St. Matthew’s Evangelical Lutheran Church

Sunday November 15, 1998, The Third Sunday in End Times

Saints Triumphant

Text: Luke 20: 34-38

Theme: The Resurrection is Real!

by Vicar Benjamin W. Berger

Luke 20:27 Some of the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus with a question. ²⁸"Teacher," they said, "Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and have children for his brother. ²⁹Now there were seven brothers. The first one married a woman and died childless. ³⁰ The second ³¹ and then the third married her, and in the same way the seven died, leaving no children. ³² Finally, the woman died too. ³³ Now then, at the resurrection whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?" ³⁴ Jesus replied, "The people of this age marry and are given in marriage. ³⁵ But those who are considered worthy of taking part in that age and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage, ³⁶ and they can no longer die; for they are like the angels. They are God's children, since they are children of the resurrection. ³⁷ But in the account of the bush, even Moses showed that the dead rise, for he calls the Lord 'the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.' ³⁸ He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive."

"Judgment Day is coming!" That’s what the sign in front of our church says, and it’s right. What will happen on the Last Day? What happens after we die? For thousands of years humans have tried to learn about life after death. We want to know what has happened to our loved ones who have died. We want to know what will happen to us when we die. Yet, in spite of the many studies and educated guesses, there is no definitive answer, is there? People were no different at the time of Jesus. There was one Jewish group that did not believe in the resurrection. They had concocted a story that they were sure showed how ridiculous the resurrection was; no one had been able to prove them wrong. Now they were going to trap Jesus. That was a mistake. Jesus knew the definitive answer about life after death. Today, Jesus assures us that there will be a resurrection from the dead. Therefore, Rejoice! The Resurrection is Real! I) We will live in that new age II)because the dead will rise.

Before Jesus can help us understand that the resurrection is real, he must clear up a misconception. Life after death will not be the same as life before death. We humans are pretty stupid when it comes down to it. The scope of our experience is very limited and thus our knowledge is also limited. We assume that life after death is going to follow the same rules as this life. It’s not. To get this faulty idea out of our heads Jesus tells us what that new age will be like.

First, we will live in that new age – we, the saints. Note that saints are not people who can do miracles and have done more good than everybody else. We are all saints because we believe in God. As saints in the age of the resurrection we will no longer be able to die. Isn’t that great? We spend our entire lives on earth trying not to die. We know that we will die, but we put it off as long as possible. Ironically, once we die, we no longer have to spend half of our life trying not to die because we will no longer be able to die.

God never intended us to die in the first place. He created man to live. As usual, man found a way to mess up God’s plan; he sinned. Death entered the world only as a result of sin. No sin; no death. If only we would obey God’s laws, we wouldn’t die. Of course, we never stop grumbling. I don’t know why God can’t make life easier for me. My kids will not stop fighting. My parents never understand. My wife nags. My husband doesn’t lift a finger. My friends don’t like me. We know that we will die because we know that we sin.

However, in that new age, we will live. Christ conquered death. He too had to die to pay for our sins, but death could not hold the almighty God. Three days after he died on the cross, he rose from the dead. Death did not have the power to hold him, and it no longer has the power to hold us.

Of course, not everyone benefits from Christ’s victory over death. Some would rather try to conquer death themselves so they refuse to accept Christ’s victory. They don’t need anyone to help them. They are strong; they can fight for themselves. On the other hand, those who recognize their own weaknesses will hold onto Jesus. It is these saints who will live in the age of the resurrection as God’s family.

To be sure, even believers do not deserve to be called children of God. We were born as children of the devil. We allied ourselves with Satan as God’s enemies. We hated God. We tried our best to live without God, to show him that we were in control. Even as children we declared, "Mine!" and as adults, "This is my life; I will live it as I want to." But God did not give up. We were God’s family, even after we forfeited our right to be his children.

Out of love, God reinstated us. He sent his son to make us worthy to live in that new age. Jesus loved his Father as a Son should. He obeyed his Father’s orders without exception. Now those who cling to the perfect Son are worthy to live as children of God. "How great is the love the Father has lavished on us that we should be called children of God. And that is what we are."

On this earth we feel the need to be with others. We do not want to be alone and we know that we cannot be happy alone. We constantly seek love from others. Yet, our relationships are far from perfect. We lose contact, get angry with each other, and worry more about being loved than showing love. In the resurrection that will all change. We will have perfect relationships.

