A very famous juggler was on his way to his next performance
when he was stopped by a policeman. "What are those knives doing in your car?"
asked the officer. "They are part of my act. I'm a juggler," he answered.
"Oh yeah?" said the officer. "Let's see you do it." So, the juggler
gets out of his car and starts tossing and juggling the knives in the road in front of his
car. About that time, a man drives by, sees him juggling knives and says to his buddy,
"Wow, am I glad I quit drinking, look at the test they're making you take now!"
And that leads us directly to our text for today! The religious leaders were always
putting Jesus to the test. They tried to trip him up on interpretations of the Law or to
see if he would break the Law. That is exactly what is the Sadducees are doing. The ruling
party of the Jews was called the Sanhedrin. In Jesus' day, it was made up of two competing
religious parties or groups, the Pharisee's who believed in the resurrection of the dead
and the Sadducees who did not believe in the resurrection. Most of Jesus' discussions,
recorded in the gospels, are with the Pharisees. But here, the Sadducees surge to the
forefront with their attempts to trick and to trap Jesus.
If we read the text too quickly, we will miss what is surely a large dose of irony and
almost slapstick humor. Look at the text with me, v. 27 tells us that the Sadducees didn't
believe in the resurrection, and we can see their question in v. 34, "in the
resurrection, whose wife will she be?" These men who do not believe in the
resurrection are not asking Jesus a serious question. They are merely trying to trip him
up before the people. The ridiculousness of their asking Jesus about the resurrection
would be like the leaders of atheistic communism asking God if they could sit at his right
or left hand in heaven!!
Now, look at the story they concocted to test Jesus. It is strange at best. Maybe a black
widow detective thriller on the one hand or a silly Three Stooges or Keystone Cops episode
on the other! In v. 28-32 they tell their story to Jesus. From a religious culture where
men could have many wives, Moses had given instruction about caring for widows without
children so that they would not be cast aside to beg or become prostitutes. He said that,
if her husband died, then her husband's brother should marry her and raise up offspring to
his brother. Now this, by itself, is not too outrageous, but now, the revolving door
begins to turn as our imaginations really get stretched. Her first husband dies, and she
marries the second brother. He dies and she marries the third. He dies and she marries the
fourth. I think she may have been working on commission at the local funeral home!! The
doors of the story keep swinging open and closed between weddings, funerals, weddings,
funerals. There were seven brothers. They all married this woman, and they all died! If we
were to take a vote, who do you think would get more sympathy, this unlucky widow, or any
surviving members of these seven brothers' family? To our ears, this story is either a
silly comedy, or it is about a really bad, evil woman who killed seven husbands.
So, here we have a pretty strange story presented by the Sadducees who don't believe in
the resurrection at all being concluded with their question, "In the resurrection,
who's wife will she be?"
Jesus gives them a straight answer, but he knows their game and their religious pretense.
They are about legalism, position and power, and Jesus is not quite through with them.
Look ahead to v. 40 and v. 46-47. When it seems like Jesus has answered and the scene is
over because "they did not have the courage to question Him any longer about
anything," ... "while all the people were listening He said to the disciples,
'Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and love respectful
greetings in the market places, and chief seats in the synagogues, and places of honor at
banquets, who devour widows' houses, and for appearances's sake offer long prayers; these
will receive greater condemnation.'"
As we examine Jesus' response we are reminded of the insincerity of the Sadducees, and,
yet Jesus responds sincerely in answering this question and he also makes a great
affirmation in the process.
What happens to us after we die? This very human question is at the heart of the
Sadducee's attempt to trap Jesus with their extreme example of the woman widowed by seven
brothers. Yet, Jesus understood that the question, "what happens to us after we die
is a sensitive and emotion-laden question for the people of his day and for our day, too.
Will the relationships and bonds we form in this life continue into eternity? Trying to
imagine what the life that God has prepared for us beyond this life is sort of like an
unborn infant still in the womb trying to imagine what life will be like in the vast world
of life that exists on the other side of the womb. We can never fully know. Jesus answers,
"The sons of this age marry, but those who are resurrected in that age neither marry
nor are given in marriage. They are sons of God, sons of the resurrection. So, the first
part of Jesus' answer is that there is not marriage in heaven, and the specialness of our
life with God is hinted at in the second part of his answer.
Surely life with God without our blurred vision and limited understanding will be
something special. Jesus amplifies his response to the Sadducees in v. 37 by affirming the
reality of the resurrection as he affirms that God is a God of the living, not the dead.
He tells us that Moses implied the resurrection when, at the burning bush, he calls the
Lord the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. The reasoning Jesus uses
is that, if these were all dead, it would be improper to say "the God of . . .
." Therefore, since God is a God of the living, though these patriarchs are
dead to this world and no longer with us, they are alive and are with God in the
resurrection.
