Sermon - 2019-11-10

The Sadducees come forth and present a case before Jesus.  A case that seems highly far fetched and out there. Of the seven brothers, who would be married to the woman on the day of the Lord’s return?  Yes, a student is trying to catch the teacher within a logical trap yet ultimately they are the ones who look the fool. 

We should discuss who were the Sadducees.  Why they would be asking Jesus about the resurrection.  The Sadducees were made up of very wealthy and very educated people.  They were a strong minority within the time of Jesus because of their wealth.  They were leaders within the community and were willing to do anything so that they could maintain their wealth and power within this world.  Because of this, they did not like being told that they were wrong. They were a group of people who did not believe in the resurrection. They did not believe that there was any life after you lived your life here in this world. It was here in this world that you enjoyed the blessing or curse of God.  If you followed the Law of Moses laid out within the first five books of the Bible, you will find favor with God. For God’s Covenant only was in this world, and here it ends.  

Yet most people who think that they have the right answer soon realized that they had overlooked a key part.  Now Jesus often replies to people’s questions by asking more questions to the person, but Jesus knew that this method of teaching would not work on the Sadducees.  Jesus spoke clearly and directly to them by pointing out the part of the argument that would cause everything to be false, so they may see and know the truth.  

Jesus points out that their question holds true, that there are two kingdoms that God has created.  An earthly one, in which we are currently a part of and a heavenly kingdom that has been created and we have been told through messengers of God.  Within the heavenly kingdom, we find angels and children of God standing in the presence of God. Yet the things that happen here in the earthly kingdom and the things that take place in the heavenly kingdom influence one another.  There is a relationship there because God is the God of both kingdoms. However, there is also a great difference and we should not think of the two kingdoms as the same. Yet the Sadducees would not listen to God’s Word, but only the word that Moses spoke.  So Jesus uses that text of Moses that the Sadducees clung to for all their purpose to show that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were still alive and in the presence of God because to God, all are alive.  

For God is indeed a God of the living and not the dead. Time and time again, we are reminded that God does not want death to separate us from him. Yet death is our punishment for being part of fallen humanity.  Yes, we all know that one day we shall die, our life here in this world will end. However, when Christ comes and lives and dwells among us, God bears witness to each and every one of us. That it is through God that we have life.  We have lived in this world and we have lived in the heavenly kingdom as well. Jesus Christ reminds each and every one of us of the life and the new life that God is offering you so that you may have a full and abundant life because not even God wants death to separate you from God. 

A time in my life when I bore witness to this was when I was in high school, I can still recall the death of my uncle.  I never knew my grandparents on my mom's side because they had died before I was born, but my uncle acted very much like a grandpa to me.  He had his favorite rocker that he would always sit in. No one ever sat in it but him. Even the cat knew it was his chair. At his funeral, they played a polka.  My mom joked that he was still tapping his foot to the beat of the music. When we went to the committal, it was cold. The wind was blowing and the burial site was on top of a hill in Iowa.  There was no protection from the elements. However, when it started to snow, it seemed more like nature was mourning the loss right there with us. Those snowflakes were like frozen teardrops that were fallen from God. When the pastor was finished speaking and we prayed, the military men lined up to fire a salute to their fallen comrade.  My Uncle was a serviceman and with the firing of the rifles, the wind blew so hard so that you could barely even hear the gunshot. It was so silent that it seemed like the whole world took a moment to pause and mourn the loss with us. 

That day reminds me that the connection between the Earthly Kingdom and the Heavenly Kingdom. Yes, even the very creation that surrounds you knows death but still lives and enjoys the life that God gives to you.  The creation knows and bears witness to the work of God and life that God brings here among us. For it is here in the work, caring for one another, and love that we share with each other that brings forth the kingdoms together and we experience it.