The Sadducees didn’t believe in life after death. Luke records that they didn’t believe in angels or a spirit. So they thought they would trap Jesus, who they must have figured out taught life after death, by offering up an absurd hypothetical about a woman married to seven brothers (all according to Dt 25:5, read it) and asked whose wife would she be in the afterlife? Remember, they don’t believe in afterlife, so they think they have proven that afterlife is impossible because of the mystery of it. Jesus said to them, “You don’t understand the Scriptures nor the power of God.” First, Jesus tells them their reading and interpretation has been flawed. And second, they don’t know the power of God to make heaven work perfectly whether or not we can grasp it now. Then Jesus taught them something about their beloved Patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God told Moses, “32 ‘I AM 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.” And after hearing these words, the crowd was stunned! Jesus Christ just decimated the Sadducees. Matthew records, “33 When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at His teaching.” When we stop trying to figure everything out and just accept it by faith, then we will be happy.

Can we understand the One God comprised of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit? Not likely because it isn’t something that fits into the three dimensional world in which we live. But it’s real. Can we understand prayer? No always, but we trust. Can we understand why God’s plan of saving the world is placed in the hands of fishermen? No, it seems impossible. But thank God the Apostles didn’t say, ‘Hmmm, Gentiles were considered circumcised…..maybe if we leave those people ignorant, just maybe they will go to heaven though they are ignorant.” Let’s start believing God and accepting that God’s power is at work. We are just the instruments. Our job is to go and preach in faith. In the end, God will make sure everyone had a chance. I trust that. Praise God. Praise Jesus. I love to learn that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are not dead; they are alive. God bless you. Dan

Categories: Uncategorized