Scripture- Matthew 5:21-37
The Sermon on the Mount for me is one of the most difficult sets of scripture to speak about. I say thing because I am fairly confident that among the verses I have failed the God that I love more than anything multiple times. I would venture to say that as I read these sixteen verses we have each cringed just a bit, because Jesus does not sugar coat his words instead He is about as straight forward as one can be. We could spend an entire month on these verses, contemplating and reflecting on them not only on Sunday morning but every morning, afternoon, and evening without really getting a thorough explanation. Each paragraph has a wealth of words riding on the very breath of God that cut deeply into our souls like a sharp cold wind piercing through our winter attire.
I stand knowing that the moment I begin to speak I am the greatest hypocrite when it comes to living these words out. I stand yet I know that there is something that we each need to hear. The number one reason so many people turn their backs on the church and the community dedicated to encouraging a relationship with God is because so many people with in the community are hypocrites. We scoff at this statement saying cliché things like where else should they be trying to lessen the sting of such harsh words. The reason people reject God in many cases are because the people. The odd thing is the number one reason people often begin their journey with God is also because of people. People that have taken the time to build a friendship with them, people that have met them at the level they were at and then walked with them as they struggled to come to term with the love of God.
We could look at these sixteen verses and pick out the sin and hypocritical aspects of our lives or could just acknowledge that we each have fallen short and at this moment realize that we need to turn, to repent, to run the other direction from certain activities we participate in because those activities are grieving the Spirit of God that is wooing our souls at this very moment.
Today instead of focusing on the singularity of these spiritual debilitating activities, I would like us to look deeper at how each of these are connected, and what the root of the issue is. Anger, murder, adultery, dishonesty, divorce each has a root in the exploitation or dehumanization of other. Each of these sins are centered on an unhealthy and prideful self that is focused on lifting oneself higher instead of blessing the community around them.
“You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times…” Jesus begins with the basic laws of the Mosaic Laws. It was said… this term does not mean that they have had everything wrong, but that they have not gone deep enough. Murder is the taking of a life. This has been interpreted in various ways because taking a life very serious. This one command has been translated as murder or killing which has vast differences in interpretation. One term, kill, is very broad covering the unintentional taking of life, death due to battle, abortion, revenge, or even the rendering of justice. Where the other, murder, is more directed to the intention taking of a life by the hands of another. It was said… there are vast interpretations to this command against killing, which is why in ancient times as the Hebrew people began to settle into the land of promise they established cities of refuge. These cities were set aside to protect individual from the vengeful retaliation of others in case of unintentional death. Why were cities like these established? I would venture to say they were established to protect the life. When a society is bent on repaying death with death, blow with blow, wrong with wrong we lose our humanity. We become locked in a never-ending cycle of retaliation and revenge those on the opposing side are no longer seen as brothers or equals but instead as lesser beings, not quite as human as us.
There is a grave danger when we fail to see the humanity in others. Women in most cultures have been seen as lower than men as a result they have been mistreated, often they were seen as the highest valued livestock. Then among women in these cases there were the wives and the concubines that also had greater and lesser status, one being greater than the other and valued more, while each being dehumanized. This dehumanization is the root of the slave trade of history as well as in current times, yes there are still slave today, more slaves than there where in the darkest days of American history. It is estimated that there are 27 million people today living in slavery. A slave is person that has been dehumanized in the eyes of others and since they are less than human people can justify the exploitation of their life.
This cycle of exploitation begins with misplaced anger. Anger is a dangerous emotion. Anger if not held in check can build into hatred. Hatred then can lead into actions that are based not on truth but emotional opinions meant to exploit and dehumanize others. But Jesus was angry, we quickly say to ourselves, so surely it is not all bad. I agree, emotions are not wrong; it is what we allow our emotions to do that cause us to lose sight of God and enter into the darkness of sin. Jesus was angry with the venders in the temple, he was angry because these venders were exploiting others in the name of God; they were taking advantage of a situation for their own gain. They saw the people coming to worship not as humans but as a means to their own financial gain. Jesus had a righteous anger, an emotional response with the goal to humanize the exploited.
Our anger is not always held in check, our anger is not always experienced in disciplined manner. Sadly some of the most undisciplined exhibitions of raw emotions are performed among those that claim to love. The people today neglect church because often those in church dehumanize and exploit those around them. It is hard to see at times, because we have become so accustomed to our own actions, we have justified our actions to such a degree that we are no better then the Pharisees whom Jesus called whitewashed tombs of bones. We focus on our own agenda, we hold grudges, we neglect apologies and we do so because we were right. The problem is that being right in an argument has no value unless we honor the humanity of those around us.
