DYNAMIS!
A publication of St. George Orthodox Christian Cathedral
Wichita, KS
St. Luke 20:27-44
(1/14) For
Mon of the 34th Week after Pentecost (Mon of the 29th
Week)
Denying
Resurrection: St. Luke 20:27-44, especially vs. 27: “Then
some of the Sadducees, who deny that there is a resurrection, came to
Him....” In the
original text, St. Luke opens this passage with an unusual double negative,
which the New Jerusalem Bible, among our English translations, renders clearly:
“Some Sadducees - those who argue that there is no resurrection -
approached Him...” (vs. 27). Both “deny” and
“argue” are used to translate “antilegontes,”
meaning “those who speak against,” to which the Evangelist added
“there is no resurrection,” thereby drawing attention to the strict
opposition of the Sadducees to any belief in resurrection. Many of the Jews believed in a
resurrection at the end of time (Jn. 11:23,24), and so some of the scribes hastened to say,
“Teacher, You have spoken well” (Lk.
20:39).
In our
day, the Sadducees have colleagues, pundits who reject any reality except this
present existence. Both deny
resurrection. These drink deeply
from the materialist wellspring.
St. Cyril of
First,
the Lord addresses the materialist bias of those who deny resurrection. He shows that all who reject the reality
of a spiritual dimension think solely in terms of the physical realm and cannot
imagine another “age,” “sphere,” or state of existence
beyond that which can be measured and tested objectively. To correct them, the Lord Jesus points
out that, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage”
while those in the age to come do not marry, “nor can they die
anymore” (vss. 34-36). As St. Theophylact
states: “Here, there is marriage because there is death....There, where
death has been abolished, what need is there of marriage?”
Second,
the Lord Jesus shows that all materialists - from Sadducees to contemporary
secularists - consistently exclude God.
Western Societies generally favor separation of Church and State. There must be little or no mention of
God or His Name. Notice the contrast
between the Lord’s manner of speaking about “those who are counted
worthy to attain that age” (vs. 35) and the style of the Sadducees. Our Lord, as God, acts supremely - as
the One Who counts men worthy or not of that age; for He is the One by Whom
“the dead are raised” (vs. 37). In forming their challenge and telling
their story, the Sadducees never even once mention God (vss.
28-33).
Of
course, the process of thrusting God “out of the picture” results
in calculating all events and problems in terms of tangible objects and
relationships. The Mosaic Law
served the Sadducees as their objective measure for everything. Therefore, they reasoned that there was
no resurrection because Moses did not mention it in the Law. And, of course, it was from Moses’
teaching that they drew the problem of the story of the seven brothers (vs. 28;
Deut. 25:5-10).
The Lord
Jesus, on the other hand, laced His reply with references to God and
God’s revelation of Himself (vss. 35-38). Notice that the Lord Jesus’ basis
for knowledge of resurrection rested squarely on Divine revelation. As the Great Prophet who revealed
God’s gift of resurrection, “Moses showed in the burning bush
passage that the dead are raised, when he called the Lord ‘the God of
Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’” (vs. 37). Thus, today, the Church, on the basis of
recorded revelation, declares to all who deny resurrection, “Christ is risen!”
O how
noble! O how dear! O how sweet is Thy voice, O Christ; for
Thou hast verily made us a true promise, that Thou shalt
be with us to the end of time, an anchor for our hopes.
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