Live to uphold the authority of God with the hope of resurrection * (Luke 20d)

  

Luke 20:27-40

Key verse - “And no one dared to ask him any more questions.” (Luke 20:40).

Introduction:

What are the most formidable challenges for mankind when they believe or live by God’s truth? Over the course of our life, we all adopt some form of belief about our lives, which inevitably includes two things: what authority we are willing to serve or honor, and what meaning and significance we are seeking to obtain. These two things are the most basic fundamentals in our pursuit of life. Soon after being challenged by Jesus’ true authority, the teachers of the law, the Pharisees, and the Sadducees challenged him with two difficult questions, one about whether they had to pay taxes to Caesar or not and the other, which we are going to look at, was regarding the reality of resurrection. They challenged Jesus on each of these issues, since they were firmly convinced of what they believed. Last week, we studied the first one about authority. Today, we will look at the second issue, which was brought up by the Sadducees, regarding resurrection. Also, these religious leaders were so sure of themselves that they believed they could win any opposing argument. However, they were all found to be wrong, as Jesus explained what God had said concerning these two issues. Here, there was a concern about one’s knowledge leading to conviction. How can we know what we believe is right and just? As we look into this question, I pray that we may be able to test our faith and eventually be able to stand firm in the faith that endures to eternal life.

The Sadducees’ conviction (Luke 20:27-33)

The ‘Sadducees’ derived their name from the priest ‘Zadok’; they too were priests, Zadok’s descendants. At this time, they were aristocrats, holding important positions, such as that of high priest, in Israel. They only accepted the five books Moses wrote as being God’s words and in them, there was no teaching about resurrection.

As the teachers of the Law’s challenges fell apart, the Sadducees came forward and asked Jesus a question about resurrection. They made up a story, applying the principle of Levirate marriage. In this story, one woman married seven brothers, one after the other, in order to follow the Law of Moses. When they all resurrected, whose wife would she be? If resurrection was true, then God had given two contradicting commands - one wife for one husband and levirate marriage, leading to one wife for many husbands. This contradiction was created by the concept of resurrection; however, if there was no resurrection, these two commands shouldn’t cause any conflict with each other.

This was a difficult question. Since all the marriages in the story were God-ordained, no one could say that any of them was wrong. It was a perfect way to deny resurrection. Even the Bible scholars like the teachers of the Law and Pharisees could not find any weaknesses or wrong in this argument. So, since there was no one that could challenge this, the Sadducees not only firmly believed that they were right over all those who claimed resurrection, such as the Pharisees and teachers of the Law, but also were sure of their own private convictions on this matter. If no one could challenge this logic, then what the Sadducees believed would stand as the truth. In today’s terms, it would be an expert’s opinion and stand as the truth, simply because no one in the world can challenge it.

Out of their pride and conviction, they came to Jesus and put forth this story in order to challenge his knowledge and authority as a powerful man of God.

Those who are worthy will resurrect and live forever like angels (Luke 20:34-36)

“Jesus replied, "The people of this age marry and are given in marriage. But those who are considered worthy of taking part in the age to come and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage, and they can no longer die; for they are like the angels. They are God's children, since they are children of the resurrection.” (Luke 20:34-36).

Jesus answered that the coming age would be different from the present one. In this age, people marry or are given in marriage, but in the age to come, there won’t be any marriage. Marriage and reproduction would not be necessary because they would be like angels and no longer die (This seems to imply that, by that time, God’s purpose to fill the earth would be fulfilled (Genesis 1:28; Mark 13:10)). Additionally, only those who are worthy will take part in the resurrection. Those who receive the resurrection are called God’s children, the children of the resurrection, and are distinctively different from the people of this age. Jesus gave his listeners a practical example of resurrection using the first five books of Moses.

God is the God of the living (Luke 20:38)

“But in the account of the burning bush, even Moses showed that the dead rise, for he calls the Lord 'the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.' He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive." (Luke 20:37-38).

This event was originally recorded in Exodus 3. God visited Moses, according to His promise to Abraham. At the time of this visit, Abraham had been dead for over 400 years; however, God still identified Himself as the God of Abraham. When He said He IS the God of Abraham, He meant, at that point, implying that Abraham IS before or with Him. If they were to dig up Abraham’s tomb at that time, they would find a handful of clay and a few pieces of bones. Did God say He was the God of a handful of clay and a few pieces of bone? No! When God said that He was the God of Abraham, He was not just identifying who he was in reference to a man who existed four hundred years ago. He was speaking of their present, on-going relationship - God with His blessed and chosen child. Was this just God’s perspective?

