Saints Triumphant (4)
Notes
Transcript
27 Some of the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus with a question. 28 “Teacher,” they said, “Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and have children for his brother. 29 Now there were seven brothers. The first one married a woman and died childless. 30 The second 31 and then the third married her, and in the same way the seven died, leaving no children. 32 Finally, the woman died too. 33 Now then, at the resurrection whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?” 34 Jesus replied, “The people of this age marry and are given in marriage. 35 But those who are considered worthy of taking part in that age and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage, 36 and they can no longer die; for they are like the angels. They are God’s children, since they are children of the resurrection. 37 But in the account of the bush, even Moses showed that the dead rise, for he calls the Lord ‘the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ 38 He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.”
St. Paul teaches us that the most important belief that we have in Christianity is that there is the resurrection of the dead. (Quote from 1 Corinthians 15).
12 But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. 15 More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. 20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.
Although there are different beliefs in our world about what happens to people after they die (examples), Christianity is strongly assertive on the teaching that just as Jesus died and rose again, he will return on the Last Day and all people who had died before that will be raised.
For Hindus, reincarnation is part of the lifecycle of all souls as they seek to achieve oneness with the supreme spirit, Brahman. Depending on the good or bad deeds people accomplished during their life on earth, they will be reborn or reincarnated as another human, an animal, or an insect.
Buddhists believe that when someone dies, they will be reborn again as something else. What they are reborn as depends on their actions in their previous life (kamma ). The cycle of rebirth is called samsara and it is an ongoing cycle of life, death and rebirth.
Islam: Death is seen not as the termination of life, rather the continuation of life in another form. In Islamic belief, God has made this worldly life as a test and a preparation ground for the afterlife; and with death, this worldly life comes to an end.[7] Thus, every person has only one chance to prepare themselves for the life to come where God will resurrect and judge every individual and will entitle them to rewards or punishment, based on their good or bad deeds.[7][8] Death is also seen as the gateway to the beginning of the afterlife. In Islamic belief, death is predetermined by God, and the exact time of a person's death is known only to God. Death is accepted as wholly natural, and merely marks a transition between the material realm and the unseen world.[9]
Athesists: When you are dead you are dead. There is no more.
It may come as a surprise then, that there was a religious faction in Judaism at the time of Jesus that did not believe in the resurrection (research Sadducees) even though the popular belief was in the resurrection. (See Paul on this).
6 Then Paul, knowing that some of them were Sadducees and the others Pharisees, called out in the Sanhedrin, “My brothers, I am a Pharisee, descended from Pharisees. I stand on trial because of the hope of the resurrection of the dead.” 7 When he said this, a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. 8 (The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, and that there are neither angels nor spirits, but the Pharisees believe all these things.)
In an attempt to discredit Jesus and his teachings, we are told some of the Sadducees approached him with a hypothetical question. They did not really want an answer but they wanted to make the teaching of the resurrection sound ridiculous. A modern equivalent might be “How can God raise the dead of those whose bodies have been cremated, or eaten by animals, or whose organs have been transplanted into someone else?” Doesn’t the body to be raised have to be somewhat intact and all in the same place?”
The Sadducees used an example from Mosaic Law for their question.
This law if known as the Levi-rite Law (research).
5 If brothers are living together and one of them dies without a son, his widow must not marry outside the family. Her husband’s brother shall take her and marry her and fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to her. 6 The first son she bears shall carry on the name of the dead brother so that his name will not be blotted out from Israel. 7 However, if a man does not want to marry his brother’s wife, she shall go to the elders at the town gate and say, “My husband’s brother refuses to carry on his brother’s name in Israel. He will not fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to me.” 8 Then the elders of his town shall summon him and talk to him. If he persists in saying, “I do not want to marry her,” 9 his brother’s widow shall go up to him in the presence of the elders, take off one of his sandals, spit in his face and say, “This is what is done to the man who will not build up his brother’s family line.” 10 That man’s line shall be known in Israel as The Family of the Unsandaled.
