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In Luke 20:27-40 Jesus speaks of the reality of a resurrection, a resurrection of our bodies. It is true that when death comes the souls of those who die in Christ go immediately to be with the Lord, but their bodies, that shell that was the home for their soul, waits for the resurrection. But we also know that before the resurrection most of us will have to endure death. John Milton said, "Death is the golden key that opens the palace of eternity."
Christians speak about the death of Christ, celebrate his death, sing about his death, testify about his death, and when we meet around the Lord's Table and share in his death. We do so because we understand what His death means. The death of Christ means we can have power to do mighty works, it means we can have provision for our needs, it means we can have a permanent indwelling Holy Spirit to teach us, it means we can have peace in our hearts, and it means we can have a place prepared in heaven for us. So death for a Christian, that prelude to resurrection, is not something to fear, not something to be sorrowful about, but something to anticipate. That is why Jesus when speaking of his death and resurrection said, don't fear, don't be in despair, don't be sorrowful.
But for the unbeliever death is to be feared. And unbelievers have developed theories to lessen that fear. Some look at death as simply going out of existence. They believe that those who talk about heaven and hell are hopelessly out of date. Talking about heaven and hell is unwarranted and ridiculous. Others have diminished the fear of death by propagating a theology that states that all men are saved. Men do not need to be saved they only need to be taught that they are already redeemed or saved. We don't need to solicit men to repent in faith and receive Jesus. We all have a universal Savior. But if that is true why bother promoting the cause of missions? Why bother praying for the salvation of the lost? But all of those theories are but a repeat of the first lie told Adam and Eve in the garden when Satan said to them, "Ye shall not surely die"
We know we are all going to die. The question is, will we die in our sins?" Jesus said, "You will die in your sins unless you believe that I am He." So death should be feared by the unbeliever. Unfortunately, even Christians still fear death, don't we? We not only fear our own death but we at times remain in despair when someone we love meets death. I understand the normal grieving that comes with losing a loved one but too often I have heard grieving Christians ask, why, God? Why did you have to take them? But if we really understand what happens to a Christian when they die we would also understand that all our sorrow is but selfishness. Why? Because what the Christian who died is experiencing is total joy. That dead Christian is now experiencing total perfection as He stands in the presence of God. If we really loved the person who left us we should take joy in their experience. In place of thinking how the death of a loved one affects us we should be thinking how that death affected them. If we really loved them, we could let them go with great joy. Love says it hurts. Love says it's painful. Love says I cry a while, but love ultimately rejoices in what that loved one is experiencing.
Alisa Bonaparte, Napoleon's sister lay dying and made a statement that is one of the most widely quoted words in history. She said, "Nothing is certain except death and taxes."
But for a Christian, to be afraid of death is like being afraid of discarding an old worn-out garment.
In our text for today Jesus confronts some who say there is no resurrection. Death is the end. Death is final and irreversible. What does our Lord teach us about resurrection in this passage? Is life the end or is it a new beginning?
First, the Opposition of the Sadducees in v.27. The Sadducees were a religious and political aristocracy in Jerusalem. They were made up of the upper crust of society. They were wealthy and priests.
When you compare them with the Pharisees there were compelling differences: Sadducees rejected the traditionalism of the Pharisees. They were against strict adherence to the Mosaic Law. Sadducees rejected the written law except the first five books of the Bible. Sadducees emphasized the free will of man while the Pharisees emphasized the pre-ordination of events by God. Sadducees rejected any belief in angels and spirits
Sadducees rejected the resurrection of the body and believed the soul died with the body.
In fact the Sadducees were the sworn enemies of the Pharisees and in the early ministry of our Lord they showed no concern. It wasn't until people began proclaiming the Messiah had come, the king had arrived, their opposition linked with the Pharisees.
John tells us that they convened with the Pharisees because, "If we let him go on like this, all men will believe in him; and the Romans will come take away both our place and our nation." They were like many in our world today. It was ok to preach Christ as long as it doesn't affect my lifestyle. No resurrection, no resurrection they cried. And today we have infidels, deists, heretics, and freethinkers rising up and saying death is the end, all men are saved, there is no resurrection. The soul dies with the body so don't concern yourself with life after death, live for today. That was the opposition of the Sadducees.