Jesus went so far as say, “… [If] you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, ‘You fool,’ you will be liable to the hell of fire.” These words are spoken of not just anger but the undisciplined expression of our speech in the heat of an argument. It speaks of the exploitive nature of our language and the inability to disagree agreeably. How often we fall into the trap of our passions where we speak before we think and end up with our feet firmly planted in our mouths. How often do we fail to listen to what is being said and jump to a conclusion starting our next statement before we even hear a response? How often do we ask the wrong questions, which lead to responses that keep us from honoring and promoting the spark of God within an individual. When we fail to be disciplined in speech, when we fail to control our emotions, we will be found dehumanizing those around us, and in the process we may be quieting the very voice that God is using to direct the next step He is encouraging us to make.
Anger, adultery, divorce, murder, and our word each of these sections of this sermon delivered by Jesus revolve around honoring those around us, putting everyone on a equal status as equally human and equally loved by God. How well are we doing? Daily I catch myself failing to live up to the name I claim in Christ. I fail because often I am living in my own power. We cannot love the way God loves; we cannot honor others the way God desires us to honor in our own power. That is the essence of our sinful nature. We cannot do it because we are selfish by nature. We want the glory and honor ourselves. That is why in the story of Eden our first parents ate of the tree. They desired to be equal to God, masters of their own destiny, they wanted to be god. Immediately they began to accuse and dehumanize each other, Adam blames Eve and Eve deflects to another. “I am not the problem,” they say, “but it was this lesser being you put here.” Dehumanization.
We fail all to often. Our community, our world, is falling apart around us running from God and we blame others. The truth of it is that our world is the way it is because we allowed it. We have failed to live up to our name in Christ. We hear news reports and our responses are not in equality but dehumanized exploitive. It’s the gang’s fault, it’s the democrats or republicans, it’s Hollywood’s fault, and it is never my fault. Our schools fail because we allow them to fail. Our neighborhoods have fallen apart because we have allowed them to. We pull back blaming others when I am the problem.
This is why Jesus came. This is why Jesus was born that day in Bethlehem. This is why Jesus gave this sermon and taught His followers on the mountainside, in the fields, and on the sea. He came to meet us where we are, showing us that we have been placing the blame on others that we have been dehumanizing and exploiting everyone around us. But Jesus shows us a different path, which is a different lifestyle. He showed us that the lifestyle cannot be focused on ourselves but must be lived with God and others.
Jesus shows us that the first step, for those of us who claim to be his followers, begins in worship. God is the source of love and true wisdom, He is the breath and Father of life, and we cannot begin to change without first acknowledging and honoring the one from whom our life comes. Jesus made it His custom to worship in the meeting places of the faithful, when He entered a town He would take time to worship with the community at the synagogue, it did not matter if it was a mega synagogue or one that was nearly falling apart He worshiped because worship gives us a right view of ourselves. We are creatures created by God, here for a purpose, to be in communion with our Creator.
Jesus would also withdraw often to a desolate place away from others to pray. He would withdraw to embrace that intimate relationship of love between the creator and the creature. This is embracing the Holy Spirit, or nurturing and deepening our relationship with God. This time of prayer and embracing of the Spirit is expressing our needs, our failures, and our desires to our Lord as well as reading, studying, and meditating on scripture as we allow God to speak to us as well. It is a conversation and an intimate relationship. It is in these times where God will show us how to improve ourselves and where he will provide his strength in our weaknesses. It is during these times of prayer, where we will begin to see where we have shown dehumanizing actions and how to change our ways. It is in these times of prayer where God will direct us and when we embrace His correction He will then send us out to change the world where we are.
Jesus would then engage with the community, healing the sick, answering questions, encouraging the disciples, and teach the masses. It is through the prayer, the conversation with the Father in the Spirit, that He would then begin to serve other. He shows us that in this lifestyle, the lifestyle of the kingdom of God we too will be sent out to serve, and to live the love of Christ with others. It is in this service where we begin to rebuild our communities, reconcile the dehumanizing actions we have allowed to occur, and stop the exploitation of those deemed lesser than us. We share the love of God by feeding the hungry, giving a coat to someone that needs one, repairing the car of the single mother who trying to get to her job so she can feed her children. We live the love of Christ when we meet people where they are, not in judgment because that is a form of exploitations, but in encouragement. Encouraging them by our generosity, encouraging them by our kind words, encouraging them with our tactful teaching and urging to walk the path to Christ.
