Title: The God of the Living
Scripture: Luke 20:27-38
In our Gospel reading today, a trap disguised as a
theological puzzle lands at Jesus’ feet. The Sadducees believe there is no
resurrection after you die, so they pose a question designed to show that
belief in the resurrection as foolishness.
They tell of a woman whose husband dies and so she marries
his brother – he dies also and she marries another brother – and so on until
she has married all 7 brothers and they ask – whose wife will she be in heaven.
But Jesus doesn’t take the bait; he redirects the
conversation toward the heart of God’s promises. In his answer, we encounter a
foundational truth: God is the God of the living. This truth reshapes how we
understand death, life, and our daily faith.
The scenario put by the Saducees reveals a deeper reality:
life under God is not going to be a continuation of what we do in this life.
The Sadducees rely on an old testament marriage law to test
Jesus (a man dies and his brother marries the widow to raise up offspring for
the family).
Their question assumes a world where earthly
patterns—marriage, inheritance, and family structures—define eternity.
The Sadducees’ question presumes that resurrection life is
simply an extension of earthly life—same relationships, same rules, same
limitations. Jesus responds not by solving their puzzle, but by reframing the
entire conversation.
Jesus answers by saying, in effect, that the present patterns
of life on earth do not determine the life to come. The age to come operates by
its own order, in which human institutions as we know them do not constrain
reality in heaven.
The bigger question is not whose wife will this woman be?”
In the resurrection the bigger question will be “what is
God’s eternal reality, in which all life is kept and sustained by our Creator?”
The nature of life in the resurrection is about eternal life
with God, not repetition of earthly roles.
This is not a dismissal of marriage or human love. It’s a
declaration that resurrection life is different. It’s not bound by the
structures we create to manage mortality. It’s a life where death no longer
defines us, where relationships are eternal and rooted in God’s love.
Jesus goes further to explain what life will be like in the
age to come: “The people of this age marry and are given in marriage. 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. And they cannot die
anymore, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons of
the resurrection.”
This isn’t a dismissal of human love or a denial of
personhood; it is a transformation of our existence.
This is something absolutely brand new.
In the resurrection, we are made fit for eternal life with
God—no longer bound by the limitations and vulnerabilities of mortal life.
No longer separated because of our sins.
No longer wondering – does God really love me.
We become “children of God,” part of an eternal family whose
life is together in God’s own life.
In John’s Revelation he says just that:
Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth, for the first
heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any
sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming
down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed
for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the
throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will
dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with
them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their
eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or
pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
The eternal truth that Jesus reveals is that God is the God
of the living.
Jesus strengthens his point with a reminder that: “He is not
the God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.”
Jesus is quoting Moses
at the burning bush: “He is the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God
of Jacob. He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are
alive.”
So even those long gone are alive to God. Resurrection is not
just a future hope—it’s a present reality in God’s eternal perspective.
The God who spoke creation into being is not bound by death’s
finality.
The patriarchs—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—are not silenced by
the grave; they live in the presence of God.
This is not merely an explanation of the past; it is
assurance for the present and for the future.
If God is the God of the living, then our trust, worship, and
obedience are oriented toward a God who sustains life beyond what we can see.
The Christian faith rests not on the denial of death but on
the encounter with the living God who invites us into everlasting life.
So what does this mean for us?
It means that hope relieves sorrow:
As St Paul says to the Thessalonians – let us grieve but not
like those who have no hope.
The truth that God is the God of the living gives us a hope to
interpret death, grief, and loss.
It does not erase pain, but it reshapes our
perspective—trusting that life continues in God and that God holds all who are
in Christ.
We also learn to value people and relationships rightly:
We also live with eternal hope now:
The resurrection is not a future event to fear or debate
about;
It is the ultimate reality that informs how we love, forgive,
serve, and bear witness today.
Our priorities should align with the values of God’s
kingdom—compassion, justice, mercy, faithfulness.
As we pray in the Lord’s prayer – your kingdom come – your will
be done on earth as it is in heaven.
And we take comfort in Christ in all circumstances:
For those facing death or the illness of loved ones, this
message offers comfort that there is life beyond the grave in the God who loves
us and keeps his promises.
Jesus’ response to the Sadducees is not merely a clever
rebuttal; it’s a proclamation: the God who created us is the God who gives us
life—life that transcends the grave.
Because God is the God of the living, we live with hope,
integrity, and purpose, rooted in the resurrection reality that Jesus himself
embodies.
And as St Paul points out to the Corinthians - if our hope in
Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the
world.
Which means we are called to live as children of the
resurrection now with assurance.
To love not out of fear or obligation, but out of abundance
that God has provided to us.
To see others not as rivals or burdens, as the Sadducees and
Pharisees did of Jesus, but as fellow heirs of eternal life.
To trust that God’s promises are not limited by death, but
fulfilled beyond it.
The Sadducees asked a question about death. Jesus answered
with a vision of life.
May we live into that vision—with hope, with courage, and
with joy.
And the peace of God that surpasses our understanding watch
over your hearts, now and forever. Amen
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