A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 20:27-40)
Jesus said to the Sadducees, “The children of this age marry and remarry; but those who are deemed worthy to attain to the coming age and to the resurrection of the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. They can no longer die, for they are like angels; and they are the children of God because they are the ones who will rise. That the dead will rise even Moses made known in the passage about the bush, when he called ‘Lord’ the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; and he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.”
The Sadducees pose a question to Jesus about marriage and life after the resurrection. Because the Sadducees didn’t believe in the resurrection, life after death, or angels, the question is meant to challenge Jesus and trap him. Jesus affirms to them that the Lord is the God of the living. As the Lord said to Moses as he looks upon the burning bush, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” At the resurrection at the second coming of Christ, Jesus says those who rise can no longer die and neither marry nor are given in marriage and instead are like angels, children of God. Here, remarkably, Jesus addresses every facet of belief the Sadducees hold, relating to them incisive truths about the life of the world to come, not only for them but for every person who has ever lived.
God, help me understand the depth of Jesus’ teaching on death and the resurrection. Here, he is not speaking in parables or symbolically to make a point. He speaks to me just as he speaks to the Sadducees about life after death. Let me not miss the big news here and just take a moment to let it sink in: there is, Jesus says, life after death and I will rise at his return. “Those who are deemed worthy to attain to the coming age,” Jesus says, “are like angels; and they are the children of God because they are the ones who will rise.” How clear are these words? How dense would I have to be to believe that someone made this up or over the ages cobbled the words together? If Jesus your Son says this, the only question remaining is to live a life worthy of coming for all eternity into your presence, the God of the living.
From the Gospel acclamation: “Our Savior Jesus Christ has destroyed death
and brought life to light through the Gospel.” I will rejoice in your salvation, O Lord.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.