When we leave the lifestyle of exploitation and enter into this lifestyle of Christ we will begin to see the world change around us. We will begin to see men treating their wives differently, we will begin to see people living not out of anger or lust but out of generosity and respect, we will begin to see the end of exploitation and the beginnings of encouragement.
How often have I failed, how often we as Christians have failed to truly be the people God has called us to be. But Jesus is giving us an opportunity to turn it around, to rebuild the world that we have allowed to falter, to bring in the kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. As we enter into this time of open worship, and holy expectancy let us allow God to examine our lives, let us repent of our failures and let us ask God for the forgiveness and strength to change, let us begin to see His kingdom come in our lives so we can encourage and honor those around us with honesty, and humility.
Scripture Luke 23:33-43
This week we are all gearing up for a festive holiday. Families across America are going to gather around their tables expressing what they are thankful for. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. Thanksgiving is the one holiday that my mom’s side of the family would all attend, so it was the only holiday that was fully celebrated. Thanksgiving is such an ingrained holiday in our nation that we sometimes forget that it is not observed worldwide. It would probably surprise us that Thanksgiving was not a holiday started by the church. Sure it was created to mimic or mirror festivals in scripture but Thanksgiving, as we know it was a creation of the United States government. It is a holiday that people around the world are curious about, because it does not follow the same ideas of most secular holidays. Memorial day, originally called Decoration Day, celebrates those who died in service to their country. Veterans day, originally Armistice Day, celebrated the end of World War 1 and those that served in the war to end all wars, and later honored all those who have served in the military. Labor Day celebrates the working class and the efforts of those that worked so hard to bring better working conditions to all people that work in our nation. Independence Day celebrates the declaration of our independence from the tyrannical rule of England. Each holiday celebrates something about our nation in some way, but Thanksgiving is a secular holiday that differs from the rest. Its roots emerge from the celebration of survival. It celebrates the preservation of a nation as well as its people. It is religious as well as political. It emerged out of the wedded Church and State of England, but took on a different tone in the colonies.
We know the historical tradition of the Pilgrims celebrating a day of thanksgiving with the Native people of the area, celebrating the harvest and preservation of them as a people. But it was not until the reuniting of the union after the civil war that Thanksgiving became a national holy day celebrating the preservation and continuation of the American way of life. We often see this day as a religious holiday, as we should, the Anglican and puritan traditions of faith along with the government of England began using days of thanksgiving, mimicking the ancient feast of Israel, to remind us that God is involved in all things. People and nations all survive not by will alone, but by the word of God and His grace. I mention Thanksgiving today, because the history of this holiday has represented vastly different things throughout history. Though it gives credit to God, it largely celebrates the nation.
Church and State, or the sacred and secular, do not always work well together. One always seems to dominate the other, and through the power struggle the point is often lost. Thanksgiving and its predecessors have often celebrated one side or the other which ever is more dominate at that time. Today we see football and holiday shopping dominating so many thanksgiving celebrations where in the past it was dominated by religious dedication. There is a continuous struggle between the sacred and the secular but there is a thankfulness that we survive.
Today’s passage illustrates that struggle, as well as the call of those in Christ. It is not exactly the type of scripture we would like to read prior the entrance into the holiday season, but as I have meditated on it this week I have found that it is a blessing.
Jesus is taken to the place of the skull to be crucified. On top of the pain of this inhumane form of capital punishment Jesus also faces jeers on all sides. Luke mentions first that the religious leaders scoff at him. “He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, His chosen one!” The mocking soldiers quickly followed saying, “If you are the king save yourself!”
This week these two statements have weighed heavy in my thoughts. Each of these statements comes from the same spirit, the spirit of control and power. Save yourself. One comes from the sacred arena the other from the secular, but both speak the same message if you are whom you claim save yourself.
Both sides of the issue have failed to see the truth of Jesus’ testimony; both have failed to hear the gospel in which he spoke. The Gospel of Jesus is that the Kingdom of God is here. But what is the kingdom of God? The religious leaders have an expectation that if Jesus were the Messiah then the temple would control the people. The secular believe that the kingdom is a political force with military backing so if Jesus in the king then he should call out his army to over power them and remove him from the tree. Then the criminals hung beside Jesus begin to join the conversation. One demands Jesus to prove his kingship by saving him and them. All three groups fail to understand what Jesus was meaning, because all are being lead by a human idea of kingdom.
