Amazing Life We Never Had Before!

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

St. Mary of Assumption Church, Whittier, CA

Sunday, November 6, 2016

The Sadducees were an extreme conservative sect among the Jews. They belonged to the upper social and economic echelons of Judaean society. They occupied various political, social, and religious roles, including maintaining the Temple. They believed that only the first five books of the Bible were the inspired word of God. In spite of the general belief among the Jews that the dead would rise on the last day, as shown by the first reading taken from 2 Maccabees 7:1-2; 9-14: “It is my choice to die at the hands of men with the hope God gives of being raised up by him...” the Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection.  They also did not believe in spirits and angels. Armed with disbelief in the resurrection, some of them came to Jesus and asked him a question they believed would prove that there’s no resurrection: “Teacher, Moses wrote for us, ‘If someone’s brother dies leaving a wife but no child, his brother must take the wife and raise up descendants for his brother.” Continuing with their question, they narrated a story of seven brothers, who, at some point of their earthly lives got married to one woman but one after another, each of them died without having any child with the woman. Finally the woman also died. “At the resurrection,” (which you people believe) “whose wife will that woman be?” (Luke 20:27-38)

Folks, the Sadducees posed that question, not because they were interested in understanding the theology of the resurrection; all they wanted to do was to make a mockery of the belief in the resurrection. They wanted Jesus to make a fool of himself. They wanted to see Jesus struggle to answer their question and to have a good laugh. They did not ask to know, they asked to ridicule the most fundamental teaching of our faith. Everything that Jesus taught and did rest on resurrection. In John 11:25, Jesus says of himself, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even if they die, they will live.” If resurrection is not true, then it means that Jesus is not true. If resurrection is a lie, then it means that Jesus is a lie. If resurrection is fake, then it means that Jesus is fake. If there is no resurrection, it means that Jesus lied to us. If there is no resurrection, then it means that Jesus went into extinction after his death. This is what the Sadducees wanted to show, to prove and to demonstrate. They wanted to dismantle the cornerstone of the Christian Faith. 

But guess what? They chose the wrong target because Jesus showed them that he is indeed the Lord of life, that he is indeed the resurrection and the life; that he is indeed the Son of God who has come down from heaven. Jesus taught them that his teaching on resurrection is not just an article of faith that he has not witnessed. As the Son of God, as Immanuel, God who is with us, he has an unquestionable knowledge of  resurrection. He had seen those who believed in God resurrect to life after earthly death. He told the Sadducees that their notion of marriage and resurrection  was wrong, that they completely misunderstood marriage and resurrection: “The children of this age marry and remarry; but those who are deemed worthy to attain to the coming age and to the resurrection of the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. They can no longer die for they are like angels...” Resurrection is nothing like the life we live here on earth. At the resurrection, life is better. There will be no pain, no suffering, no boredom, no need for the things we now need to survive. We will die no more. There will be no need to enter into any marriage to keep and preserve our species from dying out. In heaven, we will be like angels. Heaven is like those moments of our lives when we experience the intense love of another or the great love of God. The experience of the resurrection will be infinitely more profound than anything we have experienced here on earth. 

Yes, death frightens a lot of people because it brings human life to an end. Instead of being frightened by death, Jesus wants us to think of the hope of resurrection. He tells us that the dead will rise to die no more. He teaches us that God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. He’s the God of the living because our faithful brothers and sisters who have passed away are not dead. If they were dead, how come Moses called God, “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?” Our loved ones who served the Lord sincerely on this earth but have now passed away are not dead. They are alive in Christ Jesus. To some of us, they are dead, but to Jesus, they are alive and flourishing; they are champion bubblers!  To some of us, they are dead, but to Jesus, they only transition into glory. Their departure is not their death or their end. It’s actually the beginning of the real life. Our life on earth is often interrupted by wars, economic crisis, politics, natural disasters, sickness, and suffering etc. But in heaven, our joy and peace will never be interrupted again. We will live a life of abundance. We will live to die no more. We will live no longer as Democrats, Republicans, Progressives, or Conservative, but as children of God. We will live no longer as Catholics, Baptists, Pentecostals, Evangelicals but like angels. Whatever we are doing in this world, let’s make sure we secure a spot for ourselves in heaven. It’s a beautiful, amazing and awesome life we never had before.