Opening Prayer:
Creator of all, we thank you for the opportunity to gather in study. Open our minds and hearts. By the power of the Holy Spirit, unite us in faith, hope, and love. Help us to be faithful to the gospel and to walk humbly with you. Grant us your peace as we grow in wisdom and understanding. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Luke 20:27-38 What does Jesus’ promise of “immortality” mean to you?
As Jesus taught daily in the Temple, the religious authorities “kept looking for a way to kill him, but they did not find anything they could do …”. The Sadducees were religious teachers who held that only the first five books of the Old Testament, the Pentateuch, were authoritative. Not finding mention of life after death in these books, they rejected the possibility of its existence. In vv. 28-33, seeking to trap Jesus into speaking against the Law, they ask a question about levirate marriage (levir is Latin for brother-in-law): a man lived on (in a sense) in his son, so if a man died without issue, his brother was required to marry his widow and give her a son, thus continuing his lineage.
“This age” (v. 34) is the current era; “that age” (v. 35) is the era to come, when Christ returns. In God’s kingdom, marriage will no longer exist; those who are admitted into eternal life for their faith (“considered worthy of a place …”, v. 35) will all be “children of God” (v. 36): this will be their family relationship. They will be immortal and will be like “angels”. In vv. 37-38, Jesus argues for life after death (and resurrection) from the Pentateuch. In the story of the burning “bush”, God tells Moses: “I am the God of Abraham …”. Because God says is (not was), Abraham is alive now. He died, so he must have been brought back to life, resurrected. God is truly “God … of the living” (v. 38).
2