God of the living

God of the living

Scripture:

That same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him with a question. “Teacher,” they said, “Moses told us that if a man dies without having children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for him. Now there were seven brothers among us. The first one married and died, and since he had no children, he left his wife to his brother. The same thing happened to the second and third brother, right on down to the seventh.  Finally, the woman died. Now then, at the resurrection, whose wife will she be of the seven, since all of them were married to her?”

Jesus replied, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God. At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. But about the resurrection of the dead—have you not read what God said to you, ‘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.” When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at his teaching. Matthew 22:23-32

Observation:

First, there were the Pharisees and the Herodians who tried to catch Jesus on the question concerning the imperial tax. Then, that same day, came the Sadduccees who tried to press home their belief that there is no resurrection.

Smugly, they presented the hypothetical case of the woman with seven husbands, and the question of which husband she would belong to at the resurrection. To them, there was logically no resurrection since such a ludicrous situation could not be allowed to happen according to the wisdom of Mosaic law.

However, the Lord used the opportunity to press home some very important points about the afterlife. Firstly, at the resurrection, there will be no more marriages between people. Marriage is an earthly institution, divinely ordained for life on earth alone. Secondly, at the resurrection, people will be like the angels in heaven. Angels do not marry each other, but serve God wholeheartedly in their individual capacity.  Finally, the Lord then addresses the whole error of the Sadduccee concept of no resurrection by declaring how in Scripture, God declares “I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob”. God’s declaration is present tense, indicating that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are all very much alive, albeit in Heaven.

Application:

Close your eyes and meditate for a moment on the afterlife, on the resurrection of the dead. Our life on earth is fleeting, passing quickly like a breath of air. Some may say everything ends when we pass from this earth, drifting into nothingness. However, Jesus says that this is not so, and that there is a resurrection. He even describes how life at the resurrection will no longer involve marriage but that people will be like angels

Consider the Lord’s words to the Sadduccees “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God”. Do we know the Scriptures and the power of God? To know the Scriptures, we need to spend time reading it, meditating on it, reciting it even from memory. The Jewish concept of meditating on Scripture in the Bible is likened to the digestion of the cow, chewing it, swallowing it, regurgitating it to chew again and swallow. That’s how deeply we need to meditate on and think of Scripture.

Some are good in the Word but lack the power of God while some have high experiential knowledge in moving in the power of gifts of the Holy Spirit but are not grounded in the Word. We need both to be balanced and effective in the long term for the Lord. The power of God is something that comes from faith. It is in believing and calling upon God that we begin to see miracles, prayers answered, and God moving in divine ways in our lives. A lot of this stems from desire. How badly do we want to see God work miracles in our lives?

God is God of the living and not of the dead. We who walk after the Holy Spirit in Jesus name have life. We who walk after our own sinful desires are dead. If God is our God, and He is God of the living, we too must walk in life.

Prayer:

We praise You and thank You, Heavenly Father, for the time that we have here on earth. Forgive us, Lord, for our tendencies to fritter time away, to run after the pursuit of worthless things. Draw us and teach us, Lord, to use our time wisely, for the days are evil. Forgive our sin, and lead us to new paths and new callings. Help us O Lord, and reveal Your truth to us in Your Word. Breathe life into us O Lord, that we might experience Your power and presence in our daily lives. Help us love Your Word, teach us to learn from Your Word. Let it be so alive in our everyday walk, praise Your holy name. In Jesus name, Amen.