Twenty-second Sunday after
Pentecost
November 9, 2025
Text:
Luke 20:27-40
Every pastor knows that, when
someone asks him a question, there is often another question behind
the surface question. Not always,
but often. Sometimes the person
doesn’t quite know what his question is, so he starts with what he knows. That is fine and good. Sometimes he’s afraid to ask the
pastor the question on his heart and mind, so he starts with something easier,
trying to work up to it. To be
honest, it would be a whole lot easier, if you’d just tell me you have a
question you’re afraid to ask, and then… well, I promise, I’ve been in your
shoes, so I’ll do my best to patiently and lovingly help you get to that
question.
But then there are the Sadducees in
our text. For them, the surface question
is entirely disingenuous. They're not
really asking about marriage in the Resurrection. They are trying to trap Jesus. They think they can outsmart Him by quoting
the Bible (reminds me of the tactic somebody else tried to use with Jesus, in
the wilderness, a couple years before).
They think they can show Him for a fool, and thus dismiss the rest of
whatever they don’t like in His teaching.
Every pastor knows about this kind of question, too. It happens.
But the Sadducees are not to be emulated in this. Don’t ask questions with malevolent agendas,
beloved. Don’t do it. If the thought even enters your mind, or your
subconscious (and you become aware of it), repent of it, and confront your
issues openly, honestly, and humbly.
The Sadducees were those who deny
the Resurrection, and, by their question, they were trying to prove the absurdity
of that doctrine (held by Jesus, AND by their religious and political rivals,
the Pharisees). Incidentally, the
Sadducees also denied the existence of angels, and most of the Hebrew Bible. They only accepted the five books of Moses
(Genesis through Deuteronomy). And, of
course, they interpreted those books in such a way as to deny the clear
teaching in them on angels and the Resurrection. This is to say, the Sadducees were the
theological liberals of their day. Much
like American mainline Protestants. Take
what you want from the Scriptures, reject what you don’t like. Big on liturgy, the Temple rituals. The Chief Priests were Sadducees. Affluent.
Elite. Happy to look down their
noses at the rest of us. Matthew gives
us Jesus’ own evaluation of the Sadducees in his telling of this encounter: “You
are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God”
(Matt. 22:29; ESV). That is the summary
of Sadducee-ism and liberal mainline Christianity in one fell swoop.
Jesus does answer their
surface question, though, and in this, we learn precious truth about marriage
from the lips of its Inventor. And He also
answers the question behind the question, and in that, we learn about
the nature of eternal life and the New Creation. The Sadducees come up with this outlandish
scenario where a woman marries seven brothers in succession, each one dying
without conceiving a child. “In the
resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be?” (Luke 20:33). They are referring to the practice of levirate
marriage. You can read about this in
Deuteronomy 25. This is the one scenario
where God commands a man to marry more than one wife. In every other case of bigamy, or polygamy,
in the Scriptures, God tolerated it, but never commanded it. That is an important distinction, because God’s
design for marriage is one man and one woman, as we know from His
institution of marriage in the Garden of Eden.
But in levirate marriage, the concern is twofold: First, to provide for
the widow, who otherwise would be reduced to begging. And second, to propagate the line of the man
who has died, thus preserving his name and his inheritance in Israel. Remember, the Promised Land is not just a
vast area for the Israelites to occupy as a nation. Every man gets his portion, his plot, his
property. And that property is passed
down from generation to generation. You
keep it in the family, because it is bound up with the man’s name. So, as a good and God-fearing Israelite, if
your brother dies and leaves no son, you marry his wife and give her a son
in your brother’s name. And that
first son is considered his, not yours. That son carries on your brother’s name and
line. And this is serious business. If you don’t want to do this for your
brother’s widow, she takes you before the elders of the people, pulls off your
sandal, spits in your face, and says, “So shall it be done to the man who
does not build up his brother’s house” (Deut. 25:9). And, henceforth, the name of your house shall
be, “The house of him who had his sandal pulled off” (v. 10). Now, it’s funny to us. I know I’ve been called a lot worse. Except, in this context, this title seals
your reputation as both heartless toward the widow of your brother, and worse
yet, one who denies to her, and to your brother, the very Promise of God. The one who has his sandal pulled off is a
denier of God’s Promise!
By the way, notice what God holds up
as precious and holy in this system: The Land (property), Inheritance,
Marriage, and Procreation. So, while you
are not an ancient Israelite, living under the Mosaic civil law, you, nonetheless,
should regard these things as precious and holy. You should promote them, and defend them. But also understand, they all point toward
something even greater, and this is what the Sadducees in our Holy Gospel miss.
All four of those precious and holy
gifts (Property, Inheritance, Marriage, and Procreation) are gifts for this
earthly life. That doesn’t detract
from their value in any way. Actually,
it confirms for us Christians that we are not to live with our head in the
clouds, but fully and faithfully, here and now, in this earthly life, receiving
and stewarding the earthly gifts God gives us.
