Are you too short of what?

Luke 19:1-10

Jesus entered Jericho and was going through the town when a man whose name was Zacchaeus made his appearance: he was one of the senior tax collectors and a wealthy man. He was anxious to see what kind of man Jesus was, but he was too short and could not see him for the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to catch a glimpse of Jesus who was to pass that way. When Jesus reached the spot he looked up and spoke to him: ‘Zacchaeus, come down. Hurry, because I must stay at your house today.’ And he hurried down and welcomed him joyfully. They all complained when they saw what was happening. ‘He has gone to stay at a sinner’s house’ they said. But Zacchaeus stood his ground and said to the Lord, ‘Look, sir, I am going to give half my property to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody I will pay him back four times the amount.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because this man too is a son of Abraham; for the Son of Man has come to seek out and save what was lost.’

Food for thought!

Zacchaeus was a man who had reached the top of his career, BUT was the most hated man in the district. Zacchaeus was wealthy BUT he was not healthy, spiritually that is. He was a man of power by virtue of his position and of his profession. Zacchaeus was a man of power in Jericho but very weak spiritually. People probably walked in fear of this little man.

Zacchaeus was wealthy but unhappy. Inevitably he was lonely, for he had chosen a way that made him an outcast; he was a man who had reached the top of his profession but spiritually was still at zero; professionally a success story but spiritually a failure. He was like many of us, today: he was too short. I wonder what YOU are short of…!

Like yesterday's blind man, Zacchaeus too was determined to see Jesus, and would let nothing stop him. The Bible says that he sought to see Jesus. This man had a desire to see the Lord. This said, before this little man could get to Jesus, he had to overcome two great obstacles.

1. The Crowd - The gospel tells us that Zacchaeus was a little short man, and he could not see over the crowd. The people were between him and Jesus. The crowd still keeps some people from seeing Jesus! There are those who allow their friends to keep them from seeing Jesus! Jesus is more valuable than any friend you will ever have in this world!

2. His Condition - Zacchaeus had a personal problem that kept him from getting close to the Lord; he was short. So it was not only the others blocking him, he also had a personal problem. The personal problem can be anything including our sins. Can be money, wealth, health, love, forgiveness…! All of these things can stand between us and the Lord.

So Zacchaeus began to address and redress his two problems. He ran ahead and climbed a tree to get a glimpse of the Lord as he passed by. This little man allowed nothing, not the crowd, not his condition, stand between him and his seeing the Lord Jesus. What about you? Are you like Zacchaeus, professionally successful but spiritually a failure? Be like Zacchaeus, beat the crowd and practice social justice.

"Zacchaeus stood his ground and said to the Lord, ‘Look, sir, I am going to give half my property to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody I will pay him back four times the amount.’"

What do you want me to do for you?

Luke 18:35-43

35 As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind beggar was sitting beside the road. 36 When he heard the noise of a crowd going past, he asked what was happening. 37 They told him that Jesus the Nazarene was going by. 38 So he began shouting, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 39 “Be quiet!” the people in front yelled at him. But he only shouted louder, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 40 When Jesus heard him, he stopped and ordered that the man be brought to him. As the man came near, Jesus asked him, 41 “What do you want me to do for you?” “Lord,” he said, “I want to see!” 42 And Jesus said, “All right, receive your sight! Your faith has healed you.” 43 Instantly the man could see, and he followed Jesus, praising God. And all who saw it praised God, too.

Food for thought!

Let us re imagine the scene. Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem to the Passover. He is not alone; he has a big crowd around him, listening to every word he says. Any noise from anybody is an unwanted distraction. A nuisance.

Sitting on the roadside is a blind beggar. This man is many things: he is blind; he is a beggar; he is sitting along the side of the road. Because he is a blind, he is a beggar, and because he is begging he is sitting on the side of the road; he is not part of anything; he is on the roadside of life and living. He is only good in one thing, curiosity. When he heard the noise of a crowd going past, he asked what was happening. They told him that Jesus the Nazarene was going by.

Immediately he cried out to Jesus for help and healing. Thereupon everyone tried to silence him. The people round Jesus were missing what he was saying because of the clamour of this blind man. "Quite!" They told the man. "You're distracting us; please shut up!" They seemed to say.

