Today’s Gospel reading from Luke 20 is a bit strange. Here we are in November talking about what? Resurrection. That’s a topic that we associate with Easter. But we’re also near the end of the church year which closes in a couple of weeks with Christ the King Sunday. So, the readings for this period by tradition focus more on what we call ‘end times’ or in fancy language ‘eschatology’.
So many sermons have been preached and books written about the Resurrection, it’s daunting for me even to touch this topic. But there’s no way to avoid talking about resurrection this morning, because that’s the subject of debate between Jesus and the Sadducees. So, let’s go with it and see what we can learn. Because this story is told not only in Luke but in Mark and Matthew. It seems for the Gospel writers, it’s important that the reality of resurrection is grounded in both the words and experience of Jesus. In both his teachings and his life.
Actually, what do we know about the Sadducees? There’s an old Sunday School song that goes, ‘Don't wanna be a Sadducee, Don't wanna be a Sadducee, ‘Cause they're so sad you see, Don’t wanna be a Sadducee.’ Catchy lyrics, right? But seriously, why would we think the Sadducees were so sad? Because they didn’t believe in the resurrection, right?
We have to understand, though, that there was more to the Sadducees than just that. For one, their name actually comes from the Greek for Zadok, the high priest under King David and King Solomon. So, far from being sad you see, they were actually pretty content. They were a powerful, wealthy party of priestly aristocracy, their headquarters – the Temple in Jerusalem. What’s not to like?
The Sadducees were also known for accepting only the first five books of the Hebrew Bible as authoritative – namely, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. These are known as the Torah or the Five Books of Moses. And the rest of the Bible? Just commentary, they say, and don’t get them started on the Oral Tradition that groups like the Pharisees accepted. Oh no, the Sadducees were the true-blue conservatives of their day as far as Scripture was concerned.
And that’s why they didn’t believe in the resurrection of the dead. It’s not in the Torah, they argue. There is nothing, they say, nothing about bodily resurrection or the afterlife in the Law of Moses. That means this earthly life is all we’re guaranteed. So don’t go dreaming of pie in the sky, bye and bye. The only way you ensure you lived on after you die is through your children. Therefore, what many Jews believed and the Pharisees taught – that all the faithful would be resurrected at the end of time – was a bunch of nonsense. Of course, the Sadducees can’t just say that out loud to Jesus, who obviously did believe in resurrection. Instead, they use the time-honored Jewish way to win their point – intellectual debate.
Let’s say hypothetically that a man has six younger brothers. He dies without any children. According to the Mosaic law in Deuteronomy 25, the next brother was supposed to marry the widow. Any children that came from that marriage belonged to the dead man to carry on his family line. Then the younger brother dies too, and the widow is passed on to the next brother and the next until all 7 brothers had died without having children by her. It’s a far-fetched example to be sure. But, say the Sadducees, if you believe in resurrection, it’s even more ridiculous. Whose wife will this woman be in the afterlife? After all, she was married to all 7 brothers.
How does Jesus respond? First, he says, what are you basing your argument against the resurrection on? That in heaven, life is just a continuation of what we have right now? Not so! Marriage and childbearing may be a necessary part of this life. But in the life to come, they won’t be needed. Why? Because in the life to come, there’s no risk of your family line dying out. In the life to come, the faithful cannot die anymore. That’s why they will be like angels.
Note, Jesus doesn’t say they will be angels. He says they will be equal to angels in that they can’t be touched by death anymore. So, to answer your question “Whose wife will she be?” No one’s! She’ll be a child of God, a child of the resurrection.
Second, says Jesus, you can find evidence of the resurrection in the teachings of the Torah. Where? Here he cites an unexpected source. The story of Moses at the Burning Bush. In Exodus, Chapter 3, God identifies Himself as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. “I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.”
