Twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost
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Scripture |
Luke 20:27-39 27 Some Sadducees, those who say there is no resurrection, came to him 28 and asked him a question, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies, leaving a wife but no children, the man shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother. 29 Now there were seven brothers; the first married, and died childless; 30 then the second 31 and the third married her, and so in the same way all seven died childless. 32 Finally the woman also died. 33 In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had married her.” 34 Jesus said to them, “Those who belong to this age marry and are given in marriage; 35 but those who are considered worthy of a place in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. 36 Indeed they cannot die anymore, because they are like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection. 37 And the fact that the dead are raised Moses himself showed, in the story about the bush, where he speaks of the Lord as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. 38 Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive.” 39 Then some of the scribes answered, “Teacher, you have spoken well.” 40 For they no longer dared to ask him another question.
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Devotional |
Why have the Sadducees denied the resurrection? They have denied it because they supposed it a new, modern heresy; it was easier to prove it from comparatively recent book like Daniel (12:1-3) than from older ones, especially the five books of Moses. Or they may have denied it because they realized how revolutionary it was (people who believe God is going to do that sort of thing are more likely to take drastic political action without fearing the consequences), and the Sadducees were the aristocrats, anxious of their own power. Or it may have been both. So they told stories to illustrate just how stupid such a belief seemed; there are other puzzles like this one in Jewish writings of the time. How can the dead be raised, they say, if they will then not be able to tell who is married to whom? 1 The Sadducees are baiting Jesus with one of those what if questions, a question on which they have made up their minds. Jesus refuses to become frustrated by persons who have no intention of being influenced by his answer. Jesus answers their question: God is the God of the living, for to God they are alive. This was not the answer they were seeking but Jesus has silenced them. Mocking other people’s beliefs, especially when they seem preposterous is always fun. This is a way for us to avoid facing our own issues. What does Jesus mean when he says,” Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive”? Have you experience being alive to God? Does this effect the way you live your life? Jeanette Bakke says, Interpreting Scriptures can seem so much safer than attempting to interpret experience. 2 Experiencing God is possibly the greatest challenge in the life of faith. Asking stupid questions can be a way to avoid this challenge of experiencing God in our life. One final question: How do we experience this God who is the God of the Living? 1 Tom Wright, Luke for Everyone. Louisville : Westminster John Knox Press, 2004. P. 245 |