SADDUCEES SADLY MISTAKEN
Text: Luke 20:27-40
Bruce Larson made the comment that the question that the Sadducees posed to Jesus was a test that was designed to determine whether or not He was a conservative or a liberal. (Bruce Larson. Mastering The New Testament: Luke. Dallas: Word Publishing, 1983, p. 291). Larson commented further saying that a question of that nature is used to rate another's orthodoxy wherein he/she will be included or excluded based upon their answer as well as the creed of the group asking the question or questions (p. 291).
The intention of the question of our "case in point" (Luke 20:27-40) was designed by those who composed it to make a fool of Jesus. It backfired. The scripture tells us that when Jesus answered that question, no one dared to ask Him any other questions.
This passage of scripture points out two things that contrast one another which are the Sadducean versus the Christian point of view. Today we will explore the point of view of the Sadducees on resurrection, the Christian point of view of the resurrection and eschatology.
THE SADDUCEAN VIEW
The Sadducees based their question upon the view of what is called the Levirate marriage. The understanding of the Levirate marriage was that one lived on through their family name. The understanding was based on the scripture of Deuteronomy 25:5- 6: "If brothers are living together and one of them dies without a son, his widow must not marry outside the family. Her husband's brother shall take her and marry her and fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to her. The first son that she bears shall carry on the name of the dead brother so that his name will not be blotted out from Israel" (NIV). Moses also established that when no male heir existed, but there was a daughter, she would then become the heir of her father's property (Numbers 27:1-8).
For a couple to be childless was not looked at favorably. People with children sometimes looked at those without children through suspicious eyes. Perhaps people with children looked at those couples who were childless with sorrow because of the inability to have an heir. To die without a male child, the family name would not be carried on. But, at least a daughter could be an heir.
The Sadducees did not believe in the concept of life after death. When I was in seminary, I was studying for my church history exam. While I was studying with a group the subject of the Sadducees came up. To remember what was significant about them, one of the members of the study group gave us an excellent memory cue for recall: "The Sadducees did not believe in life after death that is why they we "sad- you-see".
The Sadducees did not believe in the idea of life after death (Acts 23: 8). The Hebrew word for grave was "Sheol". Perhaps, the reason that they did not believe in life after death might have been due to the thinking that death and the grave were one's final resting place, because for them there was no "life after death".
If you compared the Sadducees to the Pharisees, then you would look at the Pharisees in a more favorable light. "The Pharisees leaned toward a belief in resurrection that owed more to Greek ideas than to the Old Testament" (Kenneth L. Barker and John L. Kohlenberger III. Zondervan NIV Bible Commentary. Volume 2. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1994, p. 274). Yet, the Sadducees refused to acknowledge a point that Jesus made clear about life after death: "... 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.' He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive" (Luke 20:37-38 NIV). In fact, if you read Matthew's account of that same story (Matthew 22:23-33) that comment is prefaced by a rebuke when Jesus asked "Have you not read ...?" (Matthew 22:31), (Barker and Kohlenberger, p. 100).
Although it does not allude to it in this passage of scripture, it must be said that the Sadducees did not believe in the existence of angels either (Acts 23:8). Atheists do not believe in God or life after death. So we could conclude that both the atheists and the Sadducees would have agreed that the grave is the end of existence for each human.
THE CHRISTIAN POINT OF VIEW
Jesus Himself is the resurrection and the life (John 11:25). If you go to the eleventh chapter of the gospel of John, then you will read about how Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. The only thing is that Jesus brought him back to his earthly body having "reversed" the lifeless body back to the state of being alive (Barker and Kohlenberger, p. 336) to where he was literally brought back to life. Basically, this story is pointing out how Jesus brought forth resurrection in the earthly life of Lazarus---the temporal realm. When Jesus was risen from the dead, He was resurrected in a spiritual and heavenly body. The point is made by the apostle Paul that in baptism we are baptized into the likeness of Christ so that we have become united with Him in His death as He paid the price for our sins on the cross so that when we are resurrected, we, too, can be resurrected into His likeness (Romans 6:3-8 paraphrased).
Jesus also explained the future state of what resurrection will be like. In the resurrected bodies that we will have in heaven we will not marry or be given in marriage (Luke 20:35). Resurrected bodies are "glorified, non-mortal bodies that are not capable of reproduction or destruction" (Jerry Falwell. Executive Editor. The Complete Bible Commentary. Edward E. Hinson: "The Gospel According To Matthew". Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1999, p. 1218). Since that is the case, it is obvious that our heavenly bodies will be different from what our earthly bodies are. We will be like the angels (Matthew 22:30, Mark 12:25, Luke 20:36) and we (given that we are Christisn) will never die again (Luke 20:36). "Inherent in the very nature of God's creative act is His concern for the total person. Hence, He will not keep us disembodied spirits forever but will give us glorious bodies to match our heavenly perfection" (Warren W. Wiersbe. The Bible Exposition Commentary. Volume 1. Wheaton: Victor Books, 1989, p. 259). We will be like the angels in that we will become "spirit beings" without gender (Wiersbe, p. 259). We will still know each other in heaven and be "... know[n] fully, even as I [we] are fully known" (First Corinthinas 13:12 NIV). We will share in the image of Christ in that we will be like Him (First John 3:2).
ESCHATOLOGY
Eschatology is that "branch of theology" that deals with "death, resurrection, judgement and immortality" (Webster's New World Dictionary. Second College Edition. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1984, p. 477). We will be judged. We will be judged so that we will not be condemned with the world (First Corinthinas 11:32). Second Timothy 4:1 tells us that Christ will judge the living and the dead.
There is the story about a young man whose life was spared as a boy. But, later in his adult years he went before the same man who saved his life. The man reminded the magistrate "you saved my life when I was a little boy". The magistrate responded by saying, "That day I was your savior, but today I am your judge".
Where we end up in eternity and how we will be judged will be determined mainly by us. It is possible to be religious and still be wrong. Look at the lives of the Sadducees. They were some of the religious leaders of their day and yet theologically they were wrong. Even though the Pharisees believed in both angels and eternal life, they too, were wrong in their approach at how to live. The one thing that will get us into heaven is the grace of God which comes through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Therefore, we need to encourage each other with the truth about resurrection. What we believe is based on faith. We must not just have the right beliefs, but also the right behavior. "The Sadducees believed in unrestricted free- will" (William Barclay. The Daily Study Bible Series: The Gospel Of Luke. Revised Edition. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1975, p. 250). The Pharisees believed in the resurrection and angles as mentioned earlier. They also believed in fate and that man's life was ordered by God (Barclay, p. 250).
Paul made the comment that if what we preach about the resurrection is false, then we are liars and our preaching is useless (First Corinthinas 15:12-14 NIV). But, Paul also made the point that Christ's resuurrection was the first fruits of all the others to come (First Corinthians 15:20). Ecclesiastes 3:11 points out that "... God has set eternity in the hearts of men" (NIV). It is unfortunate that many have an unrealistic quest for eternity.
"Twenty-seven people are banking on the idea that modern science will someday find or engineer a fountain of youth. Those twenty-seven people, all deceased, are patients of the "Alcor Life Extension Institute in Scottsdale, Arizona, where their bodies---or merely their heads!---have been frozen in liquid nitrogen at minsu 320 degrees Fahrenheit awaiting the day when medical science discovers a way to make death and aging a thing of the past.
Ten of those patients paid $120,000 to have their entire body frozen. Seventeen of the patients paid $50,000 to have only their head frozen, hoping that molecular technology will one day be able to grow a whole new body from their head or its cells.
It sounds like science fiction, but it's called cryonics. As you can imagine, cryonics has its share of critics and skeptics. And of course, Stephen Bridge, president of Alcor, cautions, "We have to tell people that we don't know if it will really work yet."
Nevertheless, Thomas Donaldson, a fifty year old member of Alcor who hasn't yet taken advantage of its services, brushed aside the naysayers and explained to a reporter why he's willing to give cryonics a try: "FGor some starnge reason, I like being alive. ... I don't want to die. Okay, guys?"
For those like Donaldson, who like being alive, God has good news. Jesus Christ has risen from the dead with an eternal resurrection body. Jesus is the only sure hope of eternal life" (Craig Brian Larson. Editor. Contemporary Illustrations For Preachers, Teachers & Writers. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1996, p. 43).
People like these of modern day are nothing more than wishful thinkers at best who are betting on eternity without realizing how wrong they are or in this case were. What we believe about the resurrection affects our every day life. We need Jesus as our Lord and Savior not just for every day living but for eternity because without Him eternal life is impossible. AMEN.