The idea of kingdom in many of our minds is that of power, it is to have influence over other in order to control them. When Jesus is questioned about his kingdom, he said it is not of this world. We quickly interpret this to mean that Jesus’ kingdom is in heaven only, but that seems to negate the Gospel Jesus preached. He said that the Kingdom of God is here. Even the end of this passage seems to point in to a heavenly interpretation of the message. But could there be more to it? Is all that matters just getting a ticket punched and getting to heaven?
No, there is much more to the kingdom of God and much more to this passage. It begins with Jesus saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” They do not know what they are doing? Have you ever really thought about what that one statement meant? This came before the mocking leaders and soldiers, and before the discourse between the condemned in Luke’s telling. Is this just saying forgive them because they don’t know whom they are killing? I do not believe so, because it is clear through the writings of Paul that Jesus had to be put to death in that way to provide total redemption for mankind. It was actually not wrong to kill Jesus then but the most right thing to do, that act was not the one that needed forgiveness. But there is an action involved that did. They were killing Jesus because they wanted to control the people, and eliminate the competition to their power.
Forgive them for they do not know what they are doing. Forgive us for we do not know what we are doing. Sin we often explain as missing the mark, falling short, or breaking the law. Could it be that sin is actually the desire to control? Adam and Eve sinned by eating from the tree God told them not to eat from, they were tempted by the idea of gaining wisdom and being able to control their lives with the knowledge. They sinned and were separated from God because of the desire to have knowledge so they could then control, instead of relying on God to direct them through life. Forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.
According to the law of both man and God, these people knew exactly what they were doing. The Romans wanted Jesus removed just as much as the Religious leaders, because of the claims of kingship. They knew that as Jesus taught they were losing the control over the common people. And they needed that control to maintain the status quo. These men knew what they were doing, but they did not know that they were in their legality were falling short.
Sin is control where forgiveness is restoration. We control with rules and regulations, we pile them on both on both sides of our humanity, both the secular and the sacred. But we do not often know what we are doing. We can study, we can plan, we can do all sorts of things but in the long run we do not know what the final results will be. We bind and loosen our human rules, and sacred interpretations and in the binding and loosening we fail and fall short, as individuals and as cultures. Forgive them, Jesus says, because they do not know what they are doing.
The leaders of the secular, the leaders of the sacred, and the common men all fell short we are all included we are all ignorant of what damage and or good we are doing to the community and world around us. Some of our greatest advancements have become some of our biggest sins as a culture. Some of our greatest failures have opened doors to our greatest accomplishments. All along we have been clueless to the lasting ramifications of our current actions. Forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.
We try to control but we fail. We try to regulate others and ourselves and end up worse off then before, but there is forgiveness and hope. The one criminal realized that he was getting what was deserved and asked Jesus to remember him. We do not know what the crime was that these men committed, though he did say that he was condemned justly, but not Jesus. Jesus did not do things to control people but to free them.
I said that this passage illustrated the struggle between the sacred and secular, and also the call for those in Christ. That is the struggle between control and freedom. We often think of the golden age of Israel as being the time under the kings, but God warned them about the dangers of kings. It is almost as if God preferred that the lifestyle under the ancient judges even though so often look upon as negative from our point of view. Under the judges people followed the desires of their hearts, and at times it got them into trouble. But when Israel demanded a king God said that they rejected Him as their king. God’s kingdom is found where we strive to live out our heart’s desires in relationship to Him and our community. That is the freedom of Christ, which is the influence of Christ. Jesus did not come to condemn the world, we already did that and continue to condemn ourselves, but he came to set us free. That freedom is only found in recognizing our sin, turning from that sin, and striving to something better with Christ.
The last statement Jesus makes in this passage is directed to the repentant criminal. “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” In all the pain of the situation I picture a smile on Jesus’ face, I can almost hear laughter in his voice through the pain. I hear it because there is joy. This one man realized that Jesus was speaking of him when He said forgive them. This man realized that he did not know what he was doing but now he did, and he accepted the consequences of his actions. And there is joy because there is reconciliation beginning. We do not have to control those around us, only to encourage. That is what the church is here for. We as a church exist to encourage one another to walk with Jesus and to live according to our callings.
