Twenty-fifth Sunday after Pentecost, November 6, 2016
Revised Common Lectionary, Cycle C,
1 Corinthian 15:12-20, Acts 23:6-11, Luke 20:27-40
Hope International Mission
By Young Kim
Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance from God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
A professor opened his lecture with a question. Sunday and Friday, which day is more favorable to you? The students answered “It’s Friday.” Then the professor asked again “Why? You still work on Friday and you are off on Sunday.” Again, the students answered “It’s because Friday is the last day of work and the weekend is coming but even though Sunday is an off day, it’s not always fun, because we have to prepare to start another new week. With a smile, the professor continued his lecture saying, “Human beings live the future. Even though the present is painful and rough, we bear the present hoping for the brighter future that will come to us. Therefore, the present life without hope has no meaning for us.”
Just like the lecture, we, as Christians, live with hope for the future but our hope is not in this earthly living. Our hope is in resurrection of the dead since Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead and become the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep.
If we look at the background of today’s story, Jesus came to Jerusalem to spend his last days in the Temple before he died on the cross. During these significant times, he cleansed the Temple and taught the Kingdom of God in the Temple every day while his opponents seek the opportunity and means by which to kill him. So many religious leaders came to argue with Jesus trying to trouble him in any way possible. Today’s reading is also about one of the arguments with them. Some of the Sadducees came and asked a question to Jesus as we just read.
First, let’s talk about the Sadducees. They were one of the religious leaders in Jesus’ time and they were rivals in some ways to Pharisees. I believe that I have mentioned about Pharisees several times in the sermon. So you might know about Pharisees pretty well. The Pharisees and the Sadducees are the two most well-known Jewish sects in Jesus’ time. While the Pharisees, who were keepers of the Law, believed in the resurrection of the human body, spirit and the existence of angel, the Sadducees denied bodily resurrection, immortality of the soul or existence of a spirit world. Also, they only recognized the Law of Moses, the first five books in the Old Testaments, as fully authoritative Scriptures. The Sadducees were a relatively small group, but they generally held the high priesthood. Because they sat close to the authority and denied the after-life, they put weight to the present life and put much effort to apply God’s law to the present life. Although they had the intention of plotting Jesus into trouble when they asked him the question in today’s text, it was also a good example of how they actually interpreted God’s law. In other words, the Pharisees and the Sadducees were in conflict with some of their beliefs, but they had the same purpose to put Jesus in a hot spot in today’s reading. Then let’s look deeper into their question.
They asked to Jesus “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies, leaving a wife but no children, the man shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother. Now there were seven brothers; the first married, and died childless; then the second and the third married her, and so in the same way all seven died childless. Finally the woman also died. In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had married her.”
This is a theoretical question that has been intentionally crafted with the Jewish law to prove that the whole idea of resurrection was absurd. Also, we can see their cunningly smart perception of reality. It was very smart to relate the Kingdom of heaven and resurrection with the marriage issue by asking whose wife would the woman be when they all die.
To this ridiculous question, Jesus responds clearly. Even some of the Pharisees who had plotted to trouble Jesus admired how Jesus answered them. They said, “Teacher, you have spoken well!”
Now then, let’s read all together how Jesus answered to them in verse 34-38. “Jesus said to them, “Those who belong to this age marry and are given in marriage; but those who are considered worthy of a place in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. Indeed they cannot die anymore, because they are like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection. And the fact that the dead are raised Moses himself showed, in the story about the bush, where he speaks of the Lord as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive.””
Jesus directs them to a clearer understanding by pointing out two things. First, Jesus clarifies their misconception on resurrection. Resurrection life is fundamentally different from our present life here in this world. Second, Jesus clarifies their misconception on the law by referring to another passage from the Law of Moses in Exodus 3, where Moses meets with God in the burning bush. Jesus explains that God reveal’s God’s holy name to Moses by saying that God is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Jesus uses present tense there by saying “he is God not of the dead, but of the living”. This implies that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob must be living somewhere in the Kingdom of God, which necessitates the belief of resurrection.
The statement itself that God is the God of living people was astonishing. This statement also implies that God transcends the time and space. This means that God exists in the past, present, and the future, and sees through the life of billions of years at the same time through a diachronic view. For God, all history of this earth and the humanity is present, and for God, all future that is yet to come to us is also present. This is what it means to say that God was, is, and is to come. Therefore, according to God’s view, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are still living. For example, let us imagine that we are looking down from the top of a high building. We can see the accident that has happened at the corner of the road, but for the ones who are driving inside the car, they can only see what is happening in front of them; hence, the accident that they will witness is yet a future for them. But for us, who have been seeing all this from above, everything is present for us. Also, when Jesus expressed God as the God of the living, he was implying that their ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Israel are not dead but living. For the Sadducees, the law was merely a tradition that ran down from the dead Moses and their dead ancestors. But by the explicit response of Jesus, they are confirmed and enlightened that the law is living, that their ancestors are still living and protecting them, and that the same God who had protected their ancestors is still present with them. This is why the Pharisee scribes welcomed this answer of Jesus who believed in resurrection.
