Sermon for 11/6/22 "God of the Living" 15 Minutes

Luke 20:27-38

This morning I'll be reading Luke chapter 20 verses 27 through 38. And I'll be reading from the Holman Christian Standard Bible. Luke 20:27-38 Jesus is teaching in the temple area,,, just outside the temple,,, where the people can hear His message. Now that He is in Jerusalem,,, the religious leaders are still trying to trap Him in some type of comment that they can use against Him,,, especially since He is teaching there at this time.

Luke 20:27–38 (HCSB) 27 Some of the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came up and questioned Him: 28 “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother has a wife, and dies childless, his brother should take the wife and produce offspring for his brother. 29 Now there were seven brothers. The first took a wife and died without children. 30 Also the second 31 and the third took her. In the same way, all seven died and left no children. 32 Finally, the woman died too. 33 In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For all seven had married her.” 34 Jesus told them, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage. 35 But those who are counted worthy to take part in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. 36 For they cannot die anymore, because they are like angels and are sons of God, since they are sons of the resurrection. 37 Moses even indicated in the passage about the burning bush that the dead are raised, where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. 38 He is not God of the dead but of the living, because all are living to Him.” The word of God for the people of God,,, thanks be to God! God bless the reading and the hearing of your word this morning. Let us pray: Dear Lord,,, as we begin this morning,,, with everyone here today and all that are listening and watching by video,,, we ask that you open our ears to hear and our hearts and minds to receive the message that you have for us today,,, In Jesus' name I pray,,, Amen. ----------------------------------------------------------- Last Sunday we looked at Luke 19:1-10 and seen that Jesus has made it a point to come to Zacchaeus’ home and bring him to a decision that has eternal consequences.

And Zacchaeus made that possible,,, by running ahead,,, so that he could have a “Life Changing Meeting” with Jesus.

He had to put forth his own work so that he was in a position to hear Jesus’ words.

We can have our own “Life Changing Meeting” with Jesus by making sure that we are where we can see Him today!

And we can do that by spending time reading God’s word,,, being sure that we are striving to do what’s needed to hear Jesus’ words.

It doesn’t matter what sins we have committed before meeting Jesus either,,, just as it didn’t keep Zacchaeus away,,, because all we need to do is be where Jesus can communicate with us.

And that is easiest accomplished when we read the Bible like we should,,, so that we are where we have the opportunity for God to speak,,, or,,, I should say,,, we are in a position to hear His voice,,, since so many times we are too busy to hear God speak when He does.

So all of the things that we do to strengthen our relationship with God are needed.

So many times,,, we have a tendency to go through the motions without putting forth the effort needed to be where we have that “Life Changing Meeting”.

We want to just coast along without any worries,,, but that must change.

We must make time for God,,, just as Zacchaeus had to make an effort to see Jesus,,, we must make an effort to see Jesus as well,,, if we want to hear the words from Jesus,,, that makes that “Life Changing Meeting”,,, worthwhile.

This morning we will look at these verses in Luke 20 and see how they help us in our walk with God this week.

----------------------------------------------------------- Verse 27 says: 27 Some of the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came up and questioned Him:

Since the religious leaders were afraid to do anything to Jesus because of the people,,, they kept a close watch on Him.

They were hoping to catch Him in some teaching that the crowds would not like,,, which would allow them to prosecute Him legally.

The Sadducees didn't believe in the bodies of the dead ever being raised,,, but the Pharisees did believe.

As a result,,, they have had multiple arguments,,, on going arguments,,, about this.

So the Sadducees use this question to try to trap Jesus,,, again,,, trying to figure out something that they can use against Him.

So their question on resurrection,,, wasn't to get an honest answer,,, but to find a way to make Jesus look foolish,,, by presenting an extremely,,, hypothetical case.

----------------------------------------------------------- Verses 28 through 33 say: 28 “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother has a wife, and dies childless, his brother should take the wife and produce offspring for his brother. 29 Now there were seven brothers. The first took a wife and died without children. 30 Also the second 31 and the third took her. In the same way, all seven died and left no children. 32 Finally, the woman died too. 33 In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For all seven had married her.”

