A reading from the gospel according to Luke 20:27-38
27 Some Sadducees, those who deny that there is a resurrection, came forward and put this question to Jesus,
28 saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us, If someone’s brother dies leaving a wife but no child, his brother must take the wife and raise up descendants for his brother.
29 Now there were seven brothers; the first married a woman but died childless.
30 Then the second
31 and the third married her, and likewise all the seven died childless.
32 Finally the woman also died.
33 Now at the resurrection whose wife will that woman be? For all seven had been married to her.”
34 Jesus said to them, “The children of this age marry and remarry;
35 but those who are deemed worthy to attain to the coming age and to the resurrection of the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage.
36 They can no longer die, for they are like angels; and they are the children of God because they are the ones who will rise.
37 That the dead will rise even Moses made known in the passage about the bush, when he called out ‘Lord, ‘ the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob;
38 and he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.”
Gospel Reflection
The Sadducees, like the Pharisees, love to argue about anything but they didn’t have any chance to win over Jesus, the Son of the all-knowing father. They are known for their disbelief of the resurrection but no matter how much they tried to trivialize it, Jesus debunked their argument by simply explaining that life in heaven is not a matter of marrying and remarrying but living with God in eternity just like the angels.
Moreover, since the Sadducees accepted only the law of Moses but not the other Old Testament Books, Jesus pointed out that Moses Himself called Yahweh the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, which means that these patriarchs are alive in heaven because God cannot be God of dead beings.
Anyway, Jesus mentioned that those who are deemed worthy will attain the new age, an insinuation that those who do not believe in the resurrection, like the Sadducees, will be unworthy to be part of it. If faith is our passport to the Kingdom of God then lack of faith in it will deny us entry into it. How can you be part of something you don’t believe to exist?
The resurrection of the dead is one of the core Christian beliefs. Jesus Himself was resurrected on the third day. Saint Paul argues that if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised and if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith (1 Cor. 15:13-14).
Let us desire to live with God in eternity but let us first believe that there is resurrection of the dead.