Luke 20:27-38

This passage occurs in the Revised Common Lectionary, year C, most recently Nov 9.

Summary:  Many people want revival, or even merely resuscitation, but how many of us really want resurrection?   How many of us are ready for the world to turn upside down and the fundamental laws of creation - marriage and death - to be overturned?  The resurrection age will not be defined by the laws necessary for this age.  What then will define the resurrection age?  Jesus, the living one.  How does that work without laws defining relationships?  Without death?  Without sin?  I can only imagine!

Key Words

Σαδδουκαίων (form of Σαδδουκαῖος, meaning "Sadducees" 20.27)  These were a group of Jewish people who did not believe in the resurrection.  Here is a link to an NT Wright article on various stands of Jewish thinking regarding the resurrection.  Sometimes people use the mnemonic: "The Sadducees were sad, you see, because they did not believe in the resurrection; the Pharisees were fair, you see, because they loved rules."  Generally, both Sadducees and Pharisees are regarded as bad guys in the New Testament, but rather than simply portray them as bad people, I would invite us to ponder them and humble ourselves.

• First, the Jewish factions of Jesus day were not simply theological, but political, social, economic and partisan.  There is a whole world of temple politics that we just get the slightest glimpse into when we read Acts.  The Sadducees had their own voting block among the temple priests and leaders of the day.  This voting block was often woven together with family, contracts, property and future prospects for marriage and wealth.  It is worth asking ourselves: to what extent is our theological position on issues a result of our politics, class, education and sense of identity rather than true fidelity to God's Word?
• Second, the Sadducees considered it a coherent reading of the Old Testament to believe that when we died, we died.  They could not imagine a new creation.  To what extent do we struggle to believe in the new creation?  To what extent to we limit our faith to ethics for this world alone?  

ἀναστάσει (form of ἀνάστασις 20.33)  This is arguably the most important word of the New Testament.  The mission of Jesus was not simply resuscitation, that is, to give life to the dying, so they could carry on a little bit more.  The mission of Jesus was not simply revival, to restore the downtrodden individual or the oppressed people to greatness once again.  The mission of Jesus was resurrection, the wholesale defeat of sin and death, which could finally allow God to be with us always!

I am struck by our lack of imagination around resurrection and our struggle to believe in it!  We too often succumb to the temptation to simply hope for slight improvements in our lives rather than the world made new in Jesus!

γαμοῦσιν (various forms here meaning "marry", 20.34 and 20.35)  In modern America, it has become increasing common for people not to be married.  In the ancient world, this was far less common.  People needed to family for social security.  Marriage formed the bedrock of society.  To put it another way, to say that in heaven there is no marriage means that the most important legal arrangement on earth no longer carries weight in heaven.  

υἱοὶ ("sons" or "children" where a masculine plural represents both genders; this appears many times in the passage).  It is also interesting that Jesus also plays on the parent child relationship, saying that in heaven we are children of the resurrection.  While this sounds good, it also means that our primary identity as children is no longer in relation to our biological parents, but our relationship to Jesus Christ.  

When Jesus says there is no more marriage, there is no more death and we are children of the resurrection, he is saying that the moral and legal framework of the universe:  body-death, parent-child, spouse-spouse have all been undone.  What remains?!

νεκρῶν ἀλλὰ ζώντων ("dead but living, 20.38)  The English "God is not the God of the dead, but the living" conveys the Greek effectively here. But I want to pause for a moment and point out that the word dead is simply an adjective, but the word live is a participle -- a verb!  The living are doing something!  This also foreshadows Luke 24 when the angel says, "Why are you looking for the living among the dead?"  It is the same combination of dead (as adjective) and living (verb as participle).  Although in that case, it is combined with the article:  Why are you looking for THE living one among the dead.  It might be a stretch to say that Jesus is saying he is God here, but Jesus is saying God is the God of the living and that that means if he is God, he must be living!!

Grammar bonus I

καταξιωθέντες (form of καταξιόω, meaning "find worthy, 20.35)  This is a nasty looking verb, one where even if you knew the Greek vocab word, you might not find it.  It is nasty because it is an aorist passive!  What does that mean?  It means that we are found worthy, we do not make ourselves worthy!  It also interesting in that it is an aorist verb, emphasizing the one time nature of this verb.  We only need to be find worthy once.  As a Lutheran, I would argue this is accomplished in the cross and promised in Baptism to us.

Grammar bonus II

αὐτῷ (him, 20.38)  In English, we tend to use word order and many prepositions to define the role of a word in a sentence.  In Greek, they use word order, some prepositions AND they leave words in "cases" to reveal their function in a sentence.  However, cases, even more so than prepositions, can have a wide range of meaning.  So in this case (haha), verse 38 we have the word "him" in the dative.  We could easily translate this

• "All live unto him" (King James/ NIV)
• "All to him are alive" (NRSVUE)
• "All live by means of him" (me)
• "All live before him" (NET translation)