This was a crucial moment. What will the man do? Shut up or shout up? Have you ever been like this man? You desire something very important in your life, or you have a dream, or a vision, or a deal or a business idea. As you try to turn it into a reality, you begin to hear counter voices all over suggesting that you forget and abandon the idea. Maybe you wanted to go back to school for a degree, or you wanted to stop smoking, or wanted to start a business, or change jobs, or...!

The man would not be silenced. He shouted again, this time louder; he screamed so much that everybody took notice, including Jesus. The man was determined to come face to face with Jesus. Nothing would stop him. He refused to be silent and he refused to be restrained. His sense of need drove him relentlessly into the presence of Jesus. If anyone wants a miracle that is the spirit one must show. A gentle, sentimental longing never really taps the power of God; but the passionate, intense desire of the very depths of the human heart will never be disappointed.

 “What do you want me to do for you?” “Lord,” he said, “I want to see!”

We live in a society of almost infinite choices and opportunities, and because of that, most people find themselves pulled in dozens of directions. Jesus' question helped this man to prioritize his needs; to focus and not scatter himself with endless requests: "I want to see!" He said. I wonder what you would say! What is your ONE thing in life that you need? It must be one thing because wanting everything is wanting nothing. We do well to narrow our focus; our mind doesn't realize our dreams until it has a clear object.

Have you ever realized that if you consider buying a particular kind of car, dress, shoe, or anything, you begin seeing them everywhere you go? As John C. Maxwell says, it is because when our mind focuses on anything in particular, this something expands; what you focus on expands; narrowing your view widens your perspective.

Luke 10:41

“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed — indeed only one.

See through the eyes of Jesus!

Luke 21:5-11

One day people were standing around talking about the Temple, remarking how beautiful it was, the splendor of its stonework and memorial gifts. Jesus said, 6 "All this you're admiring so much-- the time is coming when every stone in that building will end up in a heap of rubble." 7 They asked him, "Teacher, when is this going to happen? What clue will we get that it's about to take place?" 8 He said, "Watch out for the doomsday deceivers. Many leaders are going to show up with forged identities claiming, 'I'm the One,' or, 'The end is near.' Don't fall for any of that. 9 When you hear of wars and uprisings, keep your head and don't panic. This is routine history and no sign of the end." 10 He went on, "Nation will fight nation and ruler fight ruler, over and over. 11 Huge earthquakes will occur in various places. There will be famines. You'll think at times that the very sky is falling.

Food for Thought!

In the gospel reading of today, Jesus and the people were all looking at the same temple, but seeing different things. The people were seeing beauty, Jesus was seeing destruction; the people were seeing the present moment, Jesus was seeing the future moment, when the temple would crumble down; they were as close as you can imagine, looking at the same temple, but seeing different things. Why is this possible? Because no two people can occupy the same place; no two people can see the same things; no two people can live in the same world. You may stay with someone and yet both live in completely distant and distinct worlds.

The Temple was a marvel by all standards, for it was covered all over with plates of gold of great weight, and, at the first rising of the sun, reflected back a very fiery splendour, and made those who forced themselves to look upon it to turn their eyes away, just as they would have done at the sun's own rays. From a distance, the Temple appeared like a mountain covered with snow, for, as to those parts of it that were not gilt, they were exceedingly white. To the Jews it was unthinkable that such glory could one day ever be shattered to dust.

Jesus could and can see both history and future; he can see the past, the present and the future. Others were seeing the present, Jesus the future; they were blind to the approaching disaster but Jesus was seeing the avalanche about to descend on that temple. It is only when we see things through the eyes of Jesus that we too can see them clearly; it is only when we see through the eyes of Jesus that we see life clearly and all in it; it is only when we see through the eyes of Jesus that we see people in their true colours; it is by seeing our problems through the eyes of Jesus that we understand them.

We must, therefore, endeavor to see through the eyes of Jesus, with his consciousness and his understanding, if we are to see in this world and in this life what he saw. Because he sees differently, Jesus called people like Matthew and Paul and Magdalene to be his companions. Jesus does not only see disasters, he sees our potential too. Seeing like Jesus is not a presumptuous thing; it is a necessary thing if we are to grow into his image and likeness, like Paul did when he wrote these words:

The very credentials these people are waving around as something special, I'm tearing up and throwing out with the trash — along with everything else I used to take credit for. And why? Because of Christ. Yes, all the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant  —  dog dung. I've dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ and be embraced by him. (Phil 3:7-9)

Be always in touch with the Lord!

Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Grant me justice against my opponent.’ For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, ‘Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.’” And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

Food for thought!

Praying without ceasing can be a difficult concept to grasp especially when you need to have your attention focused elsewhere. But in this scripture it is literally saying what it means. God calls us to be in a constant connection with Him at all times. Prayer is more than a life line, it’s an intimate connection between us and the Father.

When Jesus says "pray always and not to lose heart", he is saying, in other words, to be in touch with God always. We need to be attuned to the Lord all the time. And the best way to do this is by prayer. Some people struggle with the concept of praying constantly. This is mainly due to a lack of self-discipline. That is way whenever you pray, also pay attention to your thoughts. Sometimes as you pray a particular thoughts may cause your mind to trail off.

Watch yourself as you pray and pay attention to the “trail offs.” If you catch them sooner you will continue in prayer longer. Even though we are called to pray continuously the scriptures also say, “Do not be rash with your mouth, and let not your heart utter anything hastily before God. For God is in heaven, and you on earth; therefore let your words be few.” (Ecc 5:2)

If Jesus tells us to pray always, he is telling us as well that God is listening to us always. Otherwise, why would Jesus commend us to pray always and not lose heart, when he knows that God doesn't listen to us? In other words, pray with a silent heart. Let God speak to you, and pray what He gives you. Prayer is not one way, but it is a conversation. It is a two way communication and you need to learn to listen to the Spirit. If you become accustomed to constantly asking, you will begin to constantly receive. Yet what we receive may not always be what we desire.

 John 15:5

I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

(Acknowledgement: Houge, Adam (2013-06-20). The 7 Spiritual Habits That Will Change Your Life Forever. Kindle Edition). 

Just be & do your best!

Luke 17:26 - 37

26 "The time of the Son of Man will be just like the time of Noah-- 27 everyone carrying on as usual, having a good time right up to the day Noah boarded the ship. They suspected nothing until the flood hit and swept everything away. 28" It was the same in the time of Lot-- the people carrying on, having a good time, business as usual 29 right up to the day Lot walked out of Sodom and a firestorm swept down and burned everything to a crisp. 30 That's how it will be-- sudden, total-- when the Son of Man is revealed. 31 "When the Day arrives and you're out working in the yard, don't run into the house to get anything. And if you're out in the field, don't go back and get your coat. 32 Remember what happened to Lot's wife! 33 If you grasp and cling to life on your terms, you'll lose it, but if you let that life go, you'll get life on God's terms. 34" On that Day, two men will be in the same boat fishing-- one taken, the other left. 35 Two women will be working in the same kitchen-- one taken, the other left. " 37 Trying to take all this in, the disciples said," Master, where? " He told them," Watch for the circling of the vultures. They'll spot the corpse first. The action will begin around my dead body. "

Food for thought

Our reading speaks of the Second Coming of Jesus. Out of this difficult passage we can pick only a few things which are certain--and in truth they are all we need.

First of all, the coming of Christ is certain, but its time is quite unknown. Speculation is vain. People will come with false prophecies and false predictions; but we must not leave our ordinary work to follow them. The best way that Christ can find us is when we are faithfully, humbly and watchfully doing our daily duties. The best way to prepare for the Lord is to carry our ordinary duties extraordinarily well. Just be and do your best in everything.

Another lesson to note is that when that day comes the judgments of God will operate on a personal level, and of two people, who all their lives lived side by side, will be dealt with individually: "Two women will be working in the same kitchen -- one taken, the other left." There is a warning here. Intimacy with a good person does not necessarily guarantee our own salvation. Goodness and holiness is intransmissible because it is personal; we can neither borrow nor lend goodness! Living with a righteous or holy person is no guarantee for your own salvation. As St. Paul says (Phill. 2:12),

"What I’m getting at, friends, is that you should simply keep on doing what you’ve done from the beginning. When I was living among you, you lived in responsive obedience. Now that I’m separated from you, keep it up. Better yet, redouble your efforts. Be energetic in your life of salvation, reverent and sensitive before God. That energy is God’s energy, an energy deep within you, God himself willing and working at what will give him the most pleasure."

The judgment of God is an individual judgment. (2Co 5:10), "For we must all appear and be revealed as we are before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive [his pay] according to what he has done in the body, whether good or evil [considering what his purpose and motive have been, and what he has achieved, been busy with, and given himself and his attention to accomplishing]."

