Birth, Death, Infinity
Luke 20:27-40
Some things Jesus said are not easy to understand or accept.
Opening credits of the Ben Casey television show
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." Then some of the scribes answered, "Teacher, you have spoken well." For they no longer dared to ask him another question. - Luke 20:27-40
Those of you who are old enough to have watched early television in the Sixties may remember the opening sequence of Ben Casey. The title sequence began with Dr. Zorba writing the symbols for Man, Woman, Birth, Death, and Infinity on a blackboard.
It was the infinity symbol that intrigued me the most. It held the promise of continuity and continuation.
Something must come after Death, and it will last forever.
Now, this was a television series about a doctor who rarely smiled but managed to cure every disease he encountered, thanks to the excellent teachings of Dr. Zorba.
If the Sadducees had come to Jesus with honest intent to understand what happens to us after this life is over, I am sure that Jesus would have been more open to discussion. But they didn't and he wasn't.
Our loss.
The question was about the resurrection when all believers rise up in bodily form to meet Jesus when he returns. It was not about the interim time, between death and the resurrection, that time when our bodies are gone but our souls live on.
This is the point of our faith where we get to imagine what it is like. And it is a controversial point.
The Sadducees tried to confuse the crowd so they would think Jesus a fool, but he shut them down. We, on the other hand, continue to imagine.
When a loved one dies, even if they had loved others before, they remain connected in love with us. That may be how we would like to see it, but it is possible that they could continue to love those who came and went before us, right?
In eternity, there is a lot of love to go around. So, maybe the question the Sadducees asked is a bit foolish and nothing to concern ourselves with.
But there is still that resurrection time to consider.
Of course, if we all do reassemble into human form, I hope we get to choose how we look. That body we had in the last moment of life may not have been our favorite.
I am not going to worry about it, though, because it makes the whole thing seem silly. Instead, I choose to believe we remain in love forever.
Man, Woman, Birth, Death, Infinity.
More to come...