Saints Triumphant Sunday
November 13, 2016
Luke 20:27-38
Some of the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus with a question. “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. Now there were seven brothers. The first one married a woman and died childless. The second and then the third married her, and in the same way the seven died, leaving no children. Finally, the woman died too. Now then, at the resurrection whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?” Jesus replied, “The people of this age marry and are given in marriage. 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, and they can no longer die; for they are like the angels. They are God’s children, since they are children of the resurrection. 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.’ He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.” (NIV1984)
Dear fellow saints of God,
“There’s still more!” What joy those wonderful words bring to you and to me! Picture it: You go to a concert by your all-time favorite band. It seems as though every song they play is a song that you have known and loved for a very long time. As the concert draws to a close and the band begins to say good-bye you hear shouts of “Encore! Encore!” Suddenly the band gets back into place and starts playing again. That’s when you experience the joy of knowing— There’s still more! You’re opening presents at Christmas. Wrapping paper is torn up and joyfully scattered all over the floor. Everyone is smiling and laughing, enjoying and thanking when suddenly your spouse or your parent or your child turns to you and says, “I was saving this for last.” That’s when you experience the joy of knowing — There’s still more!
“There’s still more!” What joy those wonderful words bring to you and to me! If you have ever personally experienced the joy of knowing that “There’s still more!” then today is the day for you! As we gather together here in God’s house to celebrate Saints Triumphant Sunday our sermon text reminds us of this truth: As Disciples of Jesus— We Rejoice in Knowing that There’s Still More! There are two things we want to see today. First of all, let’s see that the joy of knowing that there’s still more is a joy that is completely unknown to the unbeliever. Then let’s see that the joy of knowing that there’s still more is a joy that is celebrated by the saints.
Our text for today takes place on the Tuesday of Holy Week. Just two days prior to this Jesus had triumphantly entered into the beloved City of Jerusalem amidst shouts of, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” (Matthew 21:9). Jesus had already cleansed the Temple courts by driving out the people who had turned His Father’s House into a “den of robbers” (Luke 20:46). The chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders of the people had openly challenged Jesus’ authority to do what He was doing. The religious leaders of God’s people had sent “spies” to try and trap Jesus with a trick question, “Is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” (Luke 20:22). Since every attempt to try and trap Jesus or discredit Jesus failed miserably the Sadducees decided that they would give it a try. Hence, our text for today.
Look at the opening verse of this text. These words reveal to us that the joy which we have as disciples of Jesus, the joy which comes from knowing that there’s still more is a joy that is completely unknown to the unbelievers. Luke writes, “Some of the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus with a question.” The Sadducees were a group within Judaism that was known for three distinctive traits: 1) They denied the resurrection of the dead; 2) They denied the existence of angels; and, 3) They accepted only the five books of Moses as the inspired Scriptures.
Those three characteristics help us to understand the hypothetical situation which the Sadducees used to try and trap Jesus. According to what was known as the “Levirate Law” recorded in Genesis 38:8 and Deuteronomy 25:5-10 (both of which were written by Moses) if a married man died without leaving a male heir his brother was required to marry the widow. “The first son she bears shall carry on the name of the dead brother so that his name will not be blotted out from Israel,” Moses wrote. (Deuteronomy 25:6) The Sadducees, however, were not using this hypothetical situation to try and trap Jesus when it came to the subject of marriage or when it came to the subject of the Levirate Law. No, they were hoping to use this hypothetical situation to try and trap Jesus with what they considered to be a ridiculous result of believing that there is life after death— a woman who now had seven husbands, all brothers!
Before we get to Jesus’ response to this hypothetical situation, let’s take a moment to recognize that while the group known as the Sadducees no longer exists today, the “spirit” of the Sadducees lives on to this very day. There are people today who disregard the authority of God’s holy inspired Word on the basis that it makes no “logical sense” to them. They place their reason, their understanding and their opinions over and above God’s holy Word. One of the results of this is that they simply discard various portions of the Bible as no longer being “applicable” to your life today. The Creation of the world, the virgin birth of the Christ-Child and the physical resurrection of Jesus on Easter Sunday are turned into “stories”— “stories” that they say were “added” to the Bible long after Jesus and His apostles were gone from this earth, “stories” that they say may contain a “kernel” of truth that you and I may or may not find useful for our lives, but “stories” that fall woefully short of what science and logic and technology have now “proven” to be true.
Another one of the results of simply discarding portions of God’s holy Word on the basis that “We know more now than when the Bible was written,” is the loss of the joy that comes from knowing that there’s still more! If our faith is based purely on what we can understand with our limited logical minds, if our faith is focused on the misconception that this world with its shallow pleasures and fleeting joys is “as good as it will ever get”— how sad, my friends! Think about it! Even if someone had more money than they knew what to do with, even if someone had the most enjoyable life they could have ever hoped for, when they get to the point where they are staring death in the eyes— knowing that they are going to lose— denying that there is still more because they deny central teachings of the Bible, well, as far as I am concerned that’s about as profoundly sad as it gets.
