Luke 20:27-38, 2 Thessalonians 2
One of the questions that keeps coming up in discussion these days is, “What happens to us when we die?” It is a question that’s been around since there were people and it’s not going to go away until the end of time. It will then because all will be revealed. Until then do we have to rely on guesswork? There are meany theories; many who say they know, but the only one who does know is Jesus the Christ because he’s the only one who has been to the other side and come back with enough information to be of any real help. Of course he knows – he came from God and he went back to God and he was on the planning team from the beginning.
But we have not been shown anything. We have to accept his word for it. We have to live by faith. Faith in God; faith in God’s promises. A Christian’s whole life is based on God’s promises – all of them. God’s promise of eternal life is that the human body dies but the spirit lives on – lives on with God – in a life that has begun here on earth and continues without end in heaven.
The Sadducees were the elite of Jewish society. They’d made it wealth-wise and politically. They were the most influential group among the Jews. Most of the High Priests were Sadducees. They had a vested interest in protecting their privileged status under the Romans and they feared that if Jesus stirred the people up too much the Romans could take away their privileges. Unlike the Pharisees, the Sadducees did not believe in a bodily resurrection to life after death. So they tried to set Jesus up with this scenario and make him and his ideas look rather foolish.
Of course it didn’t work. Jesus is much smarter and more knowledgeable than even the best-educated Sadducee and in this exchange he gives us another reason to believe that we’re going to live forever.
The Sadducees quoted one of the laws from the Law of Moses (Genesis to Deuteronomy in our Bibles) which happens to be the only part of the Hebrew Scriptures that Sadducees accepted and Jesus quoted back from the Law of Moses. Their’s was a hypothetical case which they thought would blow the Jesus’ theories out of the water. It had to do with marriage here and in heaven and they thought it would show that living forever was at least fraught with confusion. Although their story was hypothetical it was not far-fetched. It could happen. How many people do you know who have been married to more than one person? If all of them go to heaven how messy could it get?
Of course Jesus answers easily but in a way the Sadducees didn’t expect. He said that it is not relevant what marriages we have on earth because while people live on in heaven their marriages do not. Marriage is not needed in heaven because marriage is for procreation – having children to replace ourselves because we all die. In heaven everyone lives forever and doesn’t need replacing.
The real question behind the Sadducees’ scenario was, “Are the dead raised?” Jesus answered that clearly and directly. God has promised that all who have faith in Jesus the Christ have eternal life.
John 3:16 whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
John 5:24 whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and … has crossed over from death to life.
Jesus is the living God and having entered into relationship with people he will not just let them perish for ever.
Paul picked up Jesus’ teaching about life after death and spelt it out in more detail in his preaching and his letters. Indeed his letters are full of it. It is here in 2 Thessalonians 2, along with teaching on the Second Coming, or Christ’s return. The promise is that when Jesus returns all his followers will transfer from earth to heaven.
Some of the stuff in this chapter is not brilliantly clear. Who is this ‘man of lawlessness’ he refers to? What does it mean that he will ‘set himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God’? Many people have tired to answer that by naming different people on earth but I’m not sure that person has turned up yet. Anyway we’re not to fous on the unclear bits – they will come clear in their time. We are to focus on what is clear. The coming of Jesus will be a public, dramatic affair. It will be the event to end all events (literally on earth!). Don’t let anyone tell you it happened secretly and you missed it. God’s got it on the calendar – he’s just not telling when it will be.
When we follow Jesus in faith we get to share in his glory and when he returns we get to fully possess Christ’s glory! All this by believing the gospel, putting our faith in the truth and being saved by the Spirit’s power. So there’s no need to fear death – in fact it is the door to eternal life. Heaven is so good people are dying to get there. Knowing what is in the future makes a big difference to us living now. Those of us who are looking forward to Jesus’ return and living with him in heaven live better lives here on earth.
An American named Al Andrews told this story on Donald Miller’s blog:
Many years ago, when our boys were 3 and 6, our family took off for a weekend in the mountains.We found a great cabin, settled in and decided to take a hike that afternoon in the Stone Door Wilderness area with its stunning views of a long, deep valley.
This hike was going to be challenge, particularly for 3-year-old Brent. It was one mile to the destination; one mile back. This would be his longest hike ever and he decided that he wanted to do the whole thing without any assistance (no piggyback rides).
Soon after our hike began, it started to rain. To distract us from our the impending misery, we sang hiking songs, played “I Spy,” and I told the kids that as a reward for the hike, we’d have some hot chocolate (their favorite) when we got back to the cabin.
That announcement seemed to add a bit of a kick to their steps as we kept going. Along the way, we saw a copperhead (I pretended to be brave), a stunning view of the valley below, steep cliffs, and an exquisite palate of autumn leaves. But as we continued, the hike became both soggy and exhausting and halfway back, the younger troops were wearing thin. Again as a distraction, I said, “While we’re walking, let’s talk about our favorite parts of the hike”.
Hunter, the older brother by 3 years, said, “My favorite part was the copperhead.”
My wife Nita said, “I loved the view from the top of the cliffs.”
I said, “The rock passage way at the Stone Door.”
And Brent, the 3 year old, said, “My favorite part was the hot chocolate, with whipped cream,”which of course, we hadn’t consumed yet and I never mentioned whipped cream.
I loved his answer and it made me chuckle. It was so real to him that it kept him going. It was something he was anticipating and drew him down the path like a magnet. And it gave him hope and the needed energy to keep walking.
I remember when hot chocolate did that for me. (Frankly, sometimes it still does!) But eventually, it was replaced by something called faith and a longing for a future hope. It’s that thing that pulls me through that space “between the dreaming and the coming true.” Without it, I’m not sure I could make it. And if faith just happens to come with hot chocolate and whipped cream, that’s just fine with me.
And Paul says in this letter that the promise of Jesus’ return keeps him going and it can keep us going, too. Christ will come back and the dead will rise to life – words to live by.
So, what is it that motivates you to take the next step, when the rain, and the mud, and the aching muscles beckon you to quit? What gives you hope?