Luke 20:27-38 for Sunday, November 11, 2007

Translation:
(27)And some Sadducees were approaching (who say there is no resurrection), they asked him (28) saying: "Teacher, Moses wrote for us, if someone's brother should die having a wife and he is childless, that his brother may take the wife and have children for his brother. (29)Now there were seven brothers and the first married and died childless. (30) And the second (31) and the third married her, but likewise the seven did not leave a child and they died. (32) Finally, the wife died. (33)Now then, in the resurrection, whose wife is she? For the seven had her as a wife." (34)And Jesus said to them, "The sons of this age marry and they are given in marriage, (35) but those counted worthy of that age and obtain the resurrection from the dead, they do not marry and are not given in marriage. (36)For they are not able to die, for they are like angels and they are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. (37)And that the dead are raised, even Moses made known in the passage about the burning bush, where he spoke to the Lord God of Abraham and God of Isaac and God of Jacob. (38)But God is not of the dead, but of the living, for all to him are alive."

This passage is filled with some cultural nuances that are lost on us, and would probably have seemed a bit foreign to Luke's audience as well. Luke wrote his Gospel for gentile-Christians (those who came to the faith, but not through Judaism), so some of the nuances of Levite marriage laws would probably have been a bit foreign to them.

In Israelite society, it was common that if a man was married and died without leaving children (without an heir to his property), his widow was not to marry a stranger (and hence, leave family property to chance). Rather, his brother was to take the widow as his wife and have children with her. The children would be considered his brother' s children and the problem of an heir would be solved. You can find these laws in Deuteronomy 25.

Luke introduces the Sadducees, a group we know little about and a group Luke's audience probably didn't recognize either, which is why he tells us that they do not believe in the resurrection. It is obvious that since the Sadducees do not believe in the resurrection, they are testing Jesus with a relatively ridiculous story to see if his resurrection beliefs will hold up.

Jesus' answer is very logical and points the Sadducees in another direction. Jesus says that those who are raised do not marry. It makes sense since they are not dead and there is no reason, therefore, to worry about heirs. So, the question the Sadducees pose is irrelevant. The resurrection is not the same as life as we know it, so the question of marriage in the resurrection is a moot point.

Moreover, Jesus provides evidence from the Hebrew Scriptures to prove to the Sadducees that the resurrection is a truth. He reminds them of the familiar story of Moses and the burning bush (Exodus 3) when Moses calls on the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. In Judaism, it is a well known fact that God is the God of the living, not the dead. In Judaism there is a belief that when one dies they go to Sheol, an shadowy underworld that is a mirrored existence of this life, but with less luster. God is not available in Sheol. In other words, God is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. If Moses could call on the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, then these figures must be alive to God.

It's a very logical argument, but it all rests in an understanding of the culture and the people. I find Jesus' answer reassuring. The resurrection is not like this life. The resurrection is not Sheol, a shadowy underworld, mirrored to this existence. That means that the resurrection is open to a wider possibility, outside of Levite marriage laws, and outside anything we know. It's an exciting answer to a question that makes resurrection sound ridiculous.