What does this have to do with resurrection? Bible scholars have different views on this. So, let me offer what makes the most sense to me. When the Jews used this name for God, it emphasized the covenant that God made with Israel. A relationship that by nature is eternal. Death in this life therefore doesn’t end that relationship. Those who have died in this life are never dead to God. That’s why Jesus can say, “. . . God is not the God of the dead, but the living. For to Him all are alive.” In life, in death, in life beyond death, God is with us. We are not alone.
Now, whether or not this changed the Sadducees’ thinking about the resurrection, I doubt it. But still Luke tells us after this, no one dared to ask any more questions.
But that doesn’t mean we can’t ask any more questions. So, let me address a question that comes up very frequently among Christians: Will we recognize our loved ones in heaven? Will they recognize us? This is particularly important to those who grieve the loss of a beloved family member or friend. As humans we need assurance that the one who passed is not lost to us forever. That one day we will see them again. Yet, Jesus’ words to the Sadducees give some people pause. Is he saying the identities and relationships we had in this life no longer matter in the next? No, I don’t believe that’s what Jesus is saying at all.
What Jesus is saying is that the ones who have left this earth, the ones who left us behind, are never lost to God. That God will remember them, love them, honor them beyond what they ever received on earth. That should be our greatest comfort. Because God is not only a God of love, but a God of justice.
You know, before I worked on this sermon, I never understood the crucial connection between resurrection and justice. Don’t ask me why I was so slow to get it, I’m just glad I finally did. The epiphany came with this sentence: “In ancient times, belief in the resurrection was strongest among people who were oppressed.”
Why? Because they needed hope. We all need hope. Hope that this life isn’t ‘as good as it gets’. That this life isn’t all anyone gets. There has to be more. Not to escape the suffering and pain of this world or our responsibility to alleviate it. But to give us strength to bear it until Christ comes again. He is our hope.
So, what will heaven be like? How will it be different from what we have now? We don’t know everything but the Bible does tell us some things. And, in my opinion, one of the best descriptions of what we can know comes from Rev. Ken Shedenhelm, a Presbyterian USA minister. So let me share what he says. This passage is a bit long so we’ve put it up on the PPT.
Shedenhelm says there’s so much he doesn’t know about heaven
... but I do know that the river of life runs through it, and I know that the communion we share in church is just a foretaste of the banquet we will share, face-to-face, with our Lord and our God. I don't know what will be served, but I do know that the least will be first.
I don't know who will be in heaven and who won't be, but I do know that heaven will be filled with forgiven sinners – some of whom gave their life for Christ and some of whom cried out, "Remember me," with their dying breath.
I don't what we will do in heaven, but I pray that heaven won't involve any committee meetings. I don't know whether heaven will be filled with traditional or contemporary Christian music, but I do know that heaven will be a place of worship and response.
I don't know whose names will be written in the Book of Life, but I know that heaven will be filled with people who lived lives marked by the fruit of the Spirit. I also know that everyone in heaven will be childlike, and that heaven will be a place without hospitals, or prisons, or graveyards. There will be no violence, no betrayal, no manipulation, no scorecards; nor will there be any Alzheimer's, or cancer, or addiction.
I also know that, in heaven, we will finally be free of self and able, at last, to love God with all of our hearts and our neighbors as ourselves. Heaven will be a place of humility. A place where every knee will bow to Christ and every tongue will confess Him as Lord.
Heaven. Beautiful, isn’t it? Yet it seems like a distant, distant dream, doesn’t it? It’s like the story they tell of a zoo where a lion and a lamb were often found, lying together in the same cage. Amazing,” a visitor exclaimed. “How do you do it?” “It’s simple,” the zookeeper replied, “I just put a new lamb in the cage every morning.”
Shedenhelm says, this is the essence of our problem. We can’t envision the love, joy and peace that God promises because a new lamb is all we seem to get down here on earth. But, friends, take heart. In Christ Jesus, the promise and the power of resurrection are available – to you, to me, to everyone, now and forevermore.
Let’s pray:
Lamb of God, You take away the sins of the world;
Have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, You take away the sins of the world;
Have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, You take away the sins of the world;
Grant us peace.
Amen.
