32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle C
He is the God of Life (Lk 20:27-38)
One of the things I enjoyed most during my four-year stay in Europe was the change through the four seasons of the year. It is autumn in the Northern hemisphere now. The sidewalks would be filled with dry leaves. The leaves still left on the trees would exhibit motley of colours. The Americans call this season, ‘the fall’. The fall, is it a sign of death or life? I ask myself this question every time I see a falling leaf. This question is more meaningful even as we keep the memory of our departed brothers and sisters in this month of November.
The liturgy of the word on this Sunday, even as we near the end of the liturgical year, invites us to contemplate on the mystery of God in relation to human death and life! Jesus assures us that there is life after death because our God is the God of life.
My reflection will have two major parts. In the first part I would like to situate the gospel text of today (Lk 20:27-38) within the larger context of the Judeo-Christian Scriptures. Then I would like to explore the idea of our God being the God of life. And this will take us to the question of “So what?” – reflecting on the implication of this belief for our lives today. Simply put, I see our belief in the resurrection providing a foundation to the purpose even of this life.
Jesus versus the Sadducees – belief in the resurrection of the dead
Jesus has reachedJerusalem(Lk 19:28). Luke is about to conclude the first of his two books written to Theophilus (Lk 1:1-4), in which he has vividly described the journey of the Good News from Galilee to Jerusalem (Lk 9:51). On his arrival inJerusalem, Jesus has a busy schedule well aware perhaps, that these are his last days in his present form. There is the solemn entry intoJerusalem(Lk 19:29-44), and the cleansing of the temple (Lk 19:45-46). This is followed by some last minute confrontational dialogues with the different religious groups that were then present inJerusalem: the chief priests and the scribes, the Herodians, the Sadducees, and the Pharisees. These scenes are even better laid out in the Gospel of Matthew (See Mt 21:23ff – Chief priests questioning Jesus on his authority; Mt 22:16ff – Herodians, whom Luke refers to as ‘the agents’, questioning Him on his political stand; Mt 22:23ff – the Sadducees question Him on his belief in the resurrection; Mt 22:34 – and the Pharisees questioning Him on his final stand on the Law). Luke seems less clear about the distinctions between these groups and their specific agenda. In any case, these dialogues look like a preparation for the final trial of Jesus.
It is in this context that we need to situate the encounter of Jesus with the Sadducees in the gospel text of today. The Sadducees were probably the followers of Zadok (2Sam 15:24). They upheld the importance of the written Law, and not the oral traditions. In this, they differed from the Pharisees. And because the written Law (the Torah – ‘the first five books of Moses’) was not very clear about life after death, the Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection of the dead. As Josephus, the first century Judeo-Roman historian, points out, the Sadducees believed that the soul and body perish together at death.
Traditionally, the Jews assumed that at the death of a person their soul went to the underworld (‘Sheol’ in Hebrew, or ‘Hades’ in Greek). Here the dead person existed in a form that was not clear but surely lifeless. Psalm 115, for instance says, “The dead do not praise the Lord, nor do any that go down into silence” (v.17). Even Prophet Isaiah has his doubts: “For Sheol cannot thank thee, death cannot praise thee; those who go down to the pit cannot hope for thy faithfulness” (Is 38:18).
On the other hand, some other Psalms begin to express a sense of hope about life after death, (an understanding that will become more explicit in the books of Maccabees as we heard in the first reading of today). The Psalms make a distinction between the status of those who hope in the Lord, and those who do not. For instance, in Psalm 49 we read: “Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol; Death shall be their shepherd; straight to the grave they descend, and their form shall waste away; Sheol shall be their home. But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me” (vv. 14-15).
When the Sadducees try to trap Jesus on his belief about life after death, Jesus comes out very clear about his stand: God, His Father is the God of Life. He cannot see human beings become silent in the depths of the grave. The mystery of incarnation and the mystery of the death and resurrection of Jesus would become meaningless if human beings cannot enjoy in eternity the fruits of Jesus’ actions. In other words, why should God become a man just to teach us how to enjoy life here on earth? Philosophers and mystics can do as much. But God in Jesus can give us more. That is why, even after the Pentecost one of the first tenants that the apostles preach is about the resurrection of the dead based on the Resurrection of Jesus. Even then the Sadducees will give them trouble on account of this belief (Acts 4:1-3).
Coming back to the story of the encounter between Jesus and the Sadducees, Jesus follows a very interesting tactic in trying to convince them. He builds his argument from a source that was important for the Sadducees: the Torah. It is like, convincing a scientist drawing evidence from within his own domain. So Jesus draws their attention to something in the 2nd Book of the Torah: Exodus 3:6 and 16, that the Lord God introduced himself to Moses, as “the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob”. If these ancestors were dead and gone, why would He even remember them, let alone introduce Himself in relation to them. Therefore, “he is God, not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all men are in fact alive.”
Jesus and His Father – our hope in this life and the next
The Bible presents us a God who is not only a living God, but he is also a life-giving God. He shares his breath of life with us humans (Gen 1:7). He is a God who sustains our life. The Psalmist prays, “Preserve my life according to your steadfast promise” (Ps 119:159). This image of God as a life-giver is so powerfully portrayed in the vision of Ezekiel in the valley of dry bones (Ezek 37). God constantly raises us, as individuals and as communities, to new life. He raises us to new life, in the present life and in the next.
God in Jesus is even more explicit about this promise of life – life eternal! In John 10:10, Jesus declares, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” In John 14:6, Jesus once again reminds us, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life”. Jesus’ act of raising of Lazarus (Jn 11) was only a sign of the fulfilment of His promise to Nicodemus: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (Jn 3:16).
This belief in eternal life acts as the foundation of our hope in this life – a hope that provides courage and endurance. This is what we see in the story of the Maccabees brothers that we heard read in the 1st reading of today. They are not afraid to be killed because of their belief in a life beyond death. They are able to endure suffering because their faith provides meaning and purpose.
I would like to conclude this reflection with what my friend, Human Unterrainer, an Austrian psychologist, says about hope. Though not a very religious person himself, Human (that is his name) has found that people generally have two types of hope: Hope-immanent and Hope-transcendent. While Hope-Immanent is focused on this life even if it is being optimistic about the future, Hope-Transcendent is about life after death. It consists in the recognition of the transience of this life, together with the hopeful acceptance of life after death. His research findings suggest that people who have high level of both types of hope enjoy better health and wellbeing even in this life. And my suggestion is that hope-transcendent has the capacity to feed the hope-immanent – our belief in life after death provides meaning and purpose to our present life.
Yes, even the tree that sheds its leaves this autumn will blossom next spring.