How about us? What hope and confirmation does this response of Jesus give us? Just like Jesus confirming the faith of resurrection to the people 2000 years ago, do you believe that the living God is confirming to us the resurrection and the eternal life? I believe that we all carry the loss of our loved ones in our heart. I invite you to recall the names one by one and remember how they had lived to be a light of someone’s life and how they have remained as a shining example in our faith journey. They lived their life with hope in the resurrection in Christ and now they are living in the promised home, thinking of you, praying for you, and waiting for the day of reunion with you in the future.
As the ones who still remain in this world, how should we live in light of the hope of resurrection that we carry inside of us? Remember that Jesus clearly said, “those who are considered worthy of a place in that age” regarding the resurrection. This means that there are people who will be granted the resurrection, whereas, there will be people who will not be given the grace of resurrection. We can interpret this as an implication to the Sadducees that their unbelief will not grant them resurrection, but we can also take this as a warning for us, that we could be the ones who will not be granted the resurrection. What scares us is that even we as Christians often think and act like the Sadducees. Aren’t we living a life that hopes and prefers the worldly things and reputation on this earth just like the Sadducees? Aren’t we occupied by what is going on in our life, letting our emotions flow up and down according to the good and bad things that happen in our life? Aren’t we ignoring the wellness of our soul and our relationship with God? We scarcely admit this, but we are often swayed by the things that are going on in our life and try to fix things alone, instead of asking God to rule over our life.
Where do you put your hope in this life? I want you to recall the stories that we have learned during the past several Sundays. The stories of Zacchaeus, Job, the tax collector who would not look up to heave, but beat his breast and repent, the Samaritan leper who returned to thank Jesus, and so on… All these stories were heading toward the same theme, and that is, humbleness and repentance.
Let us lift our eyes to a higher place. Let us lift our eyes further away from the near future and the reality of our everyday life. The countless saints who preceded us are giving an important lesson to us: that life and death are closely connected to each other, and that death is a new start of life that is full of joy and abundance.
When a child is inside the mother’s womb, the child thinks that the 10-months in the womb is all that is in his or her life. But when the child is born, he or she will finally be enlightened to see the unimaginable abundance and experience in this world. In this sense, we could imagine that our life in this world is perhaps like how a child is living inside the mother’s womb. We can only see what is in front of us, and we cannot imagine what is being prepared for us. Therefore, as we repent and humble ourselves every moment, God allows us to taste the joy and wisdom of resurrection in our present life.
Like I said in the beginning, we are human beings that live the future. I encourage all of us to live and win the race of our daily faith journey, hoping for the resurrection after death, the life everlasting, and the life full of abundance, peace, and joy.
Revised Common Lectionary, Cycle C,
1 Corinthian 15:12-20, Acts 23:6-11, Luke 20:27-40
Hope International Mission
By Young Kim
Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance from God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
A professor opened his lecture with a question. Sunday and Friday, which day is more favorable to you? The students answered “It’s Friday.” Then the professor asked again “Why? You still work on Friday and you are off on Sunday.” Again, the students answered “It’s because Friday is the last day of work and the weekend is coming but even though Sunday is an off day, it’s not always fun, because we have to prepare to start another new week. With a smile, the professor continued his lecture saying, “Human beings live the future. Even though the present is painful and rough, we bear the present hoping for the brighter future that will come to us. Therefore, the present life without hope has no meaning for us.”
Just like the lecture, we, as Christians, live with hope for the future but our hope is not in this earthly living. Our hope is in resurrection of the dead since Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead and become the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep.
If we look at the background of today’s story, Jesus came to Jerusalem to spend his last days in the Temple before he died on the cross. During these significant times, he cleansed the Temple and taught the Kingdom of God in the Temple every day while his opponents seek the opportunity and means by which to kill him. So many religious leaders came to argue with Jesus trying to trouble him in any way possible. Today’s reading is also about one of the arguments with them. Some of the Sadducees came and asked a question to Jesus as we just read.
First, let’s talk about the Sadducees. They were one of the religious leaders in Jesus’ time and they were rivals in some ways to Pharisees. I believe that I have mentioned about Pharisees several times in the sermon. So you might know about Pharisees pretty well. The Pharisees and the Sadducees are the two most well-known Jewish sects in Jesus’ time. While the Pharisees, who were keepers of the Law, believed in the resurrection of the human body, spirit and the existence of angel, the Sadducees denied bodily resurrection, immortality of the soul or existence of a spirit world. Also, they only recognized the Law of Moses, the first five books in the Old Testaments, as fully authoritative Scriptures. The Sadducees were a relatively small group, but they generally held the high priesthood. Because they sat close to the authority and denied the after-life, they put weight to the present life and put much effort to apply God’s law to the present life. Although they had the intention of plotting Jesus into trouble when they asked him the question in today’s text, it was also a good example of how they actually interpreted God’s law. In other words, the Pharisees and the Sadducees were in conflict with some of their beliefs, but they had the same purpose to put Jesus in a hot spot in today’s reading. Then let’s look deeper into their question.
They asked to Jesus “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies, leaving a wife but no children, the man shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother. Now there were seven brothers; the first married, and died childless; then the second and the third married her, and so in the same way all seven died childless. Finally the woman also died. In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had married her.”
