Luke 20:27-40
Beyond Imagination
Today, we turn our focus toward the end of the Church year. As we look at the end, our readings begin to draw our focus away from this earthly life to the reality of eternal life in heaven. We remember that the goal of our faith isn’t a comfortable life on earth, but rather eternal life in the presence of God himself. After all, this is exactly what we celebrated last week with the feast of All Saints. In that feast, we spent time remembering those who have died in the faith and have already received this eternal joy. The feast of All Saints is meant as a joyous celebration and a great source of comfort. Yet, even as we remember these things, it also acts as a reminder of those we have lost… a parent, a spouse, a brother or sister, or maybe even a child. We remember that we are still here on earth. We haven’t reached the end. For here, there is grief and sorrow; there is pain and tears; there is a longing to be with those we’ve lost, just to see them again. So, what do we do? We wonder, we imagine what life is like on the other side of heaven. We ask ourselves questions like: What are they experiencing right now? What does heaven look like? Are they happy? All of this leads us to paint a picture of how we imagine heaven. So, what do you imagine? Have you thought about what heaven might be like? I know I have. But, does your picture of heaven actually match the reality that awaits us?
This is the problem with the Sadducees in our text today. They have their own picture of heaven… or at least their own assumptions. But as they question Jesus, seeking to trap him, their very question shows that they do not understand. They have painted a false image for themselves. Our problem is that we compare eternal life with our life right now. But our earthly picture falls short as Jesus tells us:
IT WILL NOT BE IN THAT AGE!
I.
If you have thought about the resurrection or eternal life, you probably have questions about what it will be like. After all, its very human to wonder what the future will hold, especially when you think about loved ones who have already died. Yet, when you begin to think about death and eternal life, it becomes confusing. You have questions. What will our relationship be to our spouses? Will we recognize our loved ones? How old will I be in heaven? You have questions, and that is just fine. In our nature, we wonder about things we don’t know, because we want to know. Yet, by your questions do you start forming your own version of heaven? Do you press your questions, hoping for a specific answer? If you do this, you are showing by your questions that you neither understand the resurrection nor trust in God. For you are comparing the resurrection to an image of fallen creation. Your only image of heaven is tainted by your own sin and sinful nature. Hasn’t Jesus already told you that in the resurrection you will be perfect, without sin? Do you dare ask him any other question and thus reveal your own misunderstandings of the resurrection and God?
This was the difficulty of the Sadducees. They didn’t believe in the resurrection, nor the spirit, or anything beyond this earthly life (Acts 23:8). They believed that when you die, you just cease to exist. They pressed their own view far beyond their trust in God, in Jesus. Because Jesus was teaching contrary to what they believed, they sought to trap him, with what they thought was the most contradictory idea of the resurrection. As they asked, “Now there were seven brothers. The first took a wife, and died without children. And the second and the third took her, and likewise all seven left no children and died. Afterward the woman also died. In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had her as a wife,” Luke 20:29-33. In their minds, Jesus must either admit that there is no resurrection because not all seven brothers can have her as a wife, or he must reject the law of Moses (Deut. 25:5), which was given by God. It’s the perfect question. But they don’t understand. They know neither the resurrection nor God.
II.
Yet, for all our lack of understanding, Jesus’ answer is quite simple. It will not be in that age. As Jesus says, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage, but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage, for they cannot die anymore, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection,” Luke 20:34-36. No, this age isn’t a good comparison to that age, that is, to the resurrection from the dead. In fact, it doesn’t compare to the age that is to come. Here we have pain; we grieve, we mourn, we cry, we fight, we worry, we sin, and we die. But it will not be in that age. Here we’re selfish, we steal, we hurt, we argue, and we divide. But it will not be in that age. Here we are lonely and separated from God. But it will not be in that age! For YOU have been considered worthy to attain to the life that is to come, not because of you, but because Christ has ransomed you from death. He has taken up your cross, suffered and died. Even more so, he has been raised from the dead that you too may come into his everlasting kingdom. A kingdom that is beyond all imagination.
I have no doubt that the Sadducees weren’t satisfied with Jesus’ answer. Yet as Luke records, “They no longer dared to ask him any question,” Luke 20:40. Do you still have questions? Probably. I know I do. It’s certainly human to wonder and long for being reunited with your spouse. But Jesus tells us that we’ll no longer be married in that age. It’s not because marriage isn’t important. Rather, the purpose of marriage is already fulfilled in heaven. For in that age, we’ll be with God, in perfect harmony and companionship that all of our needs will already be satisfied. For we’ll be alive in God. God is not God of the dead but of the living (Luke 20:38). We know this even more because Christ indeed has been raised from the dead. Just as Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15, “And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins…. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” (v.17, 20).
Let us then, hold fast to our hope, not wavering with questions or doubts. Indeed, Christ has been raised from the dead that you may be found worthy to attain to that life. So shall you be raised from the dead to join with Christ and all the saints in that glorious life to come! Amen!