God's kingdom is already within you!

Luke 17:20-25

Jesus, grilled by the Pharisees on when the kingdom of God would come, answered, “The kingdom of God doesn’t come by counting the days on the calendar. Nor when someone says, ‘Look here!’ or, ‘There it is!’ And why? Because God’s kingdom is already among you.”

He went on to say to his disciples, “The days are coming when you are going to be desperately homesick for just a glimpse of one of the days of the Son of Man, and you won’t see a thing. And they’ll say to you, ‘Look over there!’ or, ‘Look here!’ Don’t fall for any of that nonsense. The arrival of the Son of Man is not something you go out to see. He simply comes.

“You know how the whole sky lights up from a single flash of lightning? That’s how it will be on the Day of the Son of Man. But first it’s necessary that he suffer many things and be turned down by the people of today.

Food for thought!

God's kingdom is already within you!

What did Jesus mean by this statement? It is difficult to interpret. If we compare it to what is said in Deuteronomy 30:11-14 "Surely, this commandment that I am commanding you today is not too hard for you, nor is it too far away. It is not in heaven, that you should say, “Who will go up to heaven for us, and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?” Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, “Who will cross to the other side of the sea for us, and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?” No, the word is very near to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart for you to observe."

From this text we come to know that in us there's something divine; there's goodness and holiness in all of us. In other words, we are godly, and because of this, we humans are distinct, honourable and glorious because of what is in us. This godly thing within us, the reign of Go, is due to the image and likeness of God. Or better, the image and likeness of God in human beings is the godly capacity in them. Thanks to this godly capacity that human beings have, they are capable of doing many godly things. Indeed, it is this godly capacity in man that makes the difference between humans and animals. This means further that the more godly we are the more human we are; and the more human we are the more godly we are.

This is what Jesus taught us this week, that doing good, mastering evil, is within us. "For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life." (Eph. 2:10) What this means is that, God made us not only good but also capable of doing good; being and doing good is within our capacity.

Christ also taught us this week that the faith we have is a tremendous force. That facing each task with the faith to do the job to the very best of our ability is all we need. He is saying the same thing today. The kingdom of God is not out there but in there; it is not to be sought from without but from within us, in our hearts. And if this is so, as it is, it means that no one should ever deceive us to look for it over there or to look over here! Don't fall prey for any of that nonsense. Just as the very Son of God was among us, as one of us, so is the power of God (the kingdom of God) within us. To God be praise and glory and honour, both now and forever.

Be grateful!

Luke 17:11-19

11 On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, 13 they called out, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” 14 When he saw them, he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were made clean. 15 Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. 16 He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. 17 Then Jesus asked, “Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? 18 Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19 Then he said to him, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.”

Food for thought!

We all understand and appreciate the importance of gratitude. How it can radically change relationships. In fact, one of the first things we got taught and that we teach our children is to express their gratitude. Someone gives them some candy and the parents say: "Now what do you say?" And the child learns early in life that the answer is "Thank you." And certainly we all know as adults that we appreciate being thanked by people. Yet, when it comes to giving thanks to our heavenly father, we so often miss the mark.

When it comes to this issue of giving our thanks to God, I don't suppose there is any story in the Bible that is so endearing to us, so timelessly appropriate, as the story of Jesus healing the ten lepers. We have all heard the story many times, but like so many Bible stories, we never exhaust its richness.

As you know, whatever you give your attention and belief to becomes your experience. So, focus your attention on the way you would like to see yourself. Practice waking up each day with an inherent expectation of good and with a wonderful feeling of thanksgiving for life itself. Your days will be filled with exciting adventures.

Remember that a grateful mind is a great mind which eventually attracts to

itself great things. An old adage states that “where your attention goes, your energy flows.” This means we tend to attract that to which we give our attention. So, even in situations that at first appear difficult or unpleasant, see all the good you can and bless the good you can see! Learn to give thanks even for your problems and challenges.

As you face your situations and overcome them, you grow in strength, wisdom, and compassion.

"But we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us." (Rom 5:3-5)

An ancient proverb says, “A donkey may carry a heavy load of sandalwood on its back and never know its preciousness—only its weight.” Sometimes people feel the weight of circumstances and lose sight of what such circumstances prepare us. Leprosy prepared the ten lepers to meet Jesus. Be the one out ten that keeps coming to the Lord for thanksgiving and praise and honour and glory. 

