shortlady
Member
- Joined
- Aug 3, 2005
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Indeed they cannot die anymore, because they are like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection. (Luke 20:36 NRSV Bible)
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One day a group of Sadducees approached Jesus with a question about life beyond the grave. The Sadducees were members of the priestly party who were very conservative in their theology. Their scriptures consisted only of the first five books of the Old Testament--those books attributed to Moses. Unlike the Pharisees they did not believe in the resurrection of the dead or angels. Neither did they believe in future punishments or rewards.
They believed that when the body died so did the soul. Since there was no mention of the dead being brought back to life in the first five books of the Bible, they concluded that there was no such thing. They were not the least bit open to Jesus' teachings. In fact, they were trying to trap him. They wanted to embarrass him--to discredit him and expose him as a fraud.
They brought Jesus a complex riddle. If a man married and died before he had any children, it was the custom of the day for his next oldest brother to marry his widow. In their riddle the Sadducees had the widow marry a man who then died, then his next oldest brother, who died, then the next, until she had married and buried seven brothers. "In the resurrection," they asked Jesus, "whose wife will the woman be?" Obviously, the Sadducees hadn't asked this question for edification. They didn't even believe in a resurrection!
The Sadducees' question was a test. It was a trap. Jesus, though, saw this as an opportunity to set the record straight. In heaven, he explained in verse 36, there is no need for marriage, "because they are like angels and are children of God."
I believe, in heaven, we will know our family and friends, but heaven will be more wonderful than our human relationships.
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Dear God, help me to know the assurance of my resurrection, so that I can focus on serving your people. Amen.
Ron Newhouse
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One day a group of Sadducees approached Jesus with a question about life beyond the grave. The Sadducees were members of the priestly party who were very conservative in their theology. Their scriptures consisted only of the first five books of the Old Testament--those books attributed to Moses. Unlike the Pharisees they did not believe in the resurrection of the dead or angels. Neither did they believe in future punishments or rewards.
They believed that when the body died so did the soul. Since there was no mention of the dead being brought back to life in the first five books of the Bible, they concluded that there was no such thing. They were not the least bit open to Jesus' teachings. In fact, they were trying to trap him. They wanted to embarrass him--to discredit him and expose him as a fraud.
They brought Jesus a complex riddle. If a man married and died before he had any children, it was the custom of the day for his next oldest brother to marry his widow. In their riddle the Sadducees had the widow marry a man who then died, then his next oldest brother, who died, then the next, until she had married and buried seven brothers. "In the resurrection," they asked Jesus, "whose wife will the woman be?" Obviously, the Sadducees hadn't asked this question for edification. They didn't even believe in a resurrection!
The Sadducees' question was a test. It was a trap. Jesus, though, saw this as an opportunity to set the record straight. In heaven, he explained in verse 36, there is no need for marriage, "because they are like angels and are children of God."
I believe, in heaven, we will know our family and friends, but heaven will be more wonderful than our human relationships.
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Dear God, help me to know the assurance of my resurrection, so that I can focus on serving your people. Amen.
Ron Newhouse