We will finally be completely at one with God. Right now we want to love him, we really do. But, the devil, world, and our sinful flesh keep pulling us away from God. They constantly succeed to focus attention on self rather than God. In heaven, the evil three will no longer be able to harm us. The new man will rule our lives as we show perfect love to God. And God will continue to love us perfectly as he already does.

In addition to our new relationship with God, all the saints will also be united with each other. Through faith in Jesus we will all share in God’s love. Consequently, we will be united by a bond that cannot be broken. In our common bond we can then join in praising God.

In that new age we will not live to glorify ourselves but to praise and glorify God. In one of his revelations John was able to look into heaven. There he saw all of the saints giving praise and glory to their Father. We too will praise God with all of the saints and with all of the angels. This is what awaits us after death.

Rejoice! The resurrection is real! We eagerly wait for the day when we can praise God in heaven. But why wait? We can begin to praise him now. When we see what death will bring us, we have reason to rejoice, not reason to question. Let us spend our time thanking God for such an opportunity rather than asking ridiculous questions. Jesus has described a much better life than we have now.

Jesus now directs us to Moses, the only writer whom the Saduccees accepted. Moses erases all doubts that we will live in that new age by showing us that the dead will rise.

Jesus takes us back to the burning bush. Moses sees a bush on fire but not burning down. Then a voice calls from the bush, "Moses, Moses." Moses goes over to the bush and replies, "Here I am." After telling him to take off his sandals, the voice identifies itself, "I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." Wait a minute. I thought that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were dead. They were. All three of them had been dead for over three hundred years. All three were buried in the cave of Macpelah near Mamre. Yet, while their bodies rested in the cave, their souls rested in heaven.

These Jews, the Saduccees, who were questioning Jesus, believed that once a man died, that was hit. He was buried and rotted away – end of the story. Many people today believe the same thing. Even if they don’t say it, they act like it. They live as if there weren’t any consequences for their actions. They are all wrong. Yes, when we die, our bodies will rot in a grave. However, our bodies are only shells. A human consists of body and soul.

While the bodies remain in graves, the souls of the dead go directly to heaven or hell. Case in point: the rich man and Lazarus. The rich man suffered in hell, looking up at Lazarus who was in heaven next to Abraham. God makes this same point when he calls himself the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Just because they died does not mean they ceased to be.

And so it is for all that have died. Why do Christians have reason to rejoice even at funerals? They know that because their loved ones believed in Jesus they are in heaven. Granted, they are without their bodies for the time being. But that’s why there’s a resurrection. When we lose a loved one, we are sad on account of our loss. But, we do not feel sorry for them. They are now with their God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our parents, grandparents, children, brothers, sisters and friends. They all still live in heaven.

The LORD is also still God. And he is not the God of the dead. We’ve already said that God did not intend for man to die. What good would it do him to create a creature to glorify him just for a little while? God is eternal. David once said, ‘the dead cannot praise you.’ Bodies in a grave are useless to God. He created us to glorify him forever.

The LORD is the God of the living, for to him all are alive. From a human point of view death looks permanent. We cannot see beyond the grave. At one time we couldn’t see Pluto, but it was there. We cannot see life after death, but it is there. God, on the other hand, sees the whole picture. He knows that death is only temporary. Death is simply a transition from one world to the next.

When God raised his Son from the dead, he assured us that all the dead would rise to take part in this new world. Paul says that Christ has been raised from the dead as the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. What great news for the saints in heaven. When Christ rose, he rose with his body. When the dead rise on the Last Day, they too will be rejoined with their bodies. God will not allow death to ruin his plan. He will reunite body and soul to praise him eternally just as he planned.

This LORD who is the God of the living is our God. The LORD has given us life that we might praise him with all of our being. Although we often fail to praise God in this world, he guides our lives so that we may live to praise him in a new world. He leads us to his Son. He shows us the empty grave and reassures us that we too shall rise from the grave. Let us set aside our reason; quit asking useless questions. We do not need to know every detail of heaven. We know that we will praise our Father with believers from every nation, tribe and language. We know that we will live in the resurrection because the dead will rise. Rejoice! I will say it again: Rejoice! The Resurrection is Real!