Luke 20:27–40

²⁷There came to him some Sadducees, those who deny that there is a resurrection,

²⁸and they asked him a question, saying, "Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies, having a wife but no children, the man must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother.

²⁹Now there were seven brothers. The first took a wife, and died without children.

³⁰And the second

³¹and the third took her, and likewise all seven left no children and died.

³²Afterward the woman also died.

³³In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had her as wife."

³⁴And Jesus said to them, "The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage,

³⁵but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage,

³⁶for they cannot die anymore, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.

³⁷But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed, in the passage about the bush, where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.

³⁸Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all live to him."

³⁹Then some of the scribes answered, "Teacher, you have spoken well."

⁴⁰For they no longer dared to ask him any question.

Just who are these Sadducees anyway? This dialogue between them and Jesus leaves a nasty taste in our mouth. The fact is, this is the only time in the Gospel of St. Luke that they are even mentioned, but they seem to be quite hostile.

The Sadducees were a religious party in Jerusalem. The scribes are also mentioned at the end of our text, but they were Pharisees. These are two distinct groups with two distinct beliefs. They are not the same. The Sadducees were wealthy and consisted of the privileged families in Jerusalem. They were the religious party to which the priests belonged. Caiaphas the high priest along with his father-in-law Annas headed the corrupt family that ruled the temple, controlled the treasury and led the party of the Sadducees.

Religiously, they were completely devoted to the temple worship. They were very particular and strict in their observance of the ceremonial laws, worship laws, the sacrifices and rituals given by Moses. They considered only the Books of Moses to be Scripture because that is where the worship and sacrifice laws are given.

Sociologically they were separated from the common Jewish people because they were Hellenists. That means, they were attracted to the culture and society of the Greeks and Romans and cooperated with the Romans, and were insiders with Pontius Pilate.

Theologically they were enemies of the Pharisees and scribes regarding doctrines such as the resurrection of the dead and eternal life. They didn't believe in the existences of angels or any spiritual reality. In other words, they were completely secular materialists. Verse 27 in our text clearly states that they denied that there is a resurrection from the dead. In fact the Greek here uses a double negative. Unlike English, a double negative in Greek doubles the strength of the negative. They didn't just deny the resurrection, they really, really denied it. They were opposed to resurrection; hostile to the very idea. The Sadducees can be compared to the skeptics, the agnostics, and the materialists of today who reject Christ and who don't even believe in a spiritual realm or life after death; those who deny that there is a heaven or hell, a soul, or eternal life. Who say religion is just a crutch if not even an evil invented by man to oppress one another. These people are the modern day equivalent to the Sadducees of Jesus' day. Yes, even Jesus had to put up with challenges from secularism and materialism.

Now, this entire scenario they put before Jesus about a widow having seven husbands and no children, is based on the levirate law which God gave to Moses. They were correct in their interpretation of Scripture here, but they thought that this hypothetical case would logically prove that there is no resurrection of the dead.

How did Jesus answer them? Starting at verse 34 he says, "The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage." This age, meaning here in this world, in this current life. Here people marry and have children, because that is what God told Adam and Eve to do. In the creation God established marriage so that humanity could reflect the communion of God, multiply and fill the earth and receive the promise of a savior through their progeny, in the seed of the woman. Marriage reflects the mystical union of Christ and his bride, the church, who now waits for his return and the consummation. Marriage and procreation is the vocation that God gave to mankind in this world, but in the age to come, there will be no marriage.

Jesus says that "those who are considered worthy, attain to that age and to the resurrection of the dead." Now, who are those considered worthy to attain the resurrection of the dead? They are people whom God considers worthy. God considers people worthy only on the merits of Jesus Christ. It is only by the perfect obedience of Jesus, by his suffering, by his death and by his resurrection that we are considered worthy by God. Christ by his death for us makes us worthy in God's eyes. There are no good works that make you worthy before God, for "by works of the law shall no flesh be justified," says St, Paul (Gal 2).