We can also look at what Abraham believed about this matter.

God called Abraham for the purpose of creating a nation for Himself, while the whole world was going against His purposes. So this was the beginning of His relationship with the fallen world. Throughout Abraham’s life, God worked to create a faith in Abraham that would be worthy of His blessing. This began with establishing a three-fold covenant, promising Abraham blessing, land, and a son. Over the next fifteen years, God worked to convince Abraham of His blessing and His promise of an inheritance of land, yet He had not given him a son and Abraham became unsure of God’s promise. However, when he became 100 years old and his wife Sarah was 90, both ages when it is impossible to have a child, Isaac was born. This was the covenant’s last and ultimate fulfillment, for God’s three promises were dependent on the one promise of Abraham having a child of his own. Through this, God’s message to Abraham was made very clear; God is the God of life and was willing to give life. Abraham accepted this message by faith and that faith was tested by God. When Abraham was asked to sacrifice his son Isaac, he went up and raised his sword to slay his son. God was so pleased with Abraham’s faith and reassured him of His blessing to him and his descendants. What was the content of Abraham’s faith and was his faith real or substantial? The author of Hebrews answered this question:

“Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death.” (Hebrews 11:19 NIV).

The content of Abraham’s faith was belief in the resurrection and that faith was tested and proven to be genuine. Simply, at the outset of Israel’s creation, God gave convincing proof that He wanted to give them life beyond the physical life on the earth. This was the ultimate reason for God’s call to Abraham and all the blessings that flow from Abraham are anchored in the hope of resurrection, just as the covenant between Abraham and God hung on Isaac’s birth.

Likewise, the relationship between God and Abraham was created when Abraham believed the Lord (Genesis 15) and was solidified when God again assured Abraham of His promises in Genesis 22. Since that time, the relationship between God and Abraham continued and was still going on when God appeared to Moses, about 430 years after Abraham’s death. As God is almighty and living, so must His chosen children. In this relationship, God-His children, the resurrection becomes a certainty. Jesus also said the same to the Sadducees. V36b reads “they are God's children, since they are children of the resurrection.” Likewise, even now, those who are called to be worthy of being God’s children, have a living relationship with Him. In HIM, we live eternally. Likewise,, our resurrection is sealed and assured as soon as we become God’s children. So resurrection is hung on our relationship with God (2 Timothy 2:19; John 5:24).

What does this tell us? We confess our belief in God’s Son, Jesus, and through this faith, our relationship has been solidified! This relationship, God as our Father and we as His children, will go on for as long as the eternal God lives!

Why did the Sadducees fail to see this?

The Sadducees saw things through their frame of knowledge, which was grossly devoid of heavenly truth.

They used this story to accomplish their personal goals with a preset premise that there is no resurrection. They did so in order to support their own righteousness and goodness and to ultimately push forward with their agenda on earth. When one views God’s word with a preset premise, particularly when it is grossly tainted with doubt and skepticism towards His truth, he or she will invariably miss God’s intended meaning in this passage.

The Sadducees chose for themselves what was acceptable or not. In this way, they played as the role of the arbiter of truth, instead of accepting God as the ultimate authority of truth. This resulted in them choosing only the five books of Moses as their cannon, while rejecting or discrediting the other books of the Bible.  When it is obvious that God revealed the truth in the Scriptures, we must uphold the authority of His word. This is the beginning of the understanding the truth that God embedded in Scripture.

Why did they only accept the five books of Moses? We do not know why, but one thing that is distinct about those five books is that those messages were conveyed to Moses directly from God, in Israel’s sight. That is, the five books of Moses were the only instances of God’s direct message to human beings, i.e. to their nation as a whole. In other words, they would not accept any messages that God’s other servants received through personal encounters with God. In addition to this, if it was true that they denied the history books, then they would be denying that God had been working out His purpose in Israel all along. What lies behind this? Skepticism may be most likely. Skepticism’s locus or source is materialism. What I mean is that they only trusted what they could see, and they would not trust anything beyond that experience. Such an understanding is most common among the rich and powerful, as the Sadducees were.

Materialism, skepticism, and preset purposes and premises are the causes of man’s blindness to God’s truth. Worldly riches provide a perfect medium to support and grow such an ideology and mindset, which we are warned against in Scripture. Instead, we must see God’s word from His point of view, i.e. His eternal will and purpose! Any human convictions that do not in line with His eternal will and purpose will surely be proven to be wrong over the course of time.

How can we get attain the truth?

