God of the Living

Some Sadducees, those who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus and asked him a question, “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.” 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.” Luke 20:27-40 

The religious and civic leaders have often argued over marraige throughout history. Who can marry whom has been the subject of much debate throughout the ages. As a child of a mixed race marraige, I know all too well about the discrimination and laws that prohibited many from marrying. Marraige was most often about money, property and power and never about love. Rarely were the hearts of the people considered.

Jesus is being tested again, with the knottiest question about marraige. I imagine this was a standard test given in law school, without the reference to the afterlife. Jesus answers that God is about love and the living. When we are resurrected we are complete and love binds us all in a way we are not able to comprehend in this mortal flesh. We are invited by God not to puzzle too hard on knotty questions, but rather let love and faith be our guides.

Today, I ask God to help me live love and faith, first and always. May we not worry about the tests but live for love and compassion.