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; 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.”
“Children of the Resurrection”
In Jerusalem, Jesus is exposed to the plots of different spiritual and political groups that refuse to receive him as the Messiah. They want a Messiah that’s in line with their expectations, not necessarily with God’s plan of redemption and salvation.
Among them are the Sadducees. Though they deny the existence of angels and don’t believe in life after earthly death, they come to Jesus to test him with questions about marriage.
According to Moses’ law, a widow should marry the brother of her late husband. When a widow marries seven brothers, they ask whose wife shall she be in life eternal?
Jesus knows their thoughts and responds kindly with full respect. He clarifies that, in life eternal, people that accept Christ are the daughters and sons of the Resurrection and there is no marriage.
Today, we are invited to think about eternity and proclaim our faith in the resurrection of the dead, eternal life, and God’s creatures, both the seen and the unseen, i.e. the angels that the Sadducees denied.
May we confirm our trust in Jesus‘ presence and in His words to us.
What does it mean for us to be “Children of the Resurrection?!”