Be & Do Good All the Time!

Luke 17:7-10

“When a servant comes in from plowing or taking care of sheep, does his master say, ‘Come in and eat with me’? 8 No, he says, ‘Prepare my meal, put on your apron, and serve me while I eat. Then you can eat later.’ 9 And does the master thank the servant for doing what he was told to do? Of course not. 10 In the same way, when you obey me you should say, ‘We are unworthy servants who have simply done our duty.’”

Food for thought!

After teaching us last Sunday that the relationship between God and good people is everlasting, because it survives death, it goes beyond death, Jesus is teaching us today something we so often forget: we can never put God in our debt and can never have any claim on Him. When we have done our best, we have done only our duty; and a man who has done his duty has done only what, in any event, he is expected to do. What this means is that, God made us not only good but also capable of doing good; being and doing good is human.

And whenever we do or be good, we are only doing what we were made to do and be; we only fulfill our duty. In other words, when we have done our best, we have done only our duty. God made each one of us the best he could make. We are inherently good, very good: "Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good! (Gen. 1:31)

This is why God told Cain, when this man was failing in his duty to do and be good to his brother Abel: "If you do well, won't you be accepted? And if you don't do well, sin is lying in wait for you, ready to pounce; it's out to get you, you've got to master it." (Gen. 4:7). God was only reminding Cain that he can master evil because he was made to master evil and do well. Doing evil is not inevitable; doing good is.

This is the reason why, a successful life is the life that ends well; a failed life is the life that fails at doing good. When we do good, we only do what God expects us to do. For this reason, when and if we say, "I cannot change, or that, I cannot do better, or that, I cannot stop doing evil," we only insult God, because He made us good and not evil. And if and when we do or be good, we don't deserve a credit as such, because we have simply done our duty. Our duty is to obey the Lord, and do what he tells us to do. To him be praise and glory and honour, both now and forever.

Use your faith!

Luke 17:1-6

17 1-2 He said to his disciples, “Hard trials and temptations are bound to come, but too bad for whoever brings them on! Better to wear a millstone necklace and take a swim in the deep blue sea than give even one of these dear little ones a hard time!

3-4 “Be alert. If you see your friend going wrong, correct him. If he responds, forgive him. Even if it’s personal against you and repeated seven times through the day, and seven times he says, ‘I’m sorry, I won’t do it again,’ forgive him.”

5 The apostles came up and said to the Master, “Give us more faith.”

6 But the Master said, “You don’t need more faith. There is no ‘more’ or ‘less’ in faith. If you have a bare kernel of faith, say the size of a poppy seed, you could say to this sycamore tree, ‘Go jump in the lake,’ and it would do it.

Food for thought!

(i) Two things: Hard trials and temptations are bound to come; but none of Jesus' disciples should be their cause. What Jesus says is that it is impossible to construct a world with no temptations; there's nothing like a problem free world, but woe to that man or women who teaches another to sin or who takes away another's innocence. Sinning is bad and should be avoided. But teaching others to sin, should doubly be avoided.

A story. An old man who was dying. Something was obviously worrying him. At last he said what it was. "When I was a young boy," he said, "I often played at a road junction. Nearby was sign-post indicating the directions at the junction. I remember one day twisting it round in its socket, thus altering the arms and making them point in the wrong direction; and I've been wondering ever since how many travelers I sent on the wrong road."

God will not hold anyone guiltless, who, on the road of life, sends others on the wrong way.

(ii) On the contrary, we must always do our best to rescue all those who are going down the wrong path. This is why, if anyone comes to us and asks us to forgive them, don't hesitate to forgive them. When you do so, you save yourself and the person from going on the wrong road.

The apostles came up and said to the Master, “Give us more faith.”

Jesus' response is that we don’t need more faith. There is no ‘more’ or ‘less’ in faith. It is about having or not faith. It means even that which looks completely impossible becomes possible, if it is approached with faith.

Many of us have faith but we don't put it to use. Faith is a force we have but rarely use.  If we approach a thing saying, "It can't be done," it will not; if we approach it saying, "It must be done," it will. Facing each task with the determination to do the job to the very best of our ability can bring something positive to the actual doing and a solid feeling of accomplishment after the job is completed.

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.