Homilies
The Homily of the Apostolic Nuncio, Chapel of the Apostolic Nunciature, Saturday 25 November 2017
Gospel: Luke 20:27-40
 
The Gospel today gives us, the discussion of the Sadducees with Jesus in faith in the resurrection. The Sadducees were an elite type of aristocrats. They were conservative, insisting on a literal interpretation of the Law, and were invested in Roman rule and order. They did not accept faith in the resurrection. 
 
The Sadducees were typically well off and content with the way things were at that time. They wanted religion to remain immutable like God himself. To ridicule faith in the resurrection, they created fictitious cases in which faith in the resurrection seemed absurd. This case was invented in order to show that faith in the resurrection creates absurd situations, and exemplifies the literal interpretation the Sadducees gave to the Law.
 
The response of Jesus, which leaves no doubts contains two parts. 
 
First, you understand nothing of the resurrection: Jesus explains that the condition of persons after death will be totally different from the current condition. After death, there will be no marriages and all will be like angels in heaven. 
 
 You understand nothing about God: The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. God is not the God of the dead, but of the living, because all living in him. The disciples are attentive and learn! Those who are on the side of the Sadducees, those who are against the resurrection find themselves on the opposite side of God.