THE MARRIAGE TRAP

Luke 20:27-38 Common English Bible (CEB) 27 Some Sadducees, who deny that there’s a resurrection, came to Jesus and asked, 28 “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies leaving a widow but no children, the brother must marry the widow and raise up children for his brother. 29 Now there were seven brothers. The first man married a woman and then died childless. 30 The second 31 and then the third brother married her. Eventually all seven married her, and they all died without leaving any children. 32 Finally, the woman died too. 33 In the resurrection, whose wife will she be? All seven were married to her.” 34 Jesus said to them, “People who belong to this age marry and are given in marriage. 35 But those who are considered worthy to participate in that age, that is, in the age of the resurrection from the dead, won’t marry nor will they be given in marriage. 36 They can no longer die, because they are like angels and are God’s children since they share in the resurrection. 37 Even Moses demonstrated that the dead are raised—in the passage about the burning bush, when he speaks of the Lord as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. 38 He isn’t the God of the dead but of the living. To him they are all alive.”

THE MARRIAGE TRAP

This Sunday's gospel may be one of the earliest recorded uses of marriage as a weapon regarding a controversy among religious leaders.

This scripture is a challenge to me because I do not claim to be an expert in marriage or the afterlife.

Let’s put this narrative in context. Over the last several weeks we have been traveling with Jesus on his way to Jerusalem and the journey is drawing near its conclusion. Last week we were in Jericho with Jesus and Zacchaeus. The lectionary skips over several verses at this time, so between last week and today, Jesus has entered Jerusalem, gone to the Temple, and has been teaching there every day, while his opponents look for the opportunity and means to get rid of him. We have reached a point in Luke’s gospel where the Sadducees are part of a trend of trying to trap Jesus. Jesus cleansed the Temple in Luke 19 and 19:48 tells us that "From that point on, the chief priests, the scribes and the leaders of the people kept looking for a way to kill him".

So, as he teaches in the Temple, various groups come to try to trap him with questions about his authority, about paying taxes, and now, about resurrection.

The series of events between last week’s reading and this week intensified the tension and hostility between Jesus and the religious authorities of his day.

Who are these religious authorities? The Sadducees and Pharisees - two sects of Jews, who differ in their interpretation of the tradition’s teachings.

The Sadducees had primary authority over the Temple. They recognized only the original five books of Moses - (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy) - as fully authoritative. They did not believe in the resurrection of the dead because it is not referenced in these books known as the Torah or Pentateuch.

The Pharisees believed that God continued to speak to and through people beyond those five books. They also read the Prophets and Psalms as scripture, and it was there that Pharisees found justification for belief in the resurrection of the dead. In some ways these groups were rivals, but they were united in their opposition to Jesus.

Along comes Jesus, who has been attracting a lot of attention. The Sadducees put away their differences with the Pharisees in order to discredit Jesus.

Those who say there is no resurrection have a question for Jesus about resurrection.

Theologian Sarah Dylan Breuer noted that “They went for the political jugular -- they went for family values.” Because – everyone knows that family -- marriage and parenthood – is the bedrock of society. The Sadducees thought they had Jesus right where they wanted him. And by challenging him on the question of resurrection, they may embarrass the Pharisees as a bonus. The Sadducees have asked a trick question.

In this Biblical definition of marriage, the law they referenced comes from Deuteronomy and was meant to ensure the family name was carried on by stipulating that a man should marry the childless widow of his brother. The question is hypothetical, taking an ancient practice to a far-fetched scenario to demonstrate that the whole idea of resurrection was foolish.

Jesus avoids their trap by pointing out their failure to understand the resurrection -- resurrection life is different from life here and now. Additionally, he shows their failure to understand Scriptures by using another passage from the Pentateuch (the Exodus 3 story of Moses' encounter with God in the burning bush) to establish the legitimacy of life after death. The passage proclaims in present tense that God is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, not that God was their God. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob must in some sense be alive; therefore, the necessity of resurrection. The Sadducees set a trap for Jesus and it is turned back on them.

