The Resurrection Riddle
“Now he is God not of the dead but of the living, for to him all of them are alive.”
At long last, the promised King had entered into Jerusalem! But not everyone was eager to join the parade.
Following the Triumphal Entry comes a barrage of challenges to the authority of Jesus by various religious leaders. In one such encounter, a gaggle of Sadducees (‘sad, you see,’ because they did not believe in the resurrection of the dead) cornered Jesus and posed to him the following theological riddle:
If the law required that a childless widow was to marry her brother-in-law to perpetuate the family name (see Deuteronomy 25:5-6), and if the dead really would be resurrected, what would happen if seven brothers took this duty seriously, each marrying their brother’s widow ‘til death did them part?
Talk about an awkward family reunion!
The Sadducees thought that they had finally stumped him, but Jesus cut through the Gordian Knot with ease. None of the seven brothers will be the woman’s husband, for ‘til death do us part would no longer apply.
Had Jesus stopped here, he would have fully answered the question at hand. And yet, as he so often does, Jesus goes on to answer the question-behind-the-question, unpacking why the resurrection of the dead is not an optional idea for believers in the God of Israel.
When you think about resurrection, what comes to mind? Fear? Doubt? Anticipation? Though we might not deny bodily resurrection like the Sadducees, the daily grind can distract us from this resurrection reality. Thus, Lent is the perfect time to contemplate afresh the resurrection.
In Christ, we can have confidence that death is not the end of our story and that we can be “dressed in his righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne!”7
O God of the living, as we anticipate celebrating your Son’s resurrection, remind us of our own impending resurrection and, by your grace, help us to live this day in light of that day. Amen.
RYKER LUTJENS
Master of Divinity Student
Colorado Springs, Colorado
7 Edward Mote, “My Hope is Built on Nothing Less.”