Preparation
O Lord, open our lips
and our mouth shall proclaim your praise.
Blessed are you, Sovereign God,
ruler and judge of all,
to you be praise and glory for ever.
In the darkness of this age that is passing away
may the light of your presence which the saints enjoy
surround our steps as we journey on.
May we reflect your glory this day
and so be made ready to see your face
in the heavenly city where night shall be no more.
Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Blessed be God for ever.
Luke 20.27-38
The Question about the Resurrection
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 any more, 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.’
Reflection
Are you one of those people who hate red tape, or are you one of those who get very excited about following procedures to the letter? Perhaps you do not identify with either end of that extreme spectrum; perhaps you like to use rules and regulations to your advantage, and ignore them when they prove to be inconvenient. Whatever stance you may take, the fact is that rules and regulations exist in order that society might be organized to the advantage of harmonious co-existence. In today’s reading, the Sadducees seek to use ‘red tape’ to confuse the message Jesus brings to this world. They are taking an imaginary case, applying the religious law to it, and then seeking to use their biased conclusions to belittle Jesus’ message.
Today we join the gospel narrative as it moves towards its close. Jesus’ ministry of preaching, teaching and healing will soon come to an end, and a new exciting future is about to open up for those who accept his challenge to become committed disciples and apostles. Throughout the gospels we hear of the Pharisees, the scribes and other leaders of the Jewish religious community criticizing Jesus as well as attempting to disprove his true identity. Today it is the turn of the Sadducees, a very particular sect within the Jewish community who did not believe in the resurrection of the dead. As we see Jesus moving closer and closer to the point of his death and resurrection, it must have become increasingly urgent that someone, somehow should finally demolish his claims of Messiahship. The encounter in Luke, chapter 20, is just such an attempt.
Too often we find ourselves in the place of the Sadducees. We profess a strong faith, but then we are challenged by those who would mock us for that faith. Too often we succumb to the apparently undeniable earthly logic that seems to demolish the very foundations of our faith. However, if we were to pause and consider the arguments with which we are being confronted we would often find them to be exaggerated distortions that can be countered simply by our standing firm, as Jesus does in our reading. Let us pray that when our faith is challenged we might be steadfast in our commitment to the law of God and the teachings of Jesus, as we recognize the weaknesses and the absurdity in those ‘killer’ arguments that are rooted as far from God as it is possible to get.
Prayers
In the power of the Spirit and in union with Christ, let us pray to the Father.
Let us praise Christ our King, by whose cross we have citizenship in heaven, saying: all your saints praise you.
Lord, you built your Church on the foundation of the apostles:
all your saints praise you.
You witness to your truth in the lives of your saints:
all your saints praise you.
You made us to be a kingdom and priests serving our God:
all your saints praise you.
You have shared our burdens,
revealing the holiness of our life and work:
all your saints praise you.
You stir us to seek the mysteries of the kingdom:
all your saints praise you.
You lead us to the eternal assembly of the saints:
all your saints praise you.
God of holiness,
your glory is proclaimed in every age:
as we rejoice in the faith of your saints,
inspire us to follow their example
with boldness and joy;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Uniting our prayers with the whole company of heaven,
let us pray with confidence as our Saviour has taught us
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done;
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power and the glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen.
Christ our King make us faithful and strong to do his will,
that we may reign with him in glory;
and may the blessing of God almighty,
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
be among us and remain with us always.
Amen.
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