Explication
Every day
Biblical commentaries
“He is not the God of the dead”
Sadducees, a small clan which brought together the richest and most powerful families, came to find Jesus. It was from among them that the priests of the Temple were recruited. They got along well with the Romans. The high priest, since the conquest of the country, was appointed by them. They claim that there is no resurrection of the dead.
They then pose a riddle to Jesus: if resurrection exists, what will the situation of several widowers, who married the same widow, be like when they resurrect. Whose wife will she be? The least we can say is that they do not fear contradiction! Jesus sends them back to the Scriptures they are supposed to know, and to the power of God that they have put on hold. Indeed, they stop at what Moses prescribed but do not go further.
Jesus confronts them with what is said about God: “He is not the God of the dead but of the living.” In our doubts, we too risk deluding ourselves about God and enclosing Him in false images received from our education or in our childhood. What happens after death is very mysterious, as is what happened before we were born. Mystery of life that surpasses us. Mystery of life that we have to welcome without making ourselves master of it as certain current trends in our society would have us believe. At the risk of getting lost.
Other readings: 2 Tim 1, 1-3.6-12; Psa 122