The entire argument of the Sadducees is based on the idea that in the kingdom of God, things will be just like they are now. Jesus insists that life after death is different from life now. Debating to whom a woman who has had seven husbands will be married is silly.

The ordinary events and relationships by which we track our mortal life -- marriage, childbirth, graduations, so on -- do not depict our eternal lives because resurrection life is not merely an extension of this life, but something totally different.

The butterfly is a helpful symbol of this reality. The caterpillar and butterfly are entirely different, but they are the same animal. Caterpillars crawl and eat leaves. Butterflies fly and drink nectar and pollen. They are different life stages of the same animal. We will be as different after death as a butterfly is from a caterpillar, but we will still be ourselves.

We don’t really know very much about what life will be like after we die. This is something, that as far as I know, none of us have direct experience. We do know from Jesus that we will be with God and will be safe.

The Next Place, by Warren Hanson, is a poetic exploration of things we know and do not know about life after death. According to Hanson, it will be very different – no Mondays or months or body characteristics – no boy or girl or color of skin – but we will know we belong and will be close to all the people we have loved.

Whatever the limits we may experience about describing resurrection life, this passage invites us to proclaim with confidence our faith that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob raised Jesus from death and promises to do the same also for us. Because Jesus brings a message of Good news – of hope – of love. In this life and the next God is with us.

I often wonder what would have happened if the Pharisees and Sadducees had spent as much time actually listening to Jesus to hear as they did listening to find something to use against him. What if they had taken his teaching to heart rather than arguing with each other and plotting against Jesus. I wonder the same thing about religious leaders today. The questions they pose in order to trap Jesus are just unnecessary noise which distract from the important things Jesus taught.

The Pharisees and Sadducees disagreed on which books were authoritative scripture. Their differing interpretation of scripture lead them to differing beliefs on resurrection. We know from Paul’s letters to various churches that there were disagreements and differences among the followers in the emerging church. To this day the church is divided into branches and denominations. Our own denomination is divided on issues. And we all waste a lot of time, energy and money arguing over issues that distract us from the overall message of Jesus.

As Jesus walked this earth, he was clearly concerned about healing and transformation of individuals and of society. The church has focused more on doctrinal belief and morality.

In John 17, Jesus prayed for all believers to be one – to be brought to complete unity. He did not pray for uniformity, but unity. The church has historically defined us in groups - often, like the Pharisees and Sadducees, in oppositional ways.

On what should we focus?

Last week when I attended a gathering of the clergy of the North Alabama conference, Bishop Bob Farr preached from Matthew 14, where Jesus walked on the water. Peter got out of the boat and came toward Jesus, but when he saw the wind, he became afraid and began to sink. Bishop Farr reminded us that Peter’s mistake was that he took his eyes off Jesus. And then he reminded us that our mistake, as pastors, is that our eyes are often on the church instead of on Jesus. We are GAZING at the church and only glancing at Jesus.

I fear we are too much concerned with the preservation of the institution of the church and focused on our differences, when we should be keeping our eyes on Jesus. We need to be focused on the message. And Jesus’ message included that we would have the Holy Spirit to continue to communicate with us in an everchanging world.

The Sadducees were defenders of the status quo. I’m sure their origins were noble, and they thought they were righteous. But they never got past the first 5 books of the Bible. Eventually, their identity was tied to temple worship and they ceased to exist as a group after the destruction of the temple.

To what is our identity tied? Is our energy spent defending the way things have always been done? Are we listening to the Holy Spirit guiding us to new ways to embrace our community?

Last week, I asked when Huffman UMC was most successful. Think about that for a minute. Many of you have been here your entire life. When was the height of our success?

I dare to say that it is now as we are in ministry with our community. Our focus is not tied just to our worship here on Sunday morning, but to the ways we can be in ministry seven days a week. I believe we are a resurrection church. We might not look the same today as we looked nearly 150 years ago when this church was founded. We don’t look like we did the first time I came to Huffman in the early 90s. We don’t look like we did 20 years ago. And we won’t look the same in 10 years. But if we keep our eyes on Jesus and listen to the Holy Spirit, we will be part of the Kingdom of God – worthy to participate in the resurrection - continuing to do the work we are called to do.