The Sadducees were using the law of Moses taken from Deuteronomy 25:5.

That says,,, a man was supposed to marry his brother’s widow in order to carry on the family name and preserve the family property.

And in this example they made it really outrageous since two brothers would have sufficed,,, instead of 7.

They assumed that this would be an unanswerable question that they had probably already used in their arguments with others.

But,,, as we will see,,, Jesus has an answer.

----------------------------------------------------------- Verse 34 says: 34 Jesus told them, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage.

Jesus answered that the marriage relationship was for this life only; - it would not be continued in heaven.

He did not say that husbands and wives would not recognize each other in heaven,,, but their relationship there would be on a completely different basis.

I would imagine that our focus will be on God,,, and the magnificence of heaven,,, everything that has been prepared for us,,, instead of what we might want,,, or expect the way that things will be,,, and I believe that thought might come today because of our limited knowledge while here on earth.

----------------------------------------------------------- Verses 35 and 36 say: 35 But those who are counted worthy to take part in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. 36 For they cannot die anymore, because they are like angels and are sons of God, since they are sons of the resurrection.

The expression “those who are counted worthy to take part in that age ”,,, doesn’t mean that anyone is personally worthy of heaven: — the only worthiness sinners can have,,, is the worthiness of our Lord and Savior,,, Jesus Christ.

Coates,,, the author of a commentary of Luke's Gospel says: “Those are counted worthy who judge themselves, who vindicate Christ, and who own that all worthiness belongs to Him.”

Without Christ,,, we will never be worthy,,, it’s only through His love for us that we can ever stand before God,,, and enter heaven.

The phrase,,, that age and in the resurrection from the dead,,, refers to a resurrection of believers that occurs at that time,,, and,,, to the age that will follow final judgment— - - when God’s enemies are defeated and His kingdom is fully established (for clarity you can look at Revelation 20:1–21:27).

Since we will live without the threat of death,,, there will be no need of a marriage relationship like we had here on earth.

Jesus did not say that resurrected people become angels.

His point was,,, that they,,, like angels,,, will be immortal.

----------------------------------------------------------- Verses 37 and 38 say: 37 Moses even indicated in the passage about the burning bush that the dead are raised, where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. 38 He is not God of the dead but of the living, because all are living to Him.”

My Believer’s Bible commentary says: To prove the resurrection, Jesus referred to Exodus 3:6 where Moses quoted the Lord as calling Himself the God of Abraham, … Isaac, and … Jacob.

Now if the Sadducees would have just stopped to think,,, they would have realized that:

(1) God is not the God of the dead,,, but of the living.

(2) Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were all dead,,, so the necessary conclusion is,,, that God must raise them from the dead.

The Lord did not say “I “was”... the God of Abraham …,” but “I am.…”

The character of God,,, as the God of the living,,, should have proven the resurrection to them,,, just as it does for us today.

----------------------------------------------------------- This revelation is important for us today when we are searching for answers to help us in our faith.

To know that “God is “The God of the Living” should give us the confidence to know that the resurrection is a definite future event that we can all look forward to as children of God.

We should also be aware,,, that satan will always be looking for any way that he can trip us up and make us doubt God.

That’s why that it is so important to study the Bible so that when someone tries to trick you into something that you will regret later,,, you can do the right thing by obeying God going forward,,, and by doing so,,, maybe you will be able to help them to see the error that is making them see things the wrong way.

By doing that,,, you will save yourself,,, and hopefully,,, someone else!

The Sadducees said that they knew the Bible,,, but they really didn’t.

We can see that when we look at these scriptures,,, and see how much they actually missed,,, once Jesus showed them the information that they could not see,,, even though it was something that they knew about,,, but they apparently didn’t understand.

So be sure that you remember these verses,,, remember that God is “The God of the Living”,,, and because of everything that Jesus Christ did for us,,, we will be able to spend eternity with Him,,, and live,,, victoriously,,, forever more!

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