One Bride For Seven Brothers

ONE BRIDE FOR SEVEN BROTHERS

Luke 20:27-40

INTRODUCTION

A. HUMOR: THE GARLIC REMEDY

1. Soon after Bernard reached his 110th birthday, a Houston Chronicle reporter visited him looking for a story. "So, Bernard," asked the reporter, "to what do you think you owe your longevity?"

2. "That’s easy," replied Bernard. "It’s garlic.” "Garlic?" said the reporter. "Can you explain further?"

"Well," replied Bernard, "I eat a clove of garlic every morning after breakfast. Then, after lunch, I eat another garlic clove. And finally, just before I go to bed, I eat my third clove of garlic."

3. "Good grief!" said the reporter. "And why do you think that works?" "Well," said Bernard, "whenever the Angel of Death comes to me and calls out, ‘Bernard, Bernard,’ I turn and face him, take a deep breath, and loudly say, “Whooooooooooo?"

B. TEXT

27 Some of the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus with a question. 28 “Teacher,” they said, “Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. 29 Now there were seven brothers. The first one married a woman and died childless. 30 The second 31 and then the third married her, and in the same way the seven died, leaving no children. 32 Finally, the woman died too. 33 Now then, at the resurrection whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?” 34 Jesus replied, “The people of this age marry and are given in marriage. 35 But those who are considered worthy of taking part in the age to come [that age] and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage, 36 and they can no longer die; for they are like the angels. They are God’s children, since they are children of the resurrection. 37 But in the account of the burning bush, even Moses showed that the dead rise, for he calls the Lord ‘the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’[Ex. 3:6] 38 He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.” 39 Some of the teachers of the law responded, “Well said, teacher!” 40 And no one dared to ask him any more questions. Luke 20:27-40.

C. THESIS

1. When I was growing up I watched a humorous movie called “7 Brides for 7 Brothers.” It portrays the 1850s, where a woman marries a backwoodsman in the Oregon Territory, only afterward to find out his six hillbilly brothers were all going to be living with them. Luckily, she's very stubborn, and begins the process of ‘housebreaking’ them all. The 6 brothers kidnap wives who eventually fall in love with them and have a collective shotgun wedding!

2. Tonight’s story is almost as dramatic as that, for it is, as its title says, about “One Bride for Seven Husbands.”

I. THE SADDUCEE’S QUESTION

A. HIDDEN MOTIVES

1. In today’s scripture, the Sadducees came up with a story they thought would confound Jesus’ wisdom. The gist of it is that seven brothers, in obeying God’s commands, all married the same woman, one at a time, and all of them died (her too).

2. So the Sadducee’s question was, “In heaven, who’s wife will she be?”

B. RIDICULOUS EXAMPLE

1. Now the first laughable thing is that the Sadducees didn’t believe in a resurrection, so they really weren’t interested in knowing this – it was all subterfuge intended to baffle Jesus.

2. Secondly, their story was so unlikely to happen that it would be a one in a trillion chance of occurring. Why worry about something we’d never see?

3. Like many people today, they were so bent on stopping Jesus that their obsession drove them into areas of wild speculation.

C. IF YOU DON’T BELIEVE, WHY THE FIXATION?

1. Evangelist E.L. Hyde was confronted with an atheist during revival meetings in New Jersey. The atheist said, "Didn't you say last night that you could prove to the satisfaction of anyone within 10 minutes that all atheists are fools?" "Yes I did. Are you an atheist? And you say there is no reality in Christianity?"

2. "Yes, I do say that! I have studied all phases of the subject and have traveled and given lectures against Christianity for more than 12 years and I am prepared to say there's nothing in it." "You are certain there is nothing in it?" "Yes, sir; there is nothing in it!"

3. "Would you please tell me," said Mr. Hyde, "if a man who will lecture 12 years against nothing is not a fool, what in your judgment would constitute a fool?"