But always looking forward, toward the Resurrection to come. So, maybe you own some property now. Great.
Enjoy it. Give thanks for
it. Care for it. You are a steward of it. It really belongs to God. Let it lift your eyes, though, to the
New Creation to come, where there is a place for you… a portion, a plot… in the
new heavens and earth, in the Resurrection.
Maybe you’re anticipating, or have received, an inheritance. (You have inherited much from your
parents and ancestors, regardless of money or property. God open your eyes to that, and give you to
be grateful for it.) Wonderful! Again, enjoy it, give thanks for it, and
steward it as something God has entrusted to you. But let it lift your eyes to the
extraordinary inheritance you receive as a son or daughter of God in Christ
(that is what God makes you in Holy Baptism).
Of which Paul says that inheritance is all things… “all things
are yours… and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s” (1 Cor. 3:21-22). That’s pretty good. Maybe you are married. Maybe God has given you a spouse. Praise God. You are enjoying the first thing God
instituted for man in this creation, and He instituted it even before the fall
into sin. Realize just how precious this
is. Not everyone in this building has
been given this gift. If you have, you
are blessed. But whether you,
personally, have received it or not, let it lift your eyes to something
unimaginably greater: The marriage of the Lamb, Christ Jesus, to His Bride, the
Holy Church. We get a foretaste of the
nuptial Feast right here in the Supper.
Same with children. Maybe God has
given you children. What a joy. What a responsibility. Raise them in the Kingdom. Bring them to Church. Bring them up in the discipline and
instruction of the Lord. They are God’s
children, with you, and He’s entrusted them to your care. But whether you, personally, have received
the gift of children or not, let the little ones lift your eyes to the
unimaginably greater reality that God is your Father, who loves you, because,
in Christ, you are His dear, blood-bought child.
See, these gifts all give way to
something greater in the Resurrection.
In the Resurrection, Jesus says, they neither marry, nor are given in
marriage… If this idea bothers you, that you won’t be married to your
spouse, at least in terms of relating in the same way… well, you’re not
alone. It bothers me, too. But that is because our fallen minds are so
bound to this world. It is true, your
marriage, as precious as it is, is for this life. This is why, when a spouse dies, the widow or
widower is free to marry another spouse.
But there is something you need to understand about heaven and the
Resurrection: In eternal life, you are never robbed of any good you’ve enjoyed
in this life. Whatever is good this
side of the veil, is still present in some way on the other, but
it’s unimaginably greater. So,
will you know your spouse in heaven, and in the Resurrection? Of course you will! Why wouldn’t you? (Speaking of the Resurrection, I plan to have
some words on that day, with some pastors who have taught some unhelpful
things, like we won’t know each other in heaven. Come on!)
And, will you remember your life together here, and all the wonderful
things you shared? Of course. Of course. But see, your relationship with every single
person you know and love here, including and especially your spouse,
will be even deeper and more profoundly good than anything you’ve
ever experienced in your earthly life.
And then, here is the real gift:
Those considered worthy to attain to that age, and to the Resurrection
of the dead, are considered worthy on account of Christ Jesus, because
all their sins are forgiven… all your sins are forgiven… on account of
His death for you on the cross. And all
His righteousness is given to you as a gift, received by faith, apart from any
works of your own. And so, you live with
Him, in His life. Now, by
faith, doing works of love for your neighbor.
Then, as one bodily risen from the dead… just as Christ is
risen. And then, you will be
equal to the angels (take that, Sadducees… there are angels, and they
are glorious beings, reflecting the very glory of God, who serve God and man,
and join us in our worship). We should
note, here, you don’t become an angel when you die… All the angels were
created in the beginning. But you are
made like the angels. And what
does that mean? Given access to
God’s heavenly throne. Made into exalted
and glorious beings, like them.
In fact, you’ll be raised above them.
Because Jesus says you are sons of God, sons of the
Resurrection. Sons. Even if you are daughters. Because you get the inheritance. With Jesus, God’s only-begotten Son. The Kingdom.
Heaven. New Creation. And, Resurrection. Life.
How could it be otherwise? For
God is not the God of the dead. That
would be absurd. He is the God of the
living.
The Sadducees asked a good question
in spite of themselves. Sometimes the
Lutherans do, too! I am always glad for
your questions. Don’t be afraid to ask
them. God grant me always to give you
Jesus and His Word as the answer. In any
case, let us always trust God’s Promise, and never deny it. Keep your sandals on, beloved. Christ is coming. He will raise you from the dead, bodily. And with Abrham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the
blessed (who live, even now!), you have a place and a portion. God is your God. You are His child. His Kingdom is your inheritance, your home. In the Name of the Father, and of the Son X,
and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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