In this Sunday’s gospel lesson Jesus is confronted by yet another group of Jewish leaders trying to trick him. Already the chief priests, scribes, Pharisees, and others have posed questions not to learn more but to trap Jesus so he will be rejected, imprisoned or murdered. Now it is the Sadducees’ turn. They were the ruling group of the Jewish Council called the Sanhedrin. They were wealthy as they collected money from Temple worship. They colluded with the hated Roman authorities. They were the religious elite. They didn’t believe in much of the Old Testament, in angels or resurrection. Much like many Christian leaders today, they had an air of religiosity but no spiritual power.

Thus when they confront Jesus they pose a riddle about a woman whose first through seventh husbands, all brothers, die. So, in heaven, whose wife will that woman be? A loaded question asked by those who don’t even believe in the resurrection. In Matthew’s account, Jesus’ answer is pointed and sharp, “you are wrong because you know neither the scriptures or the power of God.” Matthew 22.29.

Notice Jesus’ answer, you don’t know the scriptures. He then quotes from Exodus 3 where God says from the burning bush, I am the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God uses the present tense even though they had died centuries before. Because of His covenant loyalty, God is the God of the living even if they have died. He is a present tense God. I wouldn’t say I “had” a daughter or son or spouse. I “have” a daughter, son, spouse etc.

The other problem is that they didn’t know the power of God. This marriage trick question actually played right into Jesus’ hands because there is such a transformative power in the after life that the beauty and intimacy and unity in the after life is so far beyond even the best and most fruitful marriages and relationships we have now. We will still be who we are, think Moses and Elijah at the transfiguration, but so much more.

"The first moment in the arms of Jesus will make 1,000 years of misery on earth like one night in a bad hotel."

- Teresa of Avila, 16th century Spanish noblewoman turned Carmelite nun

But even more than all that, we can know this resurrection life now. We can know the scriptures and the power of transformation now. We can hear God now. There is a “hereness” to the kingdom of God with healing, the gifts of the Spirit like miracle, words of knowledge, prophecy. Come this Sunday and hear more of this resurrection life the Sadducees missed out on. We have a present tense God.