In this question there were seven brothers who all ended up marrying the same woman in succession after each of the preceding husbands had died childless.
Sounds complicated. One of my ongoing projects is to work on my family’s genealogy. I use a program called MyHeritage Family Tree Builder. It is not too complicated. Enter the head of the household (default goes to male), spouse, children and vital information for each of them. It presupposes that in the household there will be one male and one female married to each other and that together they will have children that are either male or female at birth and will remain male or female throughout their lives. But we know families are not always like that. A person may have multiple partners (hopefully not at the same time) and that the children may be step children, half-brothers, and sisters, and that on a rare occasion may even change their gender. Having a woman with seven successive husbands who were all brothers would be harder to record. But in the Sadducees question, it was even more difficult. Their argument was that if they all would rise from the dead and perhaps live together in the same household in heaven, how was that going to work? Not only from a relationship status but also from a legal status because even though polygamy was at times practiced, polyandry was not.
Jesus does not play along with their game. He knows they aren’t concerned about the legality of one woman having seven husbands all at the same time. He knows their real issue is not believing in the resurrection. So he addressed that belief instead.
He concurs that marriage is common in this life.
34 Jesus replied, “The people of this age marry and are given in marriage.
He then teaches something that even today some devout Christians misunderstand. There is no marriage in heaven. Not just that you wouldn’t marry someone new in heaven but that your marriage on earth does not continue in heaven.
35 But those who are considered worthy of taking part in the age to come and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage, 36 and they can no longer die; for they are like the angels. They are God’s children, since they are children of the resurrection.
Even though we affirm this in the marriage vows “‘til death do us part”, it is not uncommon for people talking about how when a person dies they are reunited with their husband or wife in heaven who had preceded them in death.
This past week would have been the 10th wedding anniversary of a couple I married. Sadly, he died several years ago. His widow posted a card on Facebook [WELS]
I know we’ll meet again
in another life elsewhere
and those very special moments
we once again will share.
I appreciate that she misses him dearly and that she believes they will see each other again in heaven, but we must be cautionary of defining how that relationship will be in light of what Jesus himself teaches.
Obituary examples: Our Mom, BLANK, 90 years, joined her husband, BLANK, in Heaven on Sunday, October 30, 2022. We are sure Jerry was waiting for her at Heaven’s door; that gives us great comfort if anything can in this moment. [WELS]
Common theme. Heaven is the same as earth only better. But St. Paul, who had a vision of heaven, tells us that heaven is incomprehensibly better than earth. Therefore, we should be careful that we don’t define heaven in earthly terms.
2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows. 3 And I know that this man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows—4 was caught up to paradise and heard inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell.
We can be confidant that they will interact with each other, but no longer as husband and wife.
Second point. The resurrection is taught in the Old Testament too. The Sadducees may have believed that the teaching on the resurrection was a later development in Jewish belief and therefore not to be believed. Jesus contradicts them teaching that people who died in the Old Testament times did not cease to exist. Moses, who lived around 1500 BC, taught the resurrection when he called God the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He did not say God was their God as in only when they were on earth but that he is their God in that their existence did not cease when they died.
23 Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. 24 You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. 25 Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. 26 My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
23 “Oh, that my words were recorded, that they were written on a scroll, 24 that they were inscribed with an iron tool on lead, or engraved in rock forever! 25 I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth. 26 And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; 27 I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!
How was Jesus answer received: Luke 20:39–40 (NIV)
39 Some of the teachers of the law responded, “Well said, teacher!” 40 And no one dared to ask him any more questions.
Conclusion: Jesus’ enemies would sometimes ask him questions not to gain insight from the greatest teacher of all time, but in futile efforts to discredit him. We today may have many questions we would like to ask of Jesus. Hopefully it is to gain a deeper understanding of our relationship with God and for comfort. Some of those questions have to do with the future which we believe awaits us after this lifetime. May we seek answers to those questions from the Bible and be reassured by what we can know and not distressed by what we can’t know yet.
1 Corinthians 13:12 (NIV)
12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.