Scripture: Luke 20:27-38; Psalms 98; Haggai 1:15 - 2:9
Title: Afterlife, Sex and Resurrection
Theme: Resurrection Life
Proposition: Jesus reveals to us some insight about the Resurrected Life and Heaven - 1. Resurrected Life is not like our earthly life 2. Angels exist 3. Resurrection is real
INTRO:
Grace and peace from God Our Father and from Jesus Christ who came to take away the sin of the world!
The other day I was watching a college football game. It was between the University of Clemson and North Carolina State. It turned out to be a fantastic game full of all kinds of drama. With only a few seconds to go North Carolina State was in position to win the game with a field goal. Just before the ball was snapped the head coach of Clemson called a quick time out. He wanted to rattle the place kicker. He had already missed a couple of field goals and I'm sure Clemson's coach thought if the young man was interrupted that perhaps some doubt and fear would overcome him and he would miss again. Well, Clemson's strategy worked perfectly. The young man tried his best but he was off by a couple of feet and the game went into overtime where Clemson went on to win the game.
I was amazed at the precise timing of Clemson's time out. It was faultless. It was called with just enough time to get into the young man's mind and create some doubt in his ability to kick the field goal. It was done just at the right time to rattle him. And it worked.
Our passage in Luke this morning deals with a time in Jesus' life that the same type of devilish strategy was being attempted on Jesus. It's the Wednesday of Passion Week. Jesus is already in Jerusalem. The Triumphal Entry has taken place, Jesus has already cleansed the Temple and now is fielding some questions by those that have surrounded him. The chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders have already questioned him on his authority. Who gave him the right to preach about God? Who gave Jesus the authority to go out and share his message?
Jesus answers their questions and then shares the Parable of Tenants. Afterwards some spies from the Jewish leadership group try to trip Jesus up with a rather sticky political question. They want to get Jesus in trouble with Roman government. Jesus gives them his famous statement of "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's." Astonished by his answer the spies are rendered speechless. Jesus has faced everyone's questions so far and has come out ahead.
It's at this point we are at our passage. Jesus has handled a theological question and a political question. Now, it's the Sadducees turn. They ask Jesus what they think is a highly intelligent theological question with eschatological undertones. It's not so much their question as it is their strategy that we must keep in mind. In less than 48 hours Jesus will be hanging on the cross taking his last few mortal breaths. He will be facing firsthand all three questions that have been asked of him. They are similar to the temptations Jesus faced in the Wilderness1.
This morning let's spend some time looking at the 3rd question - the one asked by the Sadducees. Not the question concerning marriage but the question underlining it concerning whether or not there is a Resurrection. Whether or not there is a time of everlasting accountability that results in either reward or punishment.
All throughout his ministry one of Jesus' main themes had been his teaching concerning the Resurrection. (Matthew 12:39-40, 16:27; 27; 62-64, Mark 8:31; 14:58, Luke 9:22; John 2:18-22; John 10:17-18). Jesus was constantly reminding his disciples what was going to happen to him, "The son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again."
The belief in Resurrection would turn out to be the singular event that would transform heaven and earth. Christianity is utter foolishness and nonsense void of the Resurrection. Without the Resurrection, Jesus, his life, his ministry are insightful but in the long scheme of things they are ultimately meaningless. Paul tells us in Romans 1:1-4
1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God— 2 the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures 3 regarding his Son, who as to his earthly life[a] was a descendant of David, 4 and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power[b] by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. (NIV)
and more visibly in 1 Corinthians 15:13-17
12 But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.14 And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. 15 More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised.16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either.17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost.19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. (NIV)
Our passage this morning is a big deal. Oh, the Sadducees' question is juvenile but the foundation behind it is far from being juvenile. The Sadducees were doing their best to create a spirit of doubt, confusion and fear in Jesus' heart and mind. Like the coach of Clemson they want to get Jesus off his game.
The belief in an afterlife was not widespread among all the Jews. The Sadducees for example did not believe in an afterlife at all. Their theological viewpoints different greatly from the Pharisees. Where the Pharisees believed in the Law, the Prophets, the Writings and in Oral Tradition, the Sadducees only believed in what they called the words of Moses. In their minds Moses did not teach about an afterlife, about angels and especially about any type of human resurrection. The Sadducees also did not believe that there was going to be any eternal reward or punishment. All human beings could look forward to either good or bad was this life.
In our passage they did their best to get Jesus to understand that such an afterlife existence was a mere fallacy. They did their best to either show him to truth or to confuse him. Given when this happens I think it was their sole intention to put some doubt and confusion into the mind and heart of Jesus. I think we can see where they were being used by Satan to see if Jesus could be rattled. I think we can see where Satan uses them to try his best to get Jesus to experience some doubt and confusion about his mission and the love of His Heavenly Father. After all, the Cross is less than 48 hours away.
So, let's get the picture. Jesus is right on the doorstep of fulfilling his life mission. Everything he has done on earth is getting ready to come to a conclusion. If he ever needed clarity and faith it was now. For over the next 48 hours his mind, his heart and his soul would be tested as it never had been before.
