The Gospel for December 2, 2004 (Channing Moore Williams)
Luke 20:27-40
Some Sadducees—those who argue that there is no resurrection—approached him and they put this question to him, ‘Master, Moses prescribed for us, if a man’s married brother dies childless, the man must marry the widow to raise up children for his brother. Well then, there were seven brothers; the first, having married a wife, died childless. The second and then the third married the widow. And the same with all seven, they died leaving no children. Finally the woman herself died. Now, at the resurrection, whose wife will she be, since she had been married to all seven?’ Jesus replied, ‘The children of this world take wives and husbands, but those who are judged worthy of a place in the other world and in the resurrection from the dead do not marry because they can no longer die, for they are the same as the angels, and being children of the resurrection they are children of God. And Moses himself implies that the dead rise again, in the passage about the bush where he calls the Lord 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 everyone is alive.’ Some scribes then spoke up. They said, ‘Well put, Master.’ They did not dare to ask him any more questions. -- The New Jerusalem Bible. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1995, c1985
A Study
This is a fairly well-known challenge/response between Jesus and the Sadducees, who are mentioned only this once in this gospel. The Sadducees are very pragmatic collaborators [with whoever the then-conqueror happens to be], mostly wealthy aristocrats and priests who do not want to see the status quo change unless there is a marked indication that the Sadducees will benefit substantially.
Jesus poses a threat to them, of course, and they have to take their opportunity to "prove" to Jesus that resurrection and an afterlife are imaginary, and certainly not in the Pentateuch, the only part of the Hebrew Bible they endorsed.
Jesus' answer was good enough to get applause from the teachers of the Law, who recognized a hitherto-elusive (and conclusive!) rebuttal to the Sadducees' assertion about resurrection.
A Reflection
When we "preach" the gospel to others, either through our lives, our vocations, or our avocations, we need to be able to answer the "So What?" question about every text we consider for use as a preaching aid. The question can take the form of "What does this text mean to me, personally?" or "How will I change my life because of this text?" or "What will I do differently because of this text?".
This particular exchange between Jesus and some Sadducees informs us that marriage is a human institution; it is changed or eliminated after death. I should not expect to see the same relationships after death that I do today; they'll be better!
It also gives the preacher an example of the greatest preacher of all time doing what he does best: communicating. The Sadducees believed only in the Pentateuch, and could find no mention of a resurrection in those five books. They therefore claimed, based on the evidence they could find, that the resurrection is so much moonshine, a fantasy.
Jesus, using his insight into Torah, was able to see YHWH's words to Moses in such a way that they indisputably support a form of life after death. His approach was in the finest tradition of the Rabbi, requiring little intuition, and providing perfect clarity based entirely on the words of the Pentateuch.
The Pharisees had been trying for generations to convince the Sadducees of a life after death, but had not used the mental currency, the culture, of the Sadducees, and had been singularly unsuccessful.
It's as if I stepped off a boat onto a previously-isolated island and tried to communicate with its inhabitants. Having almost nothing in common, we would have to build on that which we did have in common. Jesus did exactly that.
Is it any wonder, then, that some schoolteachers are more effective than others, and some preachers communicate with hearts while others bore? Communication expects an exploitation of what is shared, not a demonstration of what one party claims is better than that of the other.
In this season of waiting, let me wait to find that fraction of the Spirit shared with another, before I engage him.
The Collect
Almighty and everlasting God, we thank you for your Servant Channing, whom you called to preach the Gospel to the peoples of Asia. Raise up, we pray, in this and every land heralds and evangelists of your kingdom, that your Church may proclaim the unsearchable riches of our Saviour Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
4:14:24 PM 
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