The Gospel
Luke
20:27-38
Some
Sadducees, those who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus 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. Now there were
seven brothers; the first married, and died childless; then the
second and the third married her, and so in the same way all seven
died childless. Finally the woman also died. In the resurrection,
therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had married
her."
Jesus
said to them, "Those who belong to this age marry and are given
in marriage; 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. Indeed they cannot die anymore, because they are like
angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection.
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. Now he is God not of
the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive."
The Sermon
What
happens to us when we die. We are given few clues. There is no
clear description from Jesus. He talks of many mansions. He talks
of heaven as a paradise. This is a clear variation from the view of
afterlife on the part of first century Judaism. The Sadducees did
not really believe in an afterlife so it is clear in this passage
from Luke that they were trying to trip him up with a convoluted
question. Jesus tells the Sadducees that marriage is not a part of
heaven's order of things. This of course deflates them and they move
on.
This
passage from the gospel does raise a lot of questions for me. Does
our soul go somewhere when we die? Some Sadducee believed the soul
went to Sheol, a dark grim existence where all souls went regardless
of how they lived your life.
Jesus
message was a message of hope. That message of hope is just as true
today as it was two thousand years ago. Life in the first century
was very difficult. Death from disease was common. Roman rule was
harsh and punishment for perceived crimes was brutal.
If
you were born into an impoverished family there was very little
chance that things would change for you during your lifetime.
Jesus
was a breath of fresh air. He talked of a heavenly kingdom. He told
people that the afterlife was real and that when they died they would
share in God's eternal kingdom. His message resonated with people
who saw little hope in their material existence. It can be argued
that people thronged to Jesus to see the miracles but the real and
lasting impact was the message. Jesus told them that God is not the
God of the dead but the God of the living.
This
message rings true for us as well. We certainly have it easier today
than they had in Jesus time but the covenant Jesus established with
us and God is just as real today as it was then. In Jeremiah the
prophet says, “ I will put my law within them and I will write it
on their hearts. I will be their God and they will be my people.”
Jesus
gave us a framework on how to live our lives. He told us to love
our God and to love each other. This new covenant was not about when
we should do this or that. It was about love.
Linda
Gillespie comes to the church every month and changes our bulletin
board. It is clear that she thinks through the message she wants to
give and it is always uplifting. She does this out of love. It is
her way of living her Christianity. At the bottom of the bulletin
board is a bunch of leaves. She has asked that we write on the
leaves the things we are thankful for. I told her we would.
I
know I asked you this question a couple of weeks ago but I will ask
it again. What are you thankful for?
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