And like the serpent in the Garden, here were these Sadducees standing there in the corner nudging him - "THERE IS NO RESURRECTION". "THERE IS ONLY THIS MORTAL LIFE" "THERE IS NO EVERLASTING PROMISE OR HOPE" "ALL WE HAVE IS TODAY" "THERE IS NO ACCOUNTABILITY OR VINDICATION OR EVERLASTING PUNISHMENT OR REWARD" "THERE IS NO NEED FOR REDEMPTION". In other words after the Cross Jesus you will simply be dead All that you have preached will be dead. The total meaning of your life will mean nothing. You will have died in vain and nothing will be done through your death. There is no afterlife, no angels nor is there the hope of any human resurrection.
We must understand what is going on before we get to Jesus' answers. This is not just some question and answer session between Jesus and these Sadducees. This is a bunch of people steeped in the Torah, seen as the best of the best when it comes to being teachers of the Word telling Jesus that the thing he has put as his singular foundation - THAT GOD THE FATHER WILL RESURRECT GOD THE SON and therefore all mankind can be redeemed is all a bunch of nonsense.
And just to push home their point they posit the craziest of questions. To fully understand the absurdity of the context of their question Andrew Prior shares with us a similar question concerning the resurrection. It goes like this:
"A missionary meets a cannibal, and it does not go well. He is eaten. But the cannibal is so impressed by the demeanour (sic) of the missionary as he awaits death, that he is converted. So how will these two be raised from the dead? Part of the missionary would have to be part of the cannibal!" Who get resurrected and how?
What a silly question. What a silly question from the Sadducees in one sense. In another sense it was like the time out from Clemson's coach. The coach was not interested in giving his team some new knowledge or a way to block the field goal attempt. His interest was in getting the North Carolina State place kicker rattled. His interest was in creating an atmosphere of anxiety, doubt and fear.
So, too, I think was this question of the Sadducees. They really didn't want an answer. After they didn't even believe in the premise of their own question. If you don't believe in a resurrection or in an afterlife then why in the world ask a question about it in the first place? All they were interested in was to get Jesus rattled, begin to doubt and cause some confusion among his disciples and followers.
Unlike the young man in our football game, however, Jesus doesn't get rattled. Instead, he picks up on the question of the Sadducees and uses it as a platform to do some more teaching. He uses it as a launching pad to share some more on what we can expect in the life to come. Jesus takes the opportunity given to him to tell all of us about: Relationships in the afterlife, Angels and the Resurrection itself.
I. Jesus begins by telling all of us that Resurrected Life is going to be different than Mortal Life
What we shall experience in heaven will be far different than what we experienced here on earth. Here on earth we have to deal with all kinds of difficult issues:
+Issues revolving around the most intimate of human relationships, those involving marriage and family.
Our Mormon friends believe that marriage is for all eternity and that in heaven we will be given the opportunity to produce celestial children. It's a nice thought but it's not the truth. Our Muslim friends believe that if a man does the right thing for Allah then it is possible that once that person reaches heaven Allah will have 72 virgins waiting for them. The same deal is not for women just for men. Jesus doesn't agree and His Heavenly Father has made no such provisions.
Jesus puts those kind of human and sensuous thoughts to the side. He simply tells us that in Heaven resurrected humans will no longer be married or bear children. Marriage, sexual intimacy and childbirth are all a part of an earthly institution blessed by the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY. Those human relationships and activities will not be a part of our heavenly existence. The relationships that we enjoy in heaven will supersede those that we can now experience in marriage and in families. Sin will no longer cloud our minds and God will reveal to us a whole new way to share life with one another.
Whether we realize it or not it Jesus words here have become a part of our traditional wedding vows.
"I, ___, take you, ___, for my lawful wife/husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and health, until death do us part."
"Til death do us part." Those words are not there to simply allow a person to remarry after their spouse dies but to testify of the reality of Jesus' words. Humans are married here on earth. Their marriage is earth bound. Humans have children here on earth. Parenthood and childhood are earth bound relationships. They will not exist in Heaven.
I'm sure some of your are right now unhappy while others are you are relieved. Those of you that have had a great marriage feel a tinge of sadness in the fact that you will not be married on the other side. Those of you who have been married more than once may be a little relieved. After all, if you had a great marriage to Bob who after 40 years died and you remarried Sam who was with you for another 20 years - which one do you pick before you go inside those pearly gates? Bob who was the love of your young life and who helped you raise a family or Sam who was the love of your sunset years? Jesus tells us you won't have to flip a coin to see who you are going to be with in Heaven. Marriage won't exist.
And what about those whose first marriage was a disaster? Especially those whose divorced mate later came to faith. Now, when they get to heaven do they have to be reunited with their former divorced mate or do they get to keep mate # 2 or mate #3. You see, if we try to make heaven look like earth then we all get confused and messed up.
The reality is simply this. Our lives in heaven are not going to match our lives here on earth.
