Some Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him and asked him a question, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies, leaving a wife but no child, the man shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother. There were seven brothers; the first married and, when he died, left no children,and the second married the widow and died, leaving no children, and the third likewise; none of the seven left children. Last of all the woman herself died. In the resurrection, when they rise, whose wife will she be? For all seven had married her.”
Jesus said to them, “Is not this the reason you are wrong, that you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God? For when people rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage but are like angels in heaven. And as for the dead being raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the story about the bush, how God said to him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is God not of the dead but of the living; you are quite wrong.” (New Revised Standard Version)
Two-thousand years ago, in the first century C.E. (Common Era) the Jewish Sadducees learned the hard way that trying to discredit Jesus in public with silly questions is a bad idea.
Somehow, probably in a back room and perhaps drinking too much wine, they came up with a story designed to show, once and for all, that Jesus was nothing but a hayseed yokel from the bumpkin village of Nazareth who believes in a crazy notion like resurrection.
The Sadducees wanted a very public and definitive display that Jesus was a backward hick, not worth the time of day. So, they concocted a bizarre hypothetical story meant to discredit the supernatural.
The Sadducees went to the Old Testament, and pointed out in the law that if a man dies without having children, the brother must marry the widow, thus keeping the legacy and land of the dead man in his family. By conjecturing that if this were to happen seven times over, they posed a hypothetical question: Whose wife would she be among all the brothers at this supposed resurrection?
As they were snickering to themselves believing that they had demonstrated the absurdity of resurrection, Jesus turned the tables on the Sadducees. Here are some observational lessons from this Gospel reading for today:
- Think again before you try and trip-up Jesus with philosophically ethereal questions.
- Consider that you will receive a rebuke from Jesus for being ignorant, mistaken, and wrong, if you try to posture yourself and control how a conversation with him ought to go.
- Be aware that Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Jesus are all alive. The Sadducees, however, no longer exist.
- Realize that Jesus will take the time and attention to listen and give feedback – maybe the kind you weren’t looking for.
- Understand that many things we get hung up on, Jesus doesn’t – and what Jesus sticks on, we may act like Teflon and let it slide.
And the lessons could keep coming, because there is always something to learn and discover when being with Jesus.
To deny resurrection is to deny Jesus. Christ died. He’s now alive. Hence, there is a resurrection. More than that, because Christ lives, others live. This is the Christian’s hope.
I fully understand plenty of people don’t believe in resurrection. That’s their prerogative. I will simply point such a person no further than their own mind and heart. “Search your feelings,” as the Jedi would say, “What do they tell you?” The evidence you need, you already have.
And this was the penultimate lesson of Jesus to the inquisitive Sadducees. They already had the answer to their question for Jesus. It was right under their noses the entire time – right their in the law that they valued so highly. They just plain didn’t see it.
You already have everything you need for life and godliness in this present evil age. There’s no need to play philosophical games with Jesus.
One of the great sages of the last century, Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz, wisely said:
“If I ever go looking for my heart’s desire again, I won’t look any further than my own backyard. Because if it isn’t there, I never really lost it to begin with.”
Resurrection has always been there because God has always been around – even when we don’t see, perceive, or acknowledge the divine. Just because one may not believe in life arising from death, doesn’t mean it isn’t there or doesn’t exist.
It probably would not be a good idea to procrastinate the inevitable end-of-life scenario that awaits us all. Anytime is the right time to do a bit of personal funeral planning. Yet, if we mire it all with the esoteric hypothetical questions about what would happen in the most far-fetched of scenarios, methinks God is big enough and smart enough to see through our puny charade.
Better to ponder what is truly within your own soul, and how Jesus might already be present within and around all things, without us even knowing it.
A good place to start in peering within is to give a straightforward honest reading of the New Testament Gospels and discover what resonates deeply with you about the person and work of Jesus.
Feel free to question Jesus about anything you want; just brace yourself for what kind of answer you might receive.
Rev. Tim Ehrhardt 