Friday, November 24, 2017

The Ones Who Will Rise


Jesus said to them, "The children of this age marry and remarry; 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. 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.  Luke 20:34-36

Piety
Father, thank you for what you have revealed to us. Jesus, teach us to understand everything we need to know.  Holy Spirit, help us to listen and put into practice these lessons in our daily lives.

Study
Somehow, the Sadducees and Pharisees did not get the message from the baptism of Jesus or the Transfiguration.  While God directly handed Moses Ten Commandments in the Hebrew Bible, God only issues one overriding commandment in the New Testament: “Then from the cloud came a voice that said, ‘This is my chosen Son; listen to him.’” (Luke 9:35)[i]

Yet…time after time, the Pharisees and Sadducees pose trick questions to Jesus.
  • “Tell us, by whose authority are you doing these things?”
  • “Is it lawful for us to pay tribute to Caesar or not?”
  • “Now at the resurrection whose wife will that woman be? For all seven had been married to her.”
  • “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?”
Jesus was never stumped. According to the notes in the NABRE, by its very nature, the Sadducees’ question today about marriage and the afterlife denies the idea of the resurrection. In turn, Jesus rejects their naive understanding and then argues on behalf of the resurrection of the dead on the basis of the written law that the Sadducees accept.[ii] 

Perhaps to show his impatience (and perhaps to silence his critics once and for all), Jesus turns the tables and asks them a question. However, their inability to respond implies that they have forfeited their position and authority as the religious leaders of the people because they do not understand the scriptures. This series of controversies between the religious leadership of Jerusalem and Jesus reveals Jesus as the authoritative teacher whose words are to be listened to. Jesus attains his end and Luke tells us that – for at least some of the temple leaders, Jesus had the last word:

Some of the scribes said in reply, “Teacher, you have answered well.” And they no longer dared to ask him anything.

No matter the question, Christ’s mission was a mission of mercy, not judgment.  Yet, for all the Sermons on the Mount, Sermons on the Plains, Beatitudes, parables, cures, and more, this did not sink into the doubters.

This was not simply a theological or academic exercise. In life situations, Jesus always opted for mercy. Time-after-time, Jesus saw through their trickery and responded in a way people – especially the Pharisees -- didn’t expect.  When Jesus confronted to woman caught in adultery, he also turned the tables.  If Jesus told them to carry out the law and stone her, he would not be merciful. If he showed mercy, he would be construed as disobeying the law God handed down in the Hebrew Bible.  Whichever action he chose, in the Pharisees' minds, would enable them to accuse him of doing wrong.  But, whenever confronted with a choice, Jesus always chooses mercy over judgment. 

Action
How can we better embody listening to Jesus in our lives and getting past our human judgments that we inflict upon each other?

The answer lies not in emulating the Pharisees but rather in the next scene.  As Jesus stands on the steps of the temple after rebuking the questioning Pharisees and telling people to ignore these hypocrites, they see a widow approach and drop two tiny coins into the Temple treasury. 

Jesus wants us to put in all our livelihood into following him with our piety, study, and action. Are you ready to do so? 


[i] God speaks as one through Jesus. At significant times before Jesus was born and after the Crucifixion, God uses angels as intermediaries. However, there are two direct references to God speaking in the New Testament: the first when he presents Jesus after his baptism and then at the Transfiguration (quoted here).

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