't understand how Abraham and his sons can be alive in God even if they are physically dead.  My study bible also remarks that it is the clear teaching of Christ that the souls of the faithful who has left this life are sustained before the face of God in anticipation of the final joy of the resurrection.

What is the resurrection going to be like?  I think that we can hardly imagine it, as Jesus tells us that life beyond this world entails a distinctive transfiguration, transformation, to another life of a completely different nature.  Jesus says they 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.   What that seems to indicate to me is that all relationships are changed; the very nature of "family" no longer applies.  Blood relation and connection through social contracts are not that which creates communion.  Rather, those "who are counted worthy to attain that age" (as Jesus puts it) are equal to the angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.  Therefore our very nature changes should we be among those who are counted worthy to attain that age.  How can we have any idea what this means?  So much of what we base relatedness or relationship upon will shift with such a tremendous change.  Surely, a life lived in an awareness of the embrace of the love of God will go a long ways to prepare us for this communion.  Christ calls us to an awareness of a type of relatedness while we yet live in this world that reflects the communion He brings to us, the awareness of how faith creates "right-relatedness" -- which is another term for righteousness.  His encouragement in yesterday's reading (above) to "render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's" becomes a beginning step, a practice, an initiation and encouragement to begin to enter into the kind of life of the resurrection that He describes, in which how we relate to others, and to the world around us, is determined by this identity in faith.  It is His entire mission, somehow, and the message of the gospel He brings, to initiate us into life in this Kingdom, even as it may be lived -- within us and among us -- while we are still here in this world.  The Sadducees are clearly quite worldly-minded.  Their Scriptures were the Torah (or the Pentateuch), the first five books of what we call the Old Testament.   Therefore their faith is for the most part based purely in the Law.  Their place among the ruling council is determined through property and lineage, especially regarding the maintenance of the temple.  No wonder it is hard for them to grasp the concept of resurrection, and easy to ridicule.  But if we pay attention to Christ, we are all asked to "go there," at least to begin to understand ourselves in the sense in which we may participate in the resurrection, in this eternal life Christ teaches about.  On what do we base our identity?  How are we sons of God?   If so, what is it that we stand to inherit?  Moreover, how do our lives reflect that truth of the communion established through this Kingdom and this nature we might live out in the world?  Does it change the ways that relate to the world and to one another -- even the nature of how we treat property?  In this light, we are stewards of the created world, given to us by a gracious God in whose image and likeness we are to grow.  Therefore, questions concerning the nature of resurrection and eternal life are not that far from us, after all.  They concern our very nature, the core of identity we may wish to reconsider for ourselves, and more particularly, what we consider to be rooted in our faith and the love of God.  With so much emphasis on "family values" in our churches and in religious life of all stripes in the world, one would think that possibly better emphasis would be placed on the quality of those relationships we have -- and even just what constitutes family in a deeper sense.  If our identity is to be rooted in God who is love, then what does that say about who we truly are, and how we are related, or in communion, with one another?  Let us reconsider our own identities in light of Christ's teaching, and reorient our priorities.  Where is the devotion of our heart and soul and strength in this light, and how does that shape the basis of our point of view?  There is a lot to consider in Christ's answer, and also in the ignorance of the Sadducees who ask it.  Somehow their blindness to the end that is coming to their very identities is fitting as signal of their blindness to the eternal life of resurrection and what it means.  Let us learn for ourselves what it may mean to us, and our own blindness to what is, so that we may turn away from putting all our faith in the purely worldly.   That would include notions of family values that are only all about this world and exclude the fullness of our true nature.