This is a theoretical question that has been intentionally crafted with the Jewish law to prove that the whole idea of resurrection was absurd. Also, we can see their cunningly smart perception of reality. It was very smart to relate the Kingdom of heaven and resurrection with the marriage issue by asking whose wife would the woman be when they all die.
To this ridiculous question, Jesus responds clearly. Even some of the Pharisees who had plotted to trouble Jesus admired how Jesus answered them. They said, “Teacher, you have spoken well!”
Now then, let’s read all together how Jesus answered to them in verse 34-38. “Jesus said to them, “Those who belong to this age marry and are given in marriage; but those who are considered worthy of a place in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. Indeed they cannot die anymore, because they are like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection. And the fact that the dead are raised Moses himself showed, in the story about the bush, where he speaks of the Lord as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive.””
Jesus directs them to a clearer understanding by pointing out two things. First, Jesus clarifies their misconception on resurrection. Resurrection life is fundamentally different from our present life here in this world. Second, Jesus clarifies their misconception on the law by referring to another passage from the Law of Moses in Exodus 3, where Moses meets with God in the burning bush. Jesus explains that God reveal’s God’s holy name to Moses by saying that God is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Jesus uses present tense there by saying “he is God not of the dead, but of the living”. This implies that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob must be living somewhere in the Kingdom of God, which necessitates the belief of resurrection.
The statement itself that God is the God of living people was astonishing. This statement also implies that God transcends the time and space. This means that God exists in the past, present, and the future, and sees through the life of billions of years at the same time through a diachronic view. For God, all history of this earth and the humanity is present, and for God, all future that is yet to come to us is also present. This is what it means to say that God was, is, and is to come. Therefore, according to God’s view, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are still living. For example, let us imagine that we are looking down from the top of a high building. We can see the accident that has happened at the corner of the road, but for the ones who are driving inside the car, they can only see what is happening in front of them; hence, the accident that they will witness is yet a future for them. But for us, who have been seeing all this from above, everything is present for us. Also, when Jesus expressed God as the God of the living, he was implying that their ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Israel are not dead but living. For the Sadducees, the law was merely a tradition that ran down from the dead Moses and their dead ancestors. But by the explicit response of Jesus, they are confirmed and enlightened that the law is living, that their ancestors are still living and protecting them, and that the same God who had protected their ancestors is still present with them. This is why the Pharisee scribes welcomed this answer of Jesus who believed in resurrection.
How about us? What hope and confirmation does this response of Jesus give us? Just like Jesus confirming the faith of resurrection to the people 2000 years ago, do you believe that the living God is confirming to us the resurrection and the eternal life? I believe that we all carry the loss of our loved ones in our heart. I invite you to recall the names one by one and remember how they had lived to be a light of someone’s life and how they have remained as a shining example in our faith journey. They lived their life with hope in the resurrection in Christ and now they are living in the promised home, thinking of you, praying for you, and waiting for the day of reunion with you in the future.
As the ones who still remain in this world, how should we live in light of the hope of resurrection that we carry inside of us? Remember that Jesus clearly said, “those who are considered worthy of a place in that age” regarding the resurrection. This means that there are people who will be granted the resurrection, whereas, there will be people who will not be given the grace of resurrection. We can interpret this as an implication to the Sadducees that their unbelief will not grant them resurrection, but we can also take this as a warning for us, that we could be the ones who will not be granted the resurrection. What scares us is that even we as Christians often think and act like the Sadducees. Aren’t we living a life that hopes and prefers the worldly things and reputation on this earth just like the Sadducees? Aren’t we occupied by what is going on in our life, letting our emotions flow up and down according to the good and bad things that happen in our life? Aren’t we ignoring the wellness of our soul and our relationship with God? We scarcely admit this, but we are often swayed by the things that are going on in our life and try to fix things alone, instead of asking God to rule over our life.
Where do you put your hope in this life? I want you to recall the stories that we have learned during the past several Sundays. The stories of Zacchaeus, Job, the tax collector who would not look up to heave, but beat his breast and repent, the Samaritan leper who returned to thank Jesus, and so on… All these stories were heading toward the same theme, and that is, humbleness and repentance.
Let us lift our eyes to a higher place. Let us lift our eyes further away from the near future and the reality of our everyday life. The countless saints who preceded us are giving an important lesson to us: that life and death are closely connected to each other, and that death is a new start of life that is full of joy and abundance.
When a child is inside the mother’s womb, the child thinks that the 10-months in the womb is all that is in his or her life. But when the child is born, he or she will finally be enlightened to see the unimaginable abundance and experience in this world. In this sense, we could imagine that our life in this world is perhaps like how a child is living inside the mother’s womb. We can only see what is in front of us, and we cannot imagine what is being prepared for us. Therefore, as we repent and humble ourselves every moment, God allows us to taste the joy and wisdom of resurrection in our present life.
Like I said in the beginning, we are human beings that live the future. I encourage all of us to live and win the race of our daily faith journey, hoping for the resurrection after death, the life everlasting, and the life full of abundance, peace, and joy.