Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 20, 27- 40
Some Sadducees, those who deny that there is a resurrection,
came forward and put this question to Jesus, saying,
“Teacher, Moses wrote for us,
If someone’s brother dies leaving a wife but no child,
his brother must take the wife
and raise up descendants for his brother.
Now there were seven brothers;
the first married a woman but died childless.
Then the second and the third married her,
and likewise all the seven died childless.
Finally the woman also died.
Now at the resurrection whose wife will that woman be?
For all seven had been married to her.”
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.
That the dead will rise
even Moses made known in the passage about the bush,
when he called ‘Lord’
the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob;
and he is not God of the dead, but of the living,
for to him all are alive.”
Some of the scribes said in reply,
“Teacher, you have answered well.”
And they no longer dared to ask him anything.
Resurrection
1. Sadducees. They are those who cling to the law, they hang onto tradition and run away from anything that is new; they are linked to the establishment and to the Romans. You and I run the risk of living our religion like this, clinging to ecclesiastical laws, and being religiously entrenched in structures, not opening our souls to the power of the Holy Spirit. It can even happen in your own life, when you become like a “fixed-gear bicycle”, because you are not willing to change anything in yourself or in your life. Your own life becomes static, and you always live in the past. Do not tie yourself to the past and do not live focusing on laws that only chill your relationship with yourself, with God and with others. Be more dynamic in your life. Open your life to the novelty of the Gospel.
2. Got married. In those times, the issue of offspring was very important due to inheritance. That is why marriage used to be all about interest, it had instrumental value rather than being a value in itself. Nowadays, in married life material things, even hereditary matters, often begin to appear as central axes of the relationship. I’m thinking of those children who are already fighting over inheritance when their parents are still alive. I’m thinking of those couples who sign a contract before getting married. That happens when there is interest over love; it ends up being love with instrumental value, out of interest, and therefore it is no longer true love.
3. Resurrection. Jesus affirms that resurrection is not a simple continuation of life on earth, but rather a new and different life, a life of fullness. It is difficult to understand, but it is a transformation, because we are called to life and to give life. Being with God implies that you are capable of transmitting life abundantly. Spread life! Remember that something good is on the way!
God bless you, be with you and protect you in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
