Christian Reflection and Prayer

Scripture:

Read Luke 20:27-40.
TEXT: There came to Him some Sadducees, those
who deny that there is a
resurrection (Luke 20:27).

The scribes and Pharisees make up part of the Jewish
high court; another group is the priests who are
Sadducees. They only accept Moses' writings from the
Old Testament and reject the resurrection, angels and
heaven. But that won't stop them from posing a
resurrection riddle to make Jesus look foolish.

They refer to a Mosaic law that preserved the line of an
Israelite man who died childless. If the man's brother
married the widow, the first son born could be
considered the dead man's son. In their riddle a man
died childless, each of his six brothers married the
widow in turn, but each died childless. So whose wife
will she be in the resurrection?

It seems a no-win question for Jesus. She couldn't be
the wife of all seven. But if God chooses one of the
brothers to be her husband He would be wronging the
others. Jesus easily smashes their house of cards.
God's gift of marriage holds only for this earthly period
of time-not at the resurrection.

Now Jesus turns to their rejection of the resurrection.
He even refers to Moses, the only authority they will
accept from the Old Testament. When speaking to
Moses out of the burning bush, God said, "I am the
God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob" (see Exodus 3:6).
If there was no life after death God would have had to
say "I was their God," not "I am their God." God's
"I AM" proves the human soul survives physical death
and implies the resurrection when Christ returns.

Jesus has corrected the Sadducees so well even the
hostile scribes commend Him.

THE PRAYER:
Lord Jesus, we are often so slow to believe things we
cannot see. Remove my doubts and unbelief and give
me firm confidence in the resurrection and eternal life
You have promised to all believers. I pray in Jesus'
Name. Amen.

(Lutheran Hour Ministries)