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     Yesterday it was the Pharisees and the Herodians with their "trick question" about paying taxes to Caesar.  Today it is the Sadducees with a trick question about the resurrection of the dead.  Scripture scholars point out that this chapter in the Gospel According to Mark seems structured along the lines of a traditional rabbinic debate.  There were always four questions to be debated.  This custom still prevails at Jewish passover when a child is assigned to ask four questions!  The overall purpose of this structure highlights the growing tension between Jesus and all Jewish authorities at the time.  

     The particular question this time arises from the hypocrisy of the Sadducees who did not believe in a final resurrection because they only accepted the first five books of the Old Testament, the Torah, as authoritative.  They also represented the Jewish aristocracy who had developed a "live and let live" relationship with the Romans.  So, the absurd question about the woman who was married to each of seven brothers is meant to pit Jesus against local authorities just as the tax question was intended.  But Jesus again turns the tables against his adversaries.  First of all he points out that marriage is an earthly reality, not part of the resurrection ("they are like angels in heaven").  Second, he shows that the claim of the Sadducees that there is no resurrection is disproved in the Book of Exodus when God speaks of being the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as if they are still living beings!  ("You are greatly misled!")

     Serious theological matters are not resolved by trick or absurd examples designed to prove or disprove.  On campuses around the country there is often a place where various religious traditions can set up a table and invite inquirers to stop by.  Here at Texas Tech, our Catholic student organization has a "Ask a Catholic" table.  Some lively conversations can occur.  There are also roving preachers who show up in the same space and cause controversy.  This is a regular feature of campus life.  Also there is always a professor or two who like to bait students about their religious beliefs.  None of these forums can substitute for serious scripture study or knowledge of Catholic tradition (with a capital T or small "t"), but they can get someone to look deeper. (cf. St. Paul in Athens Acts 17:16-34).  In Jesus' case, his responses simply hardened the determination of the authorities to get rid of him.  But his challenge to the Sadducees remains important to us today.  How well do we know our Catholic faith?  How do we handle the "trick" questions that can arise from superficial interpretation of scripture or T(t)radition?  There are a lot of people who are 'greatly misled" about Catholicism.  We Catholics should not be among them.  AMEN