Wrongs Put Right
resurrection and the God of the living
Dear Friends,
There's a lot going on in our Gospel passage this weekend, but we won't get to the heart of it without giving it an extended look.
The Sadducees denied the resurrection. On their view, God would not raise the dead. When they told a story of a seven-times-married woman, their question - Now at the resurrection whose wife will that woman be? - was meant to mock anyone who dared to think differently.
So let's not get stuck on that question.
James Tissot, The Pharisees and the Sadducees Come to Tempt Jesus
Instead, what we see in Jesus' response is a thoroughgoing affirmation of the resurrection: The dead will be raised!
What this means to the first-century mind is that God will have his day. He will judge the world with justice and right all wrongs. The evil of death will be undone.
Being that they were in power, the Sadducees profited from their anti-resurrection position. If resurrection belief were to become widespread, the people's commitment to implementing God's just rule would no longer be deterred by death.
But all this talk of the resurrection isn't merely to point forward to a better future. We see throughout the Gospels that the God of the living is at work in and as the person of Jesus, judging justly, righting wrongs, and raising the dead to life.
As we see in John's Gospel, Jesus is the resurrection. His heaven-to-earth mission - which we join by trusting and following him in all things - is bringing God's promised future, the reign of his merciful love, to bear in the present.
I look forward to seeing you soon.
In Christ's Love,
Father Daniel
δοῦλος Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ
Preparing for Mass?
Check out this weekend's readings:
Thirty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
The Resurrection