Word to the Wise
Wednesday, June 6, 2012 - Wednesday in the 9th Week in Ordinary Time
[2 Tim 1:1-3, 6-12 and Mark 12:18-27]Are you not misled because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God? When they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but they are like the angels in heaven. As for the dead being raised, have you not read in the Book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how God told him, "I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?" He is not the God of the dead but of the living. You are greatly misled.
Today we have another "trick question." This time the question comes from yet another "in group" in the religious hierarchy in Jerusalem: the Sadducees. These folks were aristocrats and the high priest of the temple was usually from their number. They also believed only in the Torah, the first five books of the scriptures. If they could not find a reference to something in the Torah, they would reject the idea. Since they did not see any reference to "resurrection" in the Torah, they did not believe in a resurrection from the dead. This belief is the basis for their absurd (but somewhat comical) question. Jesus' reply, quoted above, completely refutes them, and exposes them to ridicule. He refers to the incident in Exodus 3 about Moses and the Burning Bush to indicate that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are "alive." Thus he shows there is indeed a reference to resurrection in the Torah. However, he also shows that God has the power raise the dead and grant life after death. But now comes our, "Hey, wait a minute!" response!
This is where we leave the historical moment of the confrontations between Jesus and Jewish authorities and find ourselves challenged! Did he say, "They neither marry nor are given in marriage" in heaven? You mean things are different there than they are here? Heaven is not like the best we can do on earth, just longer? I can't be my favorite age eternally? Hmmmm..... What happened to the white robes and golden harps? If we want to know "the Scriptures and the power of God," we have to accept that the most we can do is imagine what life after death is like. Jesus says the blessed will be "like the angels in heaven." That leaves a lot to be imagined, especially since we tend to have a "spatial" notion of heaven as a place, as angels as creatures with feathered wings. Jesus' response to the Sadducees should be a warning that our expectations are not necessarily the ones that God has! AMEN