Scripture Reflection for June 4, 2008. Ninth Wednesday in Ordinary Time, Year 2

Scripture:II Timothy 1:1-3, 6-12. Psalm123:1-2. Mark 12:18-27. Lectionary # 355: Jesus again is presented for us as a model of wisdom through his teachings and his interpretation of the Torah. The Sadducees are trying to trick him and use a preposterous question dealing with both marriage and the resurrection. They are dealing with the levirate law and use it as a way of confounding Jesus and his teachings. They do accept lawful marriage but do not give credence to the resurrection nor to the Communion of Saints. The situation they creates with their question is drawn out and downright ridiculous. How will Jesus handle this question? The woman was married to one of six brothers and then because no issue resulted each of the six followed, died and raised no child for her. Whose wife would she be in the afterlife? Now they, of course, do not believe in the afterlife but knew that Jesus did as a Pharisee would believe. We know that Jesus accepted the sacredness of marriage and defended it with strong arguments both from Moses and from his own wisdom. He knew the Sadducees accepted marriage but not any afterlife so already he was on the right track to confront them on both topics. His answer is telling them that their is neither marrying nor giving in marriage, neither procreation of children nor family duties in heaven. He tells them that people will be with God, the God of the living: "I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." This is helpful for us in the light of our own belief in the resurrection and the Communion of Saints. If the living on earth can pray for us as we see Paul urging Timothy to pray, so, too all the moreso will the living in heaven be able to pray for us before the God of the living. The life we experience is different. It is changed but life is not taken away. There is an expression in Latin that helps us to ponder this reflection of Jesus and his response to the opposing questioners. The Latin says "totaliter aliter." That means something entirely different than we can think of or imagine. Paul himself tells us that we will be utterly amazed at what such a life will be. As we read the narrative of Mark we come to the end where Jesus simply tells the Sadducees, "You are very much mistaken." Perhaps, that is the equivalent of helping them to ponder over and think about life that is "totaliter aliter." Today we are the ones called to think about the afterlife in the manner that Jesus proposes. He is for us the way, the truth, and the life. Amen.