27 Some of the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus with a question. 28 “Teacher,” they said, “Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. 29 Now there were seven brothers. The first one married a woman and died childless. 30 The second 31 and then the third married her, and in the same way the seven died, leaving no children. 32 Finally, the woman died too. 33 Now then, at the resurrection whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?”
34 Jesus replied, “The people of this age marry and are given in marriage. 35 But those who are considered worthy of taking part in the age to come and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage, 36 and they can no longer die; for they are like angels. They are God’s children, since they are children of the resurrection. 37 But in the account of the burning bush, even Moses showed that the dead rise, for he calls the Lord ‘the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ 38 He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.”
Grace to you from the Mystery in whom we live and breathe and have our being.
“He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.”
Questioning
When I was speaking to a group at Calvary Healing Center, a young woman, about eighteen years old who was raised in a fundamentalist church, shared how she irritated her youth pastor when she began questioning.
She was very smart, sharp and interested in Philosophy. After my presentation, she asked me a question. She said, “Do we have total free will or not?”
I felt compelled to answer her. I wanted to have a good answer. I was suddenly faced with a series of answers I could give but it would only reveal my uncertainty.
There is nothing more intimidating than a confident young woman who can sniff out an older adult’s desire to evade their question completely. I stumbled in my answer and then said you know what that’s a good question. It deserves more thought. Let’s talk more later.
On my way home from Calvary, I called my friend Jim Hanson to get his thoughts on her question. I thought with Jim’s seminary experience he would have a slick theological answer I could repeat.
He didn’t.
unscrambling an egg
There were a few seconds of silence and then Jim said, “WHO CARES!”
I thought oh my God Jim’s become a religious curmudgeon! After we laughed together as we always do when we attempt to compete for world’s best cynic he explained, “If we had total free will we’d be able to unscramble an egg.” Who cares, was rude and brilliant! I’ll explain later.
The disciples were not asking a question as thoughtful as the one I was asked at Calvary Healing Center chapel. The young woman was asking a genuine question. The Sadducees were not being as real with Jesus.
The Sadducees hypothetical scenario they presented to Jesus reminded me of a riddle people used to give to fool someone.
“If a plane crashes on the boarder of the U.S. and Canada, where do they bury the survivors?” Though it should be evident that survivors would not be buried, people will usually focus on location rather than the status of the passengers.
freedom in the age to come
Likewise, the Sadducees are hoping Jesus will focus on the laws of marriage in this age rather than the freedom in the age to come.
Jesus answered their question by basically responding with Jim’s answer. In essence Jesus said, “Who Cares?” If we look at the dialogue, we can see the problem with their hypothetical. It was based on fear of death. The question is to win an ongoing debate with the Pharisees and making Jesus pick a side. Lastly and perhaps most important, the woman is being treated as property. She is merely an accessory in this story.
Jesus says marriage may be the way it is in your present age, but it is not the way of the ages to come. All men and women will be like angels in intimate relationship with God.
out parable the parable guru
The foolishness of their attempt to out parable the parable guru was stupid on many levels. For one, in the ages to come women will not be given and taken like property as in this present age. After working on this message, I will never again ask, “who gives this woman to be married to this man” during any wedding I officiate.
So, Jesus is basically saying, who cares who’s married to who. Who cares whether you think a person’s resurrection is a bodily one, spirit or Claymation! The deeper question is what difference will it make for you in this present age? How will we conduct our lives in this present age we’re living in?
desire for certainty
What does resurrection mean for this present age not in the age after? This is what Jesus is asking. Jesus is asking what if you knew marriage is just for this age and that women will not be property and will share angelic equality with men and intimacy with God? What if you accepted that in the ages to come, there will be no physical borders that divide people? How would you manage your life at this age if you knew life never ends.
If we open our eyes, we may experience the resurrection in this present age and let go of our desire for certainty.
In the last line of Jesus interaction Jesus says, “he is God not of the dead but of the living, for to him all of them are alive.” For the woman, the husbands, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, you and I are all alive not dead and God is the God of the living. We can put to rest the need to argue with the Pharisees and Sadducees of this age.
As Pastor Kendra Mohn points out. Resurrection is meant to, “inform, shape, influence, or change our lives now.” And everything Jesus taught needs to be heard through the question: “What difference does it make for you today?” or as Jim said, “WHO CARES?”
There was a time when I was deathly afraid of airplanes and roller coasters. The uncertainty of how these rides could tragically end sent my need for certainty into an inner anxiety that was masked with a phony adult-like calm.
I travelled often for work and when the wheels of my plane slammed onto earth, I wanted to celebrate with other travelers that we all survived. But the people around me would simply grab their carry-ons and act like humans flying thousands of feet in the air is normal. For me every landing meant I survived! And I survived repeatedly!
I always felt a sense of regret when I got off the plane. I thought to myself, if I’d known I would survive I would have enjoyed myself. I would have looked out the window in awe.
do it anyway!
Today, I might get a little nervous when boarding a plane or getting on a roller coaster, but I do it anyway! We must ask ourselves, if I didn’t try to control the outcomes with worry and fear what difference would it make for me now? I would like to live the resurrection now.
Perhaps if we live dominated by fear, we’re already dead. My senses would be dulled to the surprise and beauty of this present age and the excitement of its adventure.
That’s why Jim asked who cares! That’s why Jesus did his impersonation of Oprah. “Pharisees, you’re not going to die, Sadducees, you’re not going to die, uncircumcised you’re not going to die! Why? Because God is the God of the living not the dead!
What difference would that make for you?
AMEN
Please join us live on Wednesday. Henry will be sharing his own personal Zaccheus story.
Wednesday Respite is a 30-min contemplative service of scripture, prayer, music and a Spirited Touchpoint by Henry Rojas, spiritual director at Spirit in the Desert.
Touchpoint is a reflection on where God’s story touches our life story. It is a short homily based on a biblical story of people in the Old and New Testaments and their relationship with God. Our spiritual ancestors’ experience of God’s grace connects with our lives in the present and our relationship with the Divine. Previous Touchpoints are available as PDFs or on SoundCloud.
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