Forgive them, Jesus pleads. Forgive them. For far too long we have lived in a world of condemnation and not one of forgiveness. That is what thanksgiving is truly about. God preserved us even though we do not know what we do. This is a time where we can step back and just be thankful that we have another day to try again. God allowed us to make a profit this year even though we made countless mistakes, God gave us a harvest even though we failed so many times, and we are thankful. We come together as friends and family and we share the bounty that God has graciously allowed us to have even though we do not deserve it, and we are thankful. But it is only enjoyable if we forgive those around us, to let go of our vain attempts to control and to be free to love. Forgive Jesus says. And encourage people to look toward him, and today you can experience just a glimpse of paradise.
Scripture: Luke 20:27-38
Have you ever been in a conversation with someone who tried to present themselves, as an expert in an area, but in reality know nothing about the topic? It is even worse when you happen to have an extensive knowledge in an area in which they speak but they seem to be unable to acknowledge their error. I have been in many of these conversations sometimes they can be very funny but in many cases they can quickly devolve into an argument because often people do not like to be corrected of their ignorance. Yes I use the term ignorance because that is what most of these discussions are, they are without proper knowledge and because of that they are presenting things improperly. And I willing admit that at times I am the ignorant person in some conversations.
I remember several conversations that I have had with people as I worked as an overnight sales floor associate, many of these conversations moved into the areas of what the Christian view is on many areas. In most of the cases the ignorance was a willful ignorance, meaning they had no desire to gain proper knowledge but would continue to spread their faulty ideas. This was most prevalent when the discussion was over the Christian response to Islam. I was often worried about the direction these discussions would take because I knew that most people involved were working with limited knowledge over the subject matter, on both sides. For example many of my Islamic friends were debating with the assumption that all Christians believed in three gods, those gods being the Father, Jesus the Son, and Mary. Many of the Christians were debating thinking that all Islamic groups were the same as well not realizing that there are two major groups. It got to the point that I actually asked one of my Islamic friends to read a book from which I gained what knowledge I had over their faith and asked them to let me know where the presentation was inaccurate. They actually jumped at the opportunity, which opened them up to asking questions as well about their ignorance of Christianity.
I would try to stay out of many of these discussions because a fool seems wise until they open their mouths, and I did not want to look the fool. Each side would gear up to debate, and to argue their points but neither would really listen to the other party. I had one friend that took me aside once and demanded that I prove my faith to him, saying, “If you prove that your faith is true I will convert.” What a great door opening up to me, I wanted to speak, but instead I said to him, “I will answer any questions you have about my faith and how my faith has changed my life, but I will not debate. Because there is nothing that I can say that could say in an argument that would convince you fully.” I left the conversation feeling that maybe I missed a great opportunity to encourage this man’s life, but I also felt that it was the correct answer to the situation. He did ask several questions over the course of our time working together, but I did not push. Eventually he told me that he was going to transfer but he enjoyed our discussions, he admitted to me that he did question many teaching of both religions and asked me if I had ever struggled. I was totally honest with him, telling him that yes I question my faith every day, I study and pray daily wanting to continually prove to myself that I am not just grasping wind. That is part of Christianity we can doubt, question, and seek answers. I told him that Jesus even encourages us to do these things. Which allowed me to tell him that in all my searching I always come back to the same thing I always come back to Jesus. This then opened a door for me to provide him some of the resources I used to come to my conclusions, he accepted the books that I offered and we went on our way.
Often times we want to prove that we are right. We will push forward in a debate with the goal to prove our points and actually miss the questions being asked. We in our attempts to win people for Christ can miss the point. That is what religion often does. Religion is a human attempt to explain or reach the divine. It is a human attempt. This means that in the attempt our explanation will by default be tinted by human experience and perspective. That perspective can be incorrect at any given point. I am not saying that it is wrong out right, but it may not tell the entire truth. Theology is a fascinating field of study because there are several different perspectives to explore, each opening a new window of light from which we can view the human interaction with God. The danger in theology and what has gotten all denominations in trouble is when they decide that their perspective of theology is correct and without error. I say that it is dangerous because that view assumes that we then have total knowledge of God and there is no longer any room to question.
This is where division enters communities. Last week many followers of Jesus in many traditions celebrated Reformation Day. It is a very important day because it prompted many people to again question what they say they believe, to seek answers and to find God. But along with that day it also started a battle between religious power structures that both claimed to have total truth, yet their views differed. It is a day that marks the division of Catholic and Protestant. It is a day of celebration and in the same breath a day of sorrow. There is not unity in the Church, there is not room for different ideas or perspectives, and in many ways we celebrate ignorance. In all of our arguments could we actually miss the point?