Thankfully, as disciples of Jesus you and I have the joy of knowing that there is indeed still more! In fact, as disciples of Jesus you and I have the joy of knowing that the best is yet to come! Jesus emphasizes this joy when He responds to the Sadducees by saying, “The people of this age marry and are given in marriage. 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, and they can no longer die; for they are like the angels. They are God’s children, since they are children of the resurrection.”
When by the grace of God we trust in the holy Scriptures that God Himself has given to us, when by the grace of God we stand in humble awe of the almighty power of our Triune God then we will have the joy of knowing that there’s still more— so much more! Then we will have the joy of knowing what is waiting for everyone who is “considered worthy of taking part in that age and in the resurrection from the dead.” Now at first glance the word “worthy” may cause us to pause. I know that when I look back on all the things that I have done as well as all the things I have left undone, when I stop to remember all the times that I should have just kept my mouth shut as well as all the times that I should have opened my mouth and shared God’s Truth with someone— I quickly realize just how “unworthy” I am to take part in “that age” and in the resurrection to eternal life. Perhaps you are different, but I doubt it.
The only way anyone is considered “worthy” to take part in “that age” and in the resurrection to eternal life is through faith in Jesus Christ and what He has done for us. (Pointing to the across) Since through faith in Jesus we are “worthy,” my friends, we have the joy of knowing that there’s still more! Since through faith in Jesus we are “worthy” we have the joy of knowing that when we die and/or when we are raised from the dead on the Last Day we will be “like the angels.” Note that Jesus does not say that we will become angels. He says that we will be “like the angels.” What does this mean? The Lord Himself then explains what that means by emphasizing two things.
First, like the angels we will neither “marry nor be given in marriage.” Since marriage was one of the first and greatest blessings God gave to Adam and Eve (the only blessing they were allowed to take with them when they were banished from the Garden of Eden for rebelling against their loving Creator) it might concern us that we will not have this blessing to enjoy in heaven. But don’t look at it from the perspective of what we won’t have. Look at it from the perspective of what we will have! In heaven we will have an open face-to-face relationship with our God! In heaven we will enjoy a companionship with our brothers and sisters in the faith, our fellow saints, that soars far above even the best marriage anyone could possibly have here on this earth! Secondly, Jesus tells us that we will be “like the angels” in that we cannot die. Since death is always the result of sin and since there will be no sin in “that age” it is not difficult to understand why Jesus tells us that “like the angels” we “can no longer die.” But there is more!
Jesus goes on to tell us that since we are “worthy” of taking part in “that age” and in the resurrection to eternal life this means that we have the joy of knowing that we are and forever will be “God’s children,” that is, “children of the resurrection”— with all the rights and all the privileges that high honor brings with it! As “God’s children,” as “children of the resurrection” we will have the privilege of ruling alongside of our Brother Jesus for all of eternity. As “God’s children,” as “children of the resurrection” we have the right to inherit our heavenly Father’s perfect glorious Kingdom. That’s part of the joy that comes from knowing that there’s still more! And there is still more!
Look at verses thirty-seven and thirty-eight of our text. Since the Sadducees denied the reality of the resurrection and since the Sadducees accepted only the books of Moses as being the inspired Word of God, Jesus uses the writings of Moses to prove to the Sadducees that they are wrong! There’s still more! He says, “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.’ He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.”
Stop and think of the joy that these words bring to you and to me. Most of us here today have buried a loved one— someone whom we dearly miss each and every day. These precious words of our Savior fill our grieving hearts with the joy of knowing that while our loved one’s physical body has died— their soul still lives! Yes, their soul now lives in the very presence of the Triune God Himself! And on Judgment Day their physical body will be raised from the dead and reunited with their soul so that in both body and soul they and we can live with our God forever! Isn’t that one of the reasons that we look forward to coming here to God’s house to celebrate Saints Triumphant Sunday!
“There’s still more!” What joy those wonderful words bring to you and to me— whether we’re at a concert or opening Christmas presents or maybe just enjoying a fine Thanksgiving dinner with our family and friends. My prayer this morning, however, is this: Whenever your life here on this earth is beginning to weigh you down, whenever you are standing at the grave of someone you love with tears streaming down your face and when the time comes for you to close your eyes in death I pray that as a disciple of Jesus you hold fast to the joy of knowing— “There’s still more!” Yes, my friends, this cross guarantees to you that the best is yet to come!
To God be the glory!
Amen