As the Sadducees’ conviction was found to be wrong, a question is raised - how can anyone know that what he believes is the truth? Before one develops a firm belief, they first follow a few steps: knowledge, understanding, acceptance, belief, testing, trials, and then conviction. This process is not unique to certain people; rather, we all go through this process, even though some may make a short cut. However, there is one exception whereby one goes from the spoken truth to firm conviction; that is, when those who deliver the truth are reliable. When Jesus arrested Saul with his glorious appearance on his way to Damascus, Jesus’ message was so overwhelming that it lasted throughout Paul’s life as the governing truth. However, the bulk of the truth is in the words which we are to learn, understand, accept, and test, in order to reach to a firm conviction. We always begin reading God’s words with preset purposes and premises of our own, as the Sadducees did. This is where our deep-seated desires and wishes come forward to create conflicts with the truth that God speaks through His word. As we live in a believing community, we seldom or might never reveal or express that conflict, but it must be resolved by us accepting God’s transcendent will for our lives. Paul writes about this in Colossians 1:9

“For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding.” (Colossians 1:9).

Our life of faith is a walk with Jesus, in which we make all efforts to find God’s transcendent will. Abraham thought that Ismael was the son of God’s promise; however, it was eventually found that Ishmael’s birth was in conflict with God’s transcendent will. So, more often than not, our conviction or faith is tainted by our preset motives and premises, as with the Sadducees. So in order to build ‘the faith’, we are forced to constantly undergo trials and failures, until we fully conform to God’s will. Likewise, our faith may not be in line with the Truth, until it is tested by God, the One who holds the Truth, and is conformed to His transcendent will. As we noted in the two questions raised by the teachers of the Law and the Sadducees, God’s transcendent will is revealed in the answers Jesus gave: “Who is my authority?” “Where or what is my life’s meaning and purpose?” In other words, God’s transcendent will for all of the affairs in our lives is for us to uphold His authority as the Lord of all and to have eternal life through the resurrection imparted to us by Jesus’ grace. In these two attempts to discredit Jesus’ authority as the Son of God, the result was clear; no one dared to speak any more. Jesus is the truth and the only holder of the truth we’ve received from the Lord. God’s transcendent will is most starkly revealed by Jesus, the Incarnated Word from heaven.

Our firm faith in the truth must be expressed in our lives through our actions. Jesus severely rebuked the teachers of the law for failing to live out the truth that they knew (though Jesus rebuked them in Ch. 11:37-54, he also warned his disciples against the teachers of the law in 20:45-47, while not mentioning the Sadducees’ wrongdoings). In this regard, the teachers of the law might be more culpable for the fall of the nation of Israel than all of the other Israelite leaders. Today, we must still have a deep concern for how we can live out the truth that we firmly believe.

A.   Living to uphold God’s authority of God.

We were all born serving ourselves. The first mother, Eve, fell into sin and rebellion against God when she attempted to serve her own desire and purpose. We all are not much different. We were born serving ourselves and seeing ourselves as the main authority of our lives. But in Christ, we are recreated to serve the Lord.

“For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:10).

This is so that we may honor the Lord in all areas of our lives. Until we do this, we will face many walls and obstacles, like these religious leaders. We will try to run our lives with what we know; we often are so convinced of what we stand on, that we challenge everything that opposes our premises and beliefs. True belief is to think and reason how I can honor the Lord in any given situation, for we trust Him as our Lord and His goodness is with us in all circumstances.

Who do you serve every day? Who is my ultimate authority? In all of the difficulties, trials, troubles, and hardships of our lives, this question continuously pops up. We will have conflicts with some form of authority at one point or other during our lives, be it our father, mother, brother, friends, teachers, bosses at work, or civil authorities such as policemen, parking enforcement officers, etc. Even at church, we have pastors, elders, and other positions of authority. Wherever we go and whatever we like to do, it is almost impossible to go or do anything without dealing with some form of authority. When someone is not willing to accept God’s authority in all matters of life, it is very difficult for them to handle all these other authorities properly and in a godly manner, for God is the authority of them all, in one way or another.

How did Jesus uphold God’s authority? In his letter to the Philippian believers, Paul described how Jesus honored the Father’s authority:

“And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death-- even death on a cross!” (Philippians 2:8).