That is great news. For it means also that other human institutions that we find on earth will also not be in heaven. There will be no social classes, no slavery or gender inequality . There will be barrenness in heaven. Women will be equal to men. Slaves will be equal to their former owners. Poor will be equal to rich. The only standing in Heaven is that everyone will stand before the LORD as His children. Everyone will be one with the Father and with one another. The Great High Priestly Prayer of Jesus will be realized.
II. Secondly, Jesus reminds everyone angels do exist
While the Bible does not give us the precise time of the creation of angels; their existence is assumed from the very beginning. It is amazing that the Sadducees who prided themselves on knowing the Torah somehow missed all those passages in Genesis and Exodus that speak of angels. We have angels meeting with Abraham, Lot and Jacob. We have angels watching over the Children of Israel. The Torah and the rest of God's Word is full of stories and encounters with angels.
The reality is we find at least ten orders of angels mentioned in the Bible; Angels, Powers, Principalities, Dominions, Thrones, Archangels, Cherubim, Seraphim and the Elders. The Bible is clear to reveal to us that God has given angels great wisdom, freedom and power. God used angels to bring mankind insight, understanding and guidance. The Bible is clear that God has used angels to protect and watch over mankind.
Angels exist. That is just a fact. Think for a moment of where Abraham, Jacob, David, Elisha, Daniel, Mary, Joseph, Peter and the Early Church would be without angels. Think for a moment of how angels came and ministered to Jesus at the time of His temptation in the wilderness and how angels announce both his birth and resurrection.
Without God's holy angels our lives here on earth would be poorer. The writer of Hebrews wants us to be careful in entertaining strangers that come our way. We never know when we are in the presence of a holy angel. Aren't you glad this morning that God created angels and they are still being His messengers today?
III. Finally, Jesus nails it down once and for all - THERE IS GOING TO BE A RESURRECTION
I love the way Jesus reveals this. Knowing how much the Sadducees believed that they knew the Torah Jesus takes them back to the heart of the Torah. He takes them back to the burning bush to remind them that Moses very much believed in the Resurrection. The Resurrection is not some new idea but an old idea. As old as the Law itself. As old as creation itself.
It is here that Jesus also reminds his listeners of two vital truths:
+Not everyone will be resurrected to New Life. Notice Jesus speaks of those "considered worthy of taking part in that age". We must be careful here to understand that Jesus speaks of both a New Life and a Second Death.
+Resurrection Life therefore means that there will be a time of accountability that will result in a time of either reward or punishment.
Because the Sadducees refused to believe in an afterlife it did not matter to them how pure and holy they lived. For the most part they held on to certain tenets of the Jewish faith while at the same time befriending the tenets of Hellenism - Greek philosophy and cozying up to Roman authority. They were banking on their belief that there would not be an afterlife and therefore would not be a time of accountability, vindication or even everlasting reward or punishment. As far as they were concerned they were already at the top tier of society and financial wealth so why did they need Heaven? To achieve their high position most of them had already broken more than one commandment and if there was an afterlife then they might not fare so well. If there an afterlife then that would mean that they would need to repent and change their ways.
Jesus answers the Sadducees question in such a way as to help them realize that in just about 5 days they would no longer be asking such silly questions. When they begin to hear about Him coming out of that tomb on Sunday morning then they will need to begin to realize that their beliefs have been mistaken. No longer will there be any silly questions about a Resurrection, about an afterlife along with a time of accountability and vindication. I belive that Jesus was reaching out to the with the Good News of the Gospel. I believe he was wanting to tell them that they needed to get ready for the truth is:
a. There is an Afterlife
b. There are angels
c. There will be a resurrection - either to live forever in Heaven with God or to experience a second death in Hell
Today, as we come to a close we do so with a time of reflection and introspection. We may be here today and not truly believe in an afterlife or at least that there will be a time of accountability followed by an everlasting life in Heaven or in Hell. We may be living much like our friends the Sadducees - going for all the gusto we can in this life banking on the fact that there is either no afterlife or if there is then everyone gets to go to the Good Place.
Until then we will eat cake, have sex, raise children, gain weight, have cancer or a heart attack and die.
Jesus here is telling us that there is more. There is more than we can imagine. But along with that more - with the reality that there is a Resurrection there is also accountability, a judgment and either Heaven or Hell.
Today, in which direction are you going? Have you accepted the grace that Jesus offers you? Are you ready to be Resurrected to experience everlasting Life or the Second Death? The Sadducees thought they were tripping Jesus up but in the end Jesus used their question to share the Message of the Good News. Yes - there is everlasting Life. Yes - it is life that is far superior to our life here on earth. Yes - there are God's Holy Angels. Yes - there are wonders that are too great for us to behold. Yes - there is Heaven and it is ours if we will:
+Repent of our sins
+Receive God's grace through Jesus Christ our Savior and LORD
+Be filled with His Holy Spirit and live out a life in the Spirit
Altar call and closing song:
1It is interesting to look at these three questions - questions on authority, on whose kingdom is in power and the question of the Resurrection and see overtones of those questions asked in the Wilderness - Are you the Son of God (authority). You can choose human kingdoms over God's (Caesar question) . And are you really testing God by claiming the Resurrection? (Telling Jesus he is testing God when in reality he is putting all his faith in God).