Jesus tells us that these people cannot die anymore. Note that he uses the word, "cannot." He doesn't just say they will not die, rather, they "cannot" die. They are unable to die. Death is not even a possibility in heaven. Those considered worthy on account of the sacrifice of Christ, will be like the angels, in the sense that they cannot die. Notice, Jesus even manages to sneak in the word "angels" to hammer even harder on the Sadducees.

Then Jesus becomes polemical and takes on the Sadducees denial of the resurrection. For this he invokes Moses, the only one they accepted as a prophet of God. He quotes from Exodus chapter 3, our Old Testament reading today, where Moses cites God as saying that he is "the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." The only problem is that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob lived 400 hundred years before Moses. So Moses himself thus states that Abraham and Isaac and Jacob were still alive, because God is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for all live in him. This from the mouth of their greatest hero, destroys the beliefs of the Sadducees. Moses himself proves that the dead live. The Sadducees were silenced, and are never mentioned again in the Gospel of Luke. The scribes, who were Pharisees, not Sadducees, applauded the victory of Jesus over the Sadducees.

What then is Jesus really saying? Since Jesus has made clear that his authority is from God and the hearer knows that he is the Son of God and the Messiah, Jesus is essentially saying that he, himself, is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It was Jesus, before his incarnation as a man, who was speaking to Moses in the burning bush. Jesus concludes that even now he is the God of the living, not of the dead, for all who are in Jesus are alive. For "whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's," says St. Paul. (Rom 14:8). For "neither death nor life...will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord," (Rom 8:38-39). Jesus is, right here, saying that "he is the resurrection and the life, for all are living in him." Jesus is saying that he is the God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob and in a few days, for this discussion took place during Holy Week, Jesus would prove to the Sadducees that there is a resurrection from the dead.

In Jesus all things live, because he is the God of the living and not the dead. "In him we live and move and have our being," (Acts 17:28). Since the creator has come to his creation as a creature to bring in a new creation, all things must have their life in him. He is the way, the truth, and the life. Right here Jesus is saying, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die." Indeed, he is the Son of God who is coming into the world. (John 11:25-27). "For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive," (I Cor 15:22). Jesus abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, (II Tim 1:10).

We are in the last three weeks of the liturgical calendar. As the days get shorter and the darkness increases, the liturgical calendar turns our eyes to the second coming of Jesus: the end of the world and the final judgment. The resurrection means that at that time all the promises of God will become a reality for us. Although the glorious promises of God do not now occur visibly, the resurrection of Jesus is a witness and sign that we too shall rise from the dead. The Bible promises life and immortality, but we still die. It tells us that our sins have been wiped away, but we still sin. It tells us that we are sanctified by the Holy Spirit, but we still walk in selfishness and unrighteousness. It tells us that Jesus has healed all our diseases and sicknesses, but we still get sick, lie in hospital beds and are put into nursing homes. It tells us that all wrongs will be righted, but we still hurt and suffer from offenses. It tells us that our minds and hearts are renewed, but our minds are full of filth and our hearts are still broken. The Apostle John tells us that "we are God's children now, but what we will be has not yet appeared." What Christ has done for us has yet to become visible. But at the resurrection we will see it all with our eyes. If, as the Sadducees say, there is no resurrection, then we have no hope. Our faith is in vain. The promises of God are just a bunch of hot air. We will live our miserable lives here on earth and then we will die and none of what God promises will we ever see. The Apostle Paul says, "If the dead are not raised, then your faith is futile, you are still in your sins, those who have fallen asleep have perished, and we are, of all people, most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead!" (I Cor 15).

Therefore, we who believe and have been baptized, "have passed out of death into life," (I John 3:14). So then, "do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin shall have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace," says St. Paul (Rom 6:13-14). "For if we live, we live to the Lord," (Rom 14:8). The resurrection means that we are more than just washed from sin; we are raised from the dead, released from the power of sin and death. Sin and death now have no power over us. We are new creatures in Christ, new people, raised to live life unto God our creator and redeemer.

So put away your old life of sin and selfishness. You now have a new life. You now have been brought to life in baptism. The old, sinful you that was you when you were born, was drowned in baptism and a new you, holy unto God, was raised to life. You have passed from death to life; a life lived unto God. Amen.