Another Life
Would you live your life differently if you learned there was no resurrection?
The same day some Sadducees came to him, saying there is no resurrection; and they asked him a question, saying, "Teacher, Moses said, 'If a man dies childless, his brother shall marry the widow, and raise up children for his brother.' Now there were seven brothers among us; the first married, and died childless, leaving the widow to his brother. The second did the same, so also the third, down to the seventh. Last of all, the woman herself died. In the resurrection, then, whose wife of the seven will she be? For all of them had married her." Jesus answered them, "You are wrong, because you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is God not of the dead, but of the living." And when the crowd heard it, they were astounded at his teaching. - Matthew 22:23-33
The Sadducees remind me of a lot of self-righteous folks I have encountered.
They believe they have all the answers, so they pose questions designed to point out how dumb the rest of us are for believing what we do.
The Sadducees had no desire to learn anything from Jesus. All they wanted to do was make his position look foolish in front of the crowd of followers. They failed.
What Jesus did was show them to be the foolish ones, failing to understand the very Scriptures they teach others.
What this teaches us is that we must be prepared for a challenge. Our beliefs are based on faith which we try to support with facts. We don't always do a good job at that.
Lately, opinions have greater weight because they are amplified by social media. Many voices supporting a position don't make it factual. What the loud voices do is cause us to question ourselves.
That is what the Sadducees sought to do. Just have a little doubt.
Matthew makes it sound like they failed at that, but I wonder if that is true. If they had failed at sowing seeds of doubt, would we be questioning it today?
Maybe we all have to go through the same trial by fire of our ideas before we can truly believe. And that trial will be challenges from those who hold positions of greater knowledge than ours.
Is there a resurrection?
I am putting my faith in it, regardless of how foolish others think I am.
More to come...