5th Thursday of Lent (April 10). RESURRECTION

Prepare to Listen.  The LORD has done great things for us, and we rejoiced.
 
Prayerfully Read Luke 20:27-40
27Some Sadducees, those who say there is no resurrection, came to him 28and 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.  29Now there were seven brothers; the first married, and died childless; 30then the second 31and the third married her, and so in the same way all seven died childless.  32Finally the woman also died.  33In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be?  For the seven had married her.’  34Jesus said to them, ‘Those who belong to this age marry and are given in marriage; 35but 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.  36Indeed they cannot die any more, because they are like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection.  37And 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.  38Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive.’  39Then some of the scribes answered, ‘Teacher, you have spoken well.’  40For they no longer dared to ask him another question.
 
Prayerfully Wonder and Reflect
This is the only time Jesus taught about the resurrection of all people.  What surprised/confused you about it?
 
Sadducees were from the wealthy priestly class.  They controlled the temple, and only accepted the five books of Moses as Scripture.  Since Moses, they maintained, never mentioned the resurrection, they didn’t believe in it.  My childhood Bible teacher loved to say that was why they were sad, you see!  Arguing about the resurrection, using clever what if problems like this one, was common.
 
For once Jesus answered the question with two reasons why they were wrong.  First, resurrection life isn’t like present life.  People become, like angels, immortal, therefore it’s unnecessary to marry and have children.  His second reason came from the only Scripture Sadducees accepted.  They knew the story of the burning bush when God told Moses he was the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Ex. 3:6).  God is the God of the living, not the dead, therefore the three patriarchs are alive and in God’s presence, waiting with all creation, the final resurrection.  Some scribes commended Jesus.  However, writes Luke, “they no longer dared to ask him another question.”  His critics were silenced, but they still looked for a reason to kill him.
 
Jesus’ teaching affirms that our primary hope is the resurrection, but he doesn’t explain what happens between death and resurrection.  We live with not knowing and thus must live with trust.
 
How might Jesus’ teaching encourage/discourage you?
 
Prayerfully Respond
Lord, you leave so many questions unanswered about life after death and the resurrection.  Help me walk by faith, not by sight.  Amen.
 
Live obediently.  Trust God for present and future life.