The key word in Jesus' response is the word translated "living" in v. 38. It is
the Greek word, zwtwn, which is a present
active participle from the root word, zwh -
life. Translated as living, the present tense means the action is continuous The Greeks
distinguished somewhat between bios, which
was any kind of life, and zwh, which
referred to the vitality of life. In the New Testament this word has come to mean, not
only the vitality of life, but the eternal kind of life that God gives through Jesus. When
we hear Jesus saying that God is a God of the "living," zwtwn,
we can also hear him saying that we who are alive in Christ shall continue to live,
zwtwn, because God is a God of the living, not the
dead.
We are reminded of Jesus' words which use this special word for continuous life that are
recorded in the Gospel of John. In Jn 10:10b " I am come that you might have life in
all of its abundance." Also, in Jn 1:4 John wrote "In Him was life, and the life
was the light of men." This kind of life makes a difference. This kind of life
changes people's lives. This kind of life offers grace and forgiveness and new beginnings.
Is there a resurrection? There sure is. Does it make a difference? Yes, it does. We can
have a stronger faith to live our lives for God, and we have a stronger, more compelling
reason to share God's love with others. How do we experience this kind of life that
continues into the new age?
Jews, today, do not believe in the resurrection. The theology of the Sadducees won out and
has been passed on in modern Judaism. To us in the Christian faith who do believe in a
resurrection, this strikes us as cold and sad. Years ago, singer Peggy Lee sang a song
about life with the sad, lamenting question, "Is that all there is?"
If that is all there is then maybe the materialistic world is right--those that have the
most expensive toys and have the most money when we die win! Or maybe it is those that
have the most power, or most prestige, or popularity or fame that win--if . . . that is
all . . . there is.
Jesus talked about this special kind of life differently. He said that he that would be
the greatest would be the servant of all, that he who seeks to save his life will lose it,
but he who loses his life for Christ will find it.
Jesus wanted his disciples to, not only experience this life themselves, but he wanted
them to share it with others. Before the resurrected Jesus ascended into heaven, he gave
us a sacred duty as his followers. "Go into all the world and make disciples,
baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit." And, he added
a promise, "And, lo, I am with you always, even unto the ends of the world."
Is there a new life in Christ and does it make a difference? The answer is Yes to both
questions. I received a poem that tells a special story that also talks about this
special, continuing life that we can have in Christ. It is called, "Jim Checkin'
In":
A minister passing through his church in the middle of the day,
Decided to pause by the altar and see who had come to pray.
Just then the back door opened, a man came down the aisle,
The minister frowned as he saw the man hadn't shaved in a while.
His shirt was kinda' shabby and his coat was worn and frayed.
The man knelt, he bowed his head, then rose and walked away.
In the days that followed, each noon time came this chap,
Each time he knelt just for a moment, a lunch pail in his lap.
Well, the minister's suspicions grew, with robbery a main fear,
He decided to stop the man and ask him, "Whatcha' doin' here?"
The old man, he worked down the road. Lunch was half an hour.
Lunchtime was his prayer time, for finding strength and power.
"I stay only moments, see, 'cause the factory is so far away;
As I kneel here talkin' to the Lord, this is kind' what I say:
"I just came again to tell you, Lord,
How happy I've been,
Since we found each other's friendship
and you took away my sin.
I don't know much of how to pray,
But I think about you everyday.
So, Jesus, this is Jim checkin' in."
The minister feeling foolish, told Jim, that was fine.
He told the man he was welcome to come and pray just any time.
Time to go, Jim smiled, said "Thanks." He hurried to the door.
The minister knelt at the altar--so seldom done before.
His cold, heart melted, warmed with love, met with Jesus there.
As the tears flowed, in his heart, he repeated old Jim's prayer:
"I just came again to tell you, Lord,
How happy I've been,
Since we found each other's friendship
and you took away my sin.
I don't know much of how to pray,
But I think about you everyday.
So, Jesus, this is me checkin' in."
Past noon one day, the minister noticed that old Jim hadn't come.
As more days passed without Jim, he began to worry some.
At the factory, he asked about him, learning he was ill.
The hospital staff was worried, but he'd given them a thrill.
The week that Jim was with them, brought changes in the ward.
His smiles, a joy contagious. Charmed people, his reward.
The head nurse couldn't understand why Jim was so glad.
When no flowers, calls or cards came, not a visitor he had.
The minister stayed by his bed, he voiced the nurse's concern:
No friends came to show they cared. He had nowhere to turn.
Looking surprised, old Jim spoke up and with a winsome smile:
"The nurse is wrong, she couldn't know, that all the while
Everyday at noon He's here, a dear friend of mine, you see,
He sits right down, takes my hand, leans over and says to me:
"I just came again to tell you, Jim,
how happy I have been,
since we found this friendship,
and I took away your sin.
I always love to hear you pray,
I think about you every day,
and so, Jim, this is Jesus checkin' in."--Anonymous
This story teaches us about LIFE, zwh, a
continuing life with the God of the Living, not the dead. Is this LIFE available to you?
Is this LIFE worth sharing with others? We know the answer is YES to both questions.
That's why we preach and teach the Good News of Jesus Christ; that's why we offer an
invitation in our worship; that's why God sends us from this worship with a sacred
duty--to share God's love with others. The resurrection is important, and
it makes a difference!