November 9, 2025 "What would change?"

22nd Sunday after Pentecost

Job 19:23-27a

Psalm 17:1-9

2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17

Luke 20:27-38

Dear fellow ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ,

 grace and peace to you

from the one who makes sure that death is not the end. Amen

What would change if there were no death?

Everything

Everything would change

if we were to live without the reality of death.

This is the point

 Jesus is making to the Sadducees who are questioning him,

trying to trap him today,

and it’s a point made with death as a very present reality.

If we pull back and look at where this passage falls

in the story of Jesus’ life

 we find that it comes near the end

and we realize just how high the stakes are

 for answering this question.

 Jesus has triumphantly entered Jerusalem

in a protest march we call Palm Sunday,

 entering to the acclaim of the crowds shouting ‘hosanna’ save us,

and after weeping over the city he has just entered

 he moves to the temple

 and there he drives out those selling things

 and begins teaching to all the people that gather there,

 and while the people are enthusiastic

 those in authority

 whose power and authority Jesus’ person and presence puts into question

are less amused

and they start looking for a way to kill him

but Jesus is protected by his popularity with the crowds

 if they kill him now

they will have an even worse riot on their hands

 so their next move is to try to discredit him,

ask him questions designed to trip him up

and maybe even get him in trouble with the law.

The chief priests and the scribes come to Jesus

and ask him about his authority

trying to get him to commit either treason or blasphemy,

 and he evades their trap.

Then they send spies

who ask him about whether it is lawful to pay taxes

hoping to be able to turn him over to the governor for tax evasion

 and he side steps this as well,

so all that’s left is to make him and his teaching look so ridiculous

that it would be foolish to keep following him. 

Some Sadducees step up to question him,

 and Luke makes sure that even if we don’t know anything else about Sadducees

we know that they don’t believe in the resurrection,

 which means that they don’t believe in the whole premise of their question,

 to them the thought of the afterlife is absurd

and the scenario they set forward

 is designed to show just how absurd the idea of the afterlife is

 and therefore how ridiculous Jesus’ teaching is.

 They set the stage with the hypothetical woman

 married and widowed seven times according to the law,

 ‘so,’ they ask challengingly,

 ‘whose wife would she be in the resurrection?

She can’t be a wife to all seven, that’s crazy,

 just like this whole idea of the afterlife.’

Okay, they don’t say that last part but they’re thinking it

 ‘well yes, in this life people get married’ Jesus says

with the understanding that at this time

one of the main reasons for marriage was security in old age and death.

 Marriages produce children,

 children care for their aged parents

 and continue on the family legacy when they die.

 That is the whole point behind the Levirate marriage scenario

 the Sadducees have set out,

 when a man dies childless his brother is supposed to marry his wife

and have children in his name

thus caring for the wife and continuing the brother’s legacy.

 All of this is made necessary by the reality of death.

But while this is true in this life

Jesus then goes on to point out

 that there is no marriage in the next life

 because there is no death.

There is no need for marriage anymore

 and furthermore

 people are no longer defined by anything but their truest identity,

that of Child of God.

 The next life is so fundamentally different than this one,

 mainly because death is no longer a reality,

 that all of the rules and traditions we have put in place

to navigate this life no longer apply.

And then, Jesus backs up his argument with scripture,

 and not just any scripture

but from some of the only scripture that the Sadducees acknowledge

And this effectively ends any questioning of Jesus,

 at least by those in authority,

they still want to kill him

but they realize they are going to have to go a different route.

Now you may be thinking at this point,

‘this is all very interesting Pastor

but what does this have to do with my life and my faith?’

Everything

What Jesus does with the Sadducees

is what he has been doing all along,

 trying to help people realize, imagine

 just how different life without the threat of death is,

AND to start living that reality in the present.

 When Jesus proclaims the good news,

 the good news that the kingdom of God has come near,

this is what he is proclaiming,

 and in his teaching he is saying here’s how to live this truth,

treat people first as beloved children of God

 and let any other relationships be guided by that reality,

focus on living life and helping others live

 rather than avoiding death

 and see how that changes your perspective,

 for example if we are focused on avoiding death

 we might be tempted to hoard food in the event of a shortage,

 if we are focused on living and helping others live

 we are more inclined to share what food there is

 so that all may have life right now

while trusting God with the future.

And not only does Jesus teach this,

he lives it,

 taking actions for the abundant life of others

 like healing on the sabbath,

 calling leaders hypocrites,

 pointing out injustice,

all things a prudent person

intent on preserving their own life

would be wise to avoid

 but Jesus living the kingdom life,

 living as one unconcerned with death,

pushes forward,

and what makes this all the more powerful

is that Jesus knows he is going to die,

and ironically? Fittingly?

His way of life will be the cause of his death.

But we know the story doesn’t end there,

three days later he rises from the dead by the power of God

defeating death

meaning that death no longer has the last say,

assuring us of the resurrection life

 at which the Sadducees scoffed.

And this changes everything.

yes, death is a reality we still must deal with

 and while in Christ we have no cause to fear death

we still do,

and at times we still act in ways

that preserve our life at the expense of others,

 but we strive to make those times fewer and farther between,

to live the kingdom life right now,

the life where life has the last say,

 the life of Jesus to whom we give thanks and praise. Amen