Jesus Changes the Conversation

In today's Gospel (Luke 20: 27, 34-38) we see the Sadducees, who denied the resurrection of the dead, pose a hypothetical question to Jesus.  They ask: if a woman marries a man and he dies, and she marries another and he dies, and another and he dies (x7 eventually), whose wife would she be at the resurrection?  They're trying to prove that because this question seemingly has no answer, the only conclusion to be drawn is that there will be no resurrection.    

In responding, Jesus follows a great rule: if you don't like what's being said, change the conversation.  It's not that Jesus is made uncomfortable by the question or can't handle it; it's that He knows the premise of the question is flawed.

Jesus explains that in the afterlife in Heaven, people will neither marry nor be given in marriage, because they will be like angels.  So no comparison can be made to the situation the Sadducees pose.  Therefore, there will be a resurrection, but we just don't know what it will be like.  

Exactly what that means, to be "like angels", none of us knows for sure.  But this all points out a reality of life: we can't comprehend what Heaven will be like because it will be so unlike life here on Earth.  It will be a state of perfection, and most of the reference points we have will be gone.  

I know that's not an answer to any mystery.  And I personally feel uncomfortable not knowing what Heaven will be like.  Maybe I can't decide if I want to go to Heaven unless I can know what it's like first.  If I can't give my wife and kids a kiss on the forehead at night, I don't think I want to go to Heaven.  

But that's the challenge of faith, my toughest challenge.  Being okay with an outcome I don't fully understand.  I'm a control freak, I am learning.  

So I pray.  I pray for acceptance of the idea that God has a plan to take care of us.  I also pray that that plan lines up with what I think I want out of life.  But like any good parent, God works more for what He knows His children need than what the children think they want.  

- The Older Brother