That is where we find Jesus in today’s passage. There is a group of people coming to him asking a theological question. In the New Testament we see the interaction between two schools of thought among the Jewish people the Pharisee viewpoint and that of the Sadducee. In many ways they believe the same things, the essentials are all there, the difference comes in the areas that are unclear in scripture. In this particular case it deals with marriage.
The question comes as to whom is the woman married to in the resurrection? That is the question presented but is that the real question asked? As I read this passage I sense a couple of extra questions; what is marriage, and what is resurrection are two that come to mind. The Sadducee, it states, does not believe in the resurrection from the dead, yet they ask this question, because there is an aspect of the extension of life that is unclear in scripture. Just by observation and in my own personal ignorance of ancient Jewish traditions I would say that the Sadducee understanding of resurrection would be in the physical linage or becoming parents. There was a reason that Moses wrote the law and if there are no children the question is was the life of these seven brothers in vain?
There is also a question of marriage. The law states that if a woman’s husband dies without a child the brother of the man must take the woman as his wife and bear children in the brother’s name. Is the point of marriage only in the bearing of children?
These are questions that the scholars and theologians of ancient times struggled with. Each group was certain that they had the correct answer to the presented question, but did they miss the entire point of question. Jesus begins to answer the question by saying, “those who belong to this age marry and are given in marriage; but those who are considered worthy of a place in that age in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage.” Those worthy of that age do not marry, why? “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.”
This speaks volumes about marriage, life, death, and resurrection. What is marriage? In the beginning God said that it was not good for man to be alone, so God created woman. The beginning point of marriage is that it is not good for mankind to be alone. That life is to be lived in relationship. Marriage first and foremost is friendship. The story goes on to say that Adam and Eve, our first parents, walked through the garden naked and unashamed. This also says that in relationship there is vulnerability, intimacy, and trust. No hiding, no secrets, just naked and unashamed. That kind of intimacy is difficult to obtain which is where God comes in.
We as humans are bound by fear. We live in the constant fear of being known. The fear is that if people were to know us deeply that we would be found lacking in some way. So we prop ourselves us sewing together ideas that become masks and walls. These masks and walls became the perspectives from which we relate to everyone around us. You fear and out of your fear, you judge me and everyone else around you in certain ways. We are either allies that can prop us our image or enemies to be marginalized. In our fear we live alone, we live contrary to the will of God, and are dead.
God is not the God of the dead but the living. You can only have relationships with the living. This brings to light the questions of life, death, and resurrection. The Lord is the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, Moses heard these statements centuries after these men died yet God was speaking about them not in the past tense but the present. When we are in relationship with God true life continues beyond our understanding of time. It is life then, now, and evermore. This cannot be explained adequately from a human perspective. For some it speaks of heritage as we have children or influence the lives of others our life continues with them. Others see it in a mystical spiritual perspective that is supernatural. People argue over the meaning but both could be equally correct or incorrect.
What does Jesus mean in his answer? Marriage is focused not on the legal aspects of matrimony but on the relational aspects of life together, joining together and proceeding through time not alone but as one unit. Life is not defined by the time between birth and burial but extends beyond the realm of time and space. So what do we know for sure? We do not know anything fully. At best we are ignorant because it is impossible to have full knowledge in the areas beyond our human senses. No matter what our best science and observations seem lacking. Even our greatest theologies can seem to have holes that we cannot fully explain. The point is that it is ok not to have all the answers, as long as we are willing to ask questions. It is ok to lack understanding as long as we do not build a wall around our ignorance. The main things is that Life is more important that being right. Life must be lived, honored, and protected. Does it matter whom the woman is married to? No it is that she was not alone. Our Lord is for the living and the living can only be seen and understood in our current human perspective. They are the people walking all around us. To participate in God’s life with others that should be our focus. It is not good for man to be alone. That is why God Himself came to live among mankind, to take on all the fear, shame, and death that separates us from true relationships, and to lift us up to His glory. Never more to be alone, but Emmanuel, God With Us.
In all of our debates and arguments let us not forget that one perspective. Does our stance protect and honor life? Does our theology leave room for the marginalized? Are we leaving people alone and without hope or are we sharing with them life with a living God?