Second, the obscure question by the Sadducees v.28-33. It was an obscure question. It was a difficult question. It was a sneaky question. It was a question related to marriage. It was based on the law. The law that originated in Deut. 25:5-10. What was the purpose of that? The purpose of that law was so that a dead, childless man's linage shall not disappear. He died childless, so the man's brother took his wife, they bore a child and that child took the name of the deceased brother. It was a provision to ensure that family lines were kept intact and widows were cared for. In Gen.38 Onan was told to take his dead brother Er's wife, Tamar, and raise up offspring. In the book of Ruth Boaz went to the nearest kinsmen for permission to have Ruth. V. 10 says, "I have acquired Ruth, the widow of Mahlon, to be my wife in order to raise up the name of the deceased on his inheritance, so that the name of the deceased may not be cut off from his brothers or from the court of his birthplace. So it was a law and it had to do with marriage and inheritance.
But here the Sadducees raised a hypothetical case. What if that law was fulfilled 7 times and all the brothers and the women died. Whose wife would she be in heaven? It is a conundrum. Suppose for the sake of argument there is a resurrection, and that these dead bodies of ours rise again from their graves - what about this woman? All seven brothers were equally her husbands - in the resurrection will all seven together be her husband?
Or which one will be her husband? Why that one and why not one of the others? Do they all not have equal rights since none had children? The Sadducees were using the Law of Moses to state that by implication Moses did not believe in a resurrection or he would not have given this law. Then comes the Omniscient reply of our Lord v.34-38.
How does he respond? Luke does not record the first statement by our Lord but Matthew does. Jesus says you are mistaken for there are two things you do not understand: the scriptures and the power of God. Dan. 12 says those who sleep in the ground will be awake, some to everlasting life, some to everlasting contempt. Isa. 26 says, "Your dead will live, their corpses will rise. You who lie in the dust awake and shout for joy for the earth will give birth to the departed spirits. Job 19 says even after my skin is destroyed yet from my flesh I shall see God. But the problem with these verses is that the Sadducees did not believe in those scriptures, they only believed in the first five books of the Bible. So Jesus refers to a passage that any Jew anywhere would be familiar with. It is found in Ex. 6:1-6. What is he implying? He is saying that it is true that dead men are men whose bodies are lifeless and who lay in the grave. But if there is no resurrection then the bodies of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, with whom God made his great covenant, would lie dead forever. Thus God would be the God of dead men. Thus death is not conquered, death was stronger than God, redemption failed and death is triumphant. But God is not the God of dead men but the God of the living. No one is annihilated in death. All people, whether departed from their earthly bodies or not are still living and will live forever. They may seem to be dead to us but not to God for death does not break His covenant to them and their relationship to Him. Ex. 3 uses an emphatic present tense verb, "I AM their God." It is not that He was their God but that He is their God and that relationship did not end when they died. In v.24-37 Jesus quantifies or restricts the resurrection that he is talking about. He says those that are worthy to attain to THAT age and THAT resurrection THEY shall become sons of God. Here He is not talking about the general resurrection, which includes all people, but a specific resurrection that includes only those deemed righteous. There are two general resurrections: The first is the resurrection of the just (Jn 5:28-29; Luke 14:14). That resurrection includes the dead in Christ who are raised at the rapture of the church (I Thess. 4:16). It includes those saved during the tribulation period (Rev. 20:4). It includes O.T. saints (Dan.12:2). All these will be included in the first resurrection. But there is another resurrection: All unsaved people will be resurrected after the Millennial period to stand before the Great White Throne Judgment in judgment (Rev. 20:11-15) The result of that resurrection is that all will be sentenced to the second death in hell. But the point is – death is not the end. All, All people will be raised. Some to everlasting life, some to everlasting damnation. The question then becomes: Of which resurrection will you partake in?
But what about this whole marriage dilemma? Two points: Marriage does not apply to resurrected bodies. We will not have the same physical and social relationships we had prior to our death. Why? Because we cannot die anymore. If marriage was to join people together to preserve the human race through propagation and if there is no more death then there is no need for propagation. Secondly, in the resurrection we will be like angels. Notice, it does not say we will be angels but like them. How will we be like them? No sex and no marriage. Why? Because just as the number of angels was complete and fixed from the time of creation onward, so shall the number of the resurrected be from that day onward. I like the response to Jesus reply in v.39-40. The scribes said that was a fine answer. The Sadducees did not have the courage to ask any other questions about anything. We think of death as coming to destroy; but it is Christ coming to save. We think of death as ending; but it is life beginning. We think of death as losing, but it is gaining. We think of death as parting, but it is a meeting. We think of death as going away; but it is arriving. When the voice of death whispers in our ear, You must go from earth; hear the voice of Christ say, "You are but coming to me." You will be resurrected! Will you be resurrected unto eternal life? Or will you be resurrected unto eternal damnation?
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The Rev. Dr. James Barnes is currently the pastor of White Memorial Church in Milroy.