Luke 20: 27-38
Some Sadducees, those who say there is no resurrection, came to him and asked him a question, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies, leaving a wife but no children, the man shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother. Now there were seven brothers; the first married, and died childless; then the second and the third married her, and so in the same way all seven died childless. Finally the woman also died. In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had married her.” Jesus said to them, “Those who belong to this age marry and are given in marriage; but those who are considered worthy of a place in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. Indeed they cannot die anymore, because they are like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection. And the fact that the dead are raised Moses himself showed, in the story about the bush, where he speaks of the Lord as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive.”
The Sadducees were a sect of Judaism which only accepted the first five books of Moses. They didn’t believe anything anybody had tacked onto those five books: no prophets, no history, no psalms, no angels, no resurrection of the dead, no nothin’. They were very conservative, very wealthy, very powerful, and very faithful folks who didn’t want to hear about any “new” ideas because everything they did was correct and right just the way it was. Thank you very much!
Which is why the question they had for Jesus in the Gospel today wasn’t a genuine question, but bait for a trap. They weren’t looking for an answer. They HAD the answer… the right answer… the only answer… and that answer was that this new fangled idea about there being a “resurrection of the dead” was just plain nonsense. It was nonsense to them just like Jesus’ other wack-a-do ideas about justice, the poor being lifted up and the rich being cast down, feeding the hungry, healing the sick, and caring for the outcast and foreigner. The Sadducees, with a genuine belief as strong as anyone’s, thought it was all new fangled, human invented nonsense!
Now, if that’s how they wanted to do religion… if that’s the way that worked for them… honestly… I’d just say go for it! It’s not MY way! I personally like those new fangled ideas like “the prophets” and “psalms” and “resurrection”, but I’d be fine letting it be THEIR way if we could all just leave it right there. The trouble came because they couldn’t just leave it right there, could they? They weren’t content saying “This is the way for ME. You’re welcome to join in… or not… your choice, but I’m sticking with MY way.” Instead they insisted that THEIR WAY be everybody’s way and if you couldn’t be converted you needed to be eliminated.
The Chief Priests and Scribes just a few verses earlier had tried to trap Jesus with a question as well. “Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to the Emperor or not?” If Jesus had said “no, don’t pay taxes” they would have turned him into the Romans as a rebel. If he had said “yes, pay taxes,” they would have turned him over to the people as a traitor. Again, they were simply baiting Jesus because his ideas challenged their beliefs, and they, like the Sadducees, simply wouldn’t be content doing their thing while someone else did something different. They too insisted that THEIR WAY must be everybody’s way and if you couldn’t be converted you needed to be eliminated.
The Pharisees were yet another group who knew what they believed was right. They KNEW the coming Messiah would think like them, talk like them, and live like them. When Jesus showed up and didn’t think, talk, or live like them, they could have just said, “Hey, we don’t think you’re the Messiah, but you do you and we’ll just keep looking for our Messiah over here.” They could have done that. But they didn’t. They too insisted that THEIR WAY be everybody’s way and if you couldn’t be converted you needed to be eliminated.
You see the REAL problem these stories reveal, right? The real problem was never what the Sadducees, Chief Priests, Scribes, or Pharisees believed OR didn’t believe. The real problem isn’t what the Roman Catholics, other Protestants, Jews, Shiites or Sunnis believe… The real problem isn’t what Buddhists, Sikhs, or even Zoroastrians believe or don’t believe! This Parable is here to tell us that the REAL problem is NOT what people believe or don’t believe. The REAL problem is insisting that MY belief must be your belief and if someone won’t be converted, then they need to be eliminated! THAT, I think, is what Jesus wanted the people to take home with them. Historically speaking, things like the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, and the 100 Year’s War are pretty good evidence that people DIDN’T take that message home, but I think that’s what Jesus WANTED them to take home.
So, Pastor Erik, does that mean you believe anything goes? Okay, so everyone’s clear and I don’t have to deal with being brought up on charges of heresy on top of all the other things going on in my life right now, let me say this: I, William Erik Karas, am a full fledged Jesus guy. FOR ME… Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. FOR ME… the Trinity… in particular the irony that the Trinity is a mystery I can’t fully wrap my brain around… hits right for me. Is the Jesus Way the ONLY Way? Well, since I just told you I can’t even fully wrap my brain fully around the mystery of what I BELIEVE, I don’t think there’s any chance I could say one way or another if there might be other ways for other people!
All I am able to say, is that FOR ME… the idea of the Jesus WAY hits ME as TRUTH and I’ve found that the better I manage to follow in Jesus’ footsteps as I walk through this thing called life, the more abundant this thing called life seems to be for me. So, if folks want to walk along this WAY with me for a bit and see if that idea hits right for them too… Great! If folks want to do something else… Rock on! Because the way I figure it… If God didn’t send Jesus into the world to condemn the world… and I’m trying to follow Jesus… it’s a pretty sure bet I haven’t been sent into the world to condemn it either. Amen.
