Sometimes it is easy to be convinced of our own logic, of our own construction of reality, of our own sense of how things should be, how they should operate - and what should not be and how they should not operate.
The Sadducees of the gospel passage were those who did not believe in the resurrection of the dead, nor in angels nor anything other than the Torah. And, even though others who had more credibility - like Jesus (who is the fullness of revelation) - were telling them otherwise, they continued to believe their own opinion to be fact.
Just because we have opinion about something - does not necessarily make it so - unless it is based on, or is seeking to establish itself on - reality - which ultimately can only come from God.
The first and third readings today are about two groups of seven! The first - a mother and her seven sons - who were arrested and tortured for their religious beliefs - the king was trying to make them disobey dietary laws and they refused. They were all tortured and some of them killed. And their amazing death proclamation was: It is my choice to die at the hands of men with the hope God gives of being raised up by him! They firmly believed in the fact of the resurrection of the dead that was made clear to them by faith - faith that was just not an opinion, but faith based on the revelation of God - through the working of the Holy Spirit - in their minds and hearts.
The gospel passage is about Sadducees who were trying to trip up Jesus by presenting a story about Moses allowing the people to make sure that a childless widow had children, if by surviving brothers. The point of the story was that marriage and propagation of family is important on earth, so that all of the members of God’s family that he wants to be with him in eternity, are created and given a chance to live here and be with him there. And that in heaven we are all brothers and sisters - as we are the day we become baptized!
But the Sadducees try to misconstrue the issue by demanding Jesus to tell them which one she would be married to - if she in fact married all seven brothers and was still childless.
Jesus ends the debate by telling them that Moses, at the burning bush called out "Lord" - and God revealed himself as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob - (he is the God of those who are still alive, not the God of those who were alive but are not so any more) - he is God of the living not the dead - because for God all are alive! What he creates he sustains - and his redeemed human creations will spend eternity somewhere. They will rise to life, or rise to be condemned - depending on how they spent their love during their time of earth - but they will rise!
And so, the Sadducees were pleased with Jesus’ answer because he referred to the God of the Torah - who is the Lord of Life! But they continued to misunderstand the idea of resurrection of the dead - they stubbornly refused to let go of their faulty, groundless “opinion” - they were putting in jeopardy their own place in eternity!
In the second reading today, St. Paul tells us that the real point of life is not to keep looking up in the sky and wondering about things like the resurrection of the dead. It is a fact; we need not worry about it. He tells us that the real point in life is good words and deeds, said and done for others because we know that we have first been loved by God - he loves us and gives us everlasting encouragement and good hope through his grace!
If we spend our days concentrating on living our faith to the fullest - then one day when God’s glory appears, our joy will be full - and we will experience resurrection to life! Eternal life! And it will be a fact - the greatest one we will ever come to the complete understanding of!
And it will be wonderful!
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