Humble obedience is the way to uphold our God’s authority. It must be expressed or evident in all of our relationships. How can we honor God? This is not by good works, excellent teaching or preaching, or hard work; rather, it is through a deep-seated and humble obedience to God the Father. Since I have become an adult, I have scarcely faced any occasions whereby I must respond with obedience. When I became an independent adult, the first thing that I noticed in me was an intense dislike and distrust to those who tried to exercise his or her authority over me. It was like asking the question whether or not I have to pay taxes to Caesar. Jesus knew God’s will was for him to suffer under the religious leaders and Pontius Pilate. He obeyed, even to the point of death, out of his humility. This was the only true way to honor God as his only Father. Is there any other way to uphold God’s authority? During the first three hundred years of Christianity, persecution was so intense and martyrdoms were commonplace, yet they did not revolt against the governing authorities for they believed that God was the highest authority over all and that all things were accomplished according to His discretion and will.

B.   Living out the hope of resurrection

As confessing Christians, we all believe in the resurrection, just as the teachers of the Law did. What does it mean that I believe in the resurrection? Or what will life be like if we are living in the hope of resurrection? When we ask someone if he or she believes in the resurrection, there are a few different kinds of answers we might receive - “I acknowledge and accept that there is a resurrection, but for now, it has no relevance to me”; “I do believe that there will be a resurrection of all mankind and I will be a part of it, but now I just do what is necessary, good, right, and enjoyable.” To many, the hope of a resurrection seems to bear little relevance to their daily life. Such hope seems meaningful only on rare occasions, such as after a loved one dies. To get the right perspective on this matter, I would like to look at Jesus’ life. Soon after Peter’s confession, Jesus’ teaching took on the main theme of his suffering, death, and resurrection. His journey to Jerusalem, the most prominent theme in Luke’s gospel, was rife with the theme of Jesus death and resurrection. It is not too much to say that, from the outset of Jesus’ ministry, he had his suffering, death, and resurrection in mind. Simply, resurrection hope was a major theme of Jesus’ walk and ministry throughout his life.

Speaking of this hope, the author of Hebrew describes Jesus’ hope of resurrection in this way:

“fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews12:2).

This belief was also reflected in Jesus’ disciples; one of the best examples of this is 2 Peter 1:3b.

“In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” (2 Peter 1:3b).

How did Peter live in this living hope? His word is the most pertinent and powerful one in this regard:

“But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.” (1 Peter 4:13).

What does it mean to believe in the resurrection or to have a resurrection hope? To the first believers, it could not be anything but participating in Christ’s sufferings. Are we in a different context from the first believers that we are exempt from this truth?

Living in the hope of the resurrection is difficult to put into practice, especially when everything is going so well. However, for those who are in the frontline of missions, this is real and there is no other way, except to live with the living hope of Christ’s resurrection. Paul described how the living hope was at work in his life this way:

“I affirm, brethren, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.” (1 Corinthians 15:31 NAS).

 If we want to live in the hope of the resurrection or to have ‘living hope’, we must delve into what Paul was saying, ‘I die every day’. I know how much I am helpless in my sin, pride, and selfishness. Unless I put my flesh to death, I cannot taste the power of the resurrection and its hope will be elusive to me as time passes. We must move from knowledge, to understanding, to belief, and then to firm conviction of the resurrection. Belief in the resurrection must lead to living hope. Only living hope can give us transcendent power over myriads of problems.  

As we have seen in this passage, Jesus not only spoke the truth but also lived it out. Our word is important in upholding God’s authority. However, far more important to this, is what we do! Our actions speak more powerfully to whether we live to uphold God’s authority or not. His authority is meaningfully upheld when He is honored by obedience! This is what Paul meant by exalting Christ in his body.

Even now, we can make mistakes and still have the chance to recover from it. However, we should not mistake the moment of the Lord’s return. Jesus said this concerning the Israelite leaders’ failure.

“and said, "If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace-- but now it is hidden from your eyes.” (Luke 19:42).

Jesus taught many people over his three-year ministry and the religious leaders heard much of what he taught and warned them against; even so, they persisted in their unbelief. By this moment, it was too late for them to change their mind. They had missed the moment, the final moment. From the beginning of his ministry, Jesus had warned his followers about this danger and how they could meet the moment of decision with faith.

“But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete." (Luke 6:49).

Will my belief stand for the moment? Jesus was tested before he began his ministry and the ultimate test he faced was the demand for his great suffering and death. As we are, we all know that it is an impossible proposition for us to follow his footsteps; yet here, Jesus teaches us how we can have faith for the moment! One fails the moment because they fail to practice Jesus’ word in ordinary situations.

“As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built.” (Luke 6:47-48).

None of us must fall into the pathway of the teachers of the Law. Instead, we must put Jesus’ word into practice every day! Then we will surely be able to meet whatever the moment requires. God’s transcendence must stand tall not only in our inmost being, but also in how we live our lives!

May God bless us richly in His grace!