Goodness never dies; all the rest dies!

Luke 20:27-38

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.”

Food for Thought!

The Sadducees, came with this question about who would be the husband in heaven of the woman who was married to seven different men. They regarded such a question as the kind of thing that made belief in the resurrection of the body ridiculous. The question of the Sadducees was simply this, if there is at all any resurrection of the dead, whose wife will be a woman who in life got married to seven men? They thought that by asking that question they rendered the idea of resurrection completely ridiculous.

Jesus' answer really falls into two parts. First, he deals with the manner of the resurrection. He lays it down that when a person rises again, the old laws of physical life no longer apply. The risen people are like angels and physical things like marrying and being married no longer enter apply. In other words, Jesus is saying that marrying and get married is for this life alone. And this is because this life ends. And so, in order to prolong themselves, people marry and get married to get offspring, which is another way of living on after death.

It means that the reason why there is marriage is death; where there's death there is marriage; where there's no death (like in heaven) there's no marriage. In the life to come, there's no more death, and by extension, there cannot be marriage. No death, no marriage. Why would people marry and get married if they live on forever? This is the reason angels never marry; but humans do. God made marriage for this life, and this life alone. Who misses it in this life misses it forever.

Second, Jesus deals with the fact of the resurrection. He uses the Bible to prove the resurrection. From Exodus 3:6, God calls himself the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. If God is the God of these dead men, it means that they must still be alive, for the living God must be the God of living people, and not of those who are dead. And if the Abraham, Isaac and Jacob do live then the resurrection is proved.

Jesus comforts us that although marital relationship ends at death, there is another kind of relationship that does not end even with death. The relationship between God and good people is everlasting; it survives death; it goes beyond death. God was the friend of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when they lived. That friendship could not and did not cease even with death. Our goodness does not and cannot die; like Abraham, Isaac and Jacob be good, even when people are not good to you; do good even when people do you evil. Goodness is the only thing that survives death and dying. As the Psalmist said, «But I am always with you. You hold me by my right hand. You give me wise advice to guide me. And when I die, you will take me away into the glory of heaven. (Ps.73:23-24.)

No wonder the scribes declared it to be a good answer, for Jesus had met the Sadducees on their own ground and defeated them. They used the Old Testament to deny the resurrection; Jesus used the Old Testament to affirm the resurrection. Many times we are like these Sadducees. We miss-use the Bible to justify our errors. It means that quoting the Bible does not of itself warrant the truth; even Satan quoted it to Jesus. Only Jesus can tell us the truth about the Word of God, because it is the Word of God, not word of men. Like the Sadducees, ignorance of the Bible and of the power of God is at the origin of our mistakes and errors and blunders.