Luke 20: 27-47
The Question about the Resurrection
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.” 39 Then some of the scribes answered, “Teacher, you have spoken well.” 40 For they no longer dared to ask him another question.
The Question about David’s Son
41 Then he said to them, “How can they say that the Messiah is David’s son?42 For David himself says in the book of Psalms,
‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand,
43 until I make your enemies your footstool.”’
44 David thus calls him Lord; so how can he be his son?”
Jesus Denounces the Scribes
45 In the hearing of all the people he said to the disciples, 46 “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets. 47 They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”
What Does the Passage say?
V. 27-40 The Sadducees come to Jesus with another sarcastic question. If they do not believe in the resurrection, why would they ask about the resurrection? It was as if saying, ‘This is the reason why I can’t believe in the resurrection.’
V. 41-47 After Jesus answers all the questions, to put him down, then Jesus himself asks a question to the scribes. When they become speechless, Jesus points out that they don’t understand the true essences of the word. If they understood the word right, they wouldn’t have ignored others.
What Does it Mean to Me/ Us?
In the Message version, Jesus says, “Marriage is a major preoccupation here, but not there. Those who are included in the resurrection of the dead will no longer be concerned with marriage nor, of course, with death” (v. 34-35 The Message).
We are here in Lancaster, PA, with a group who watched the Samson Musical. The musical was spectacular. Plus, the Message of the musical has been challenging. ‘How can we live set apart from the world?’
For us to live ‘set apart’ we need to have a different understanding of the world. Our understanding shouldn’t be limited to the worldly views of life, but has to be expanded to understand the heavenly views of life.
Jesus came to this world to make us the people of the resurrection. If we are the people of resurrection, we need to live in this world as the ones who believe in it. When Jesus says, ‘those who are included in the resurrection of dead,’ it also means that these people have to have a different way of living in this world. That is the reason why he is condemning all the Jewish leaders, who was live differently in the world, but didn’t.
So the question we need to answer is… ‘Do I have the understanding of the life in resurrection?’
Prayer
Lord, we thank you for calling us to live as people of the resurrection. Help us to live in the world, as people who are worthy of that call.
In Christ name we pray, AMEN.
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