In our reflection on Jesus’ encounter with the Sadducees, we recognize that our faith is rooted in the “God of the living.” We understand that while the religious leaders of the time tried to trap Jesus with complex legalities, He pointed us toward a higher reality where our earthly categories of marriage and status are superseded by our identity as “children of the resurrection.” We acknowledge that in the life to come, we will not become a different kind of being, but rather will be restored to the fullness of our humanity—healed of the sickness, addiction, and pain that plague this age. By holding onto this eternal hope, we find the strength to push back against despair in the present, knowing that our ultimate victory is secured in Christ.

Shameless plug: here’s a link to Method(ist) to the Madness, our new, hopefully entertaining podcast about church history.

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Good morning! It is a blessing to be with you on this Friday morning, January 9th, as we close out our first full week of the new year.

If you’re in the central Mississippi area, please stay weather-aware tonight! I’m hearing reports of some wind and rain heading our way, so be careful if you’re out and about. Looking ahead to Sunday, I am so excited to be with our Intersection (contemporary) community at St. Matthew’s. It is Baptism of the Lord Sunday, a powerful time where we’ll have the opportunity to renew our own baptismal vows together. I hope you’ll make plans to join us!

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The God of the Living (Luke 20:27-40)

Today we find Jesus being tested once again, this time by the Sadducees. To understand this passage, it helps to look at the religious landscape of the time:

Group	Base of Operations	Scripture Focus	Key Beliefs
Sadducees	The Temple (Priests)	Torah only (First 5 books)	No resurrection; focused on ritual.
Pharisees	The Synagogue (Rabbis)	All of the Old Testament	Believed in the resurrection and angels.

Because the Sadducees only recognized the books of Moses (the Pentateuch) as divinely inspired, they argued that there was no explicit mention of the resurrection. They come to Jesus with a hypothetical “trap” about a woman who was married to seven brothers in succession: “In the resurrection, whose wife will she be?”

Like Angels, but Fully Human

Jesus’ response is profound. He explains that marriage is an institution of “this age,” but in the “age to come,” our nature changes. He says:

“Indeed they cannot die anymore, because they are like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection.”

It is a common misconception that when we die, we “become angels.” As we’ve discussed, scripture teaches that we remain human, but we are given what Paul calls “spiritual bodies” (1 Corinthians 15). We don’t become another species; we become fully human—exactly as God intended us to be before the world was broken by sin.

The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob

Jesus then hits the Sadducees where it hurts—using their own preferred scripture. He points to Moses at the burning bush. When God speaks, He doesn’t say, “I was the God of Abraham.” He says, “I AM the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

Jesus concludes: “Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive.”

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Hope for Today

As a pastor, I often stand with families in their final moments. I have watched people “cross over,” and I know deep in my core that there is something better, whole, and beautiful waiting for us.

Because we have hope in the world to come, we can have hope today.

• One day, there will be no more cancer or Alzheimer’s.
• There will be no more addiction, poverty, or division.
• We will see clearly, no longer looking through a “mirror dimly,” and we will be fully known and fully loved.

The devil’s greatest tool is often making us feel hopeless. But if you are in Christ, you are a child of the resurrection! Do not live a life of despair or darkness. We grieve our losses because we are diminished by them, but we do not grieve as those without hope. We have the promise that we will be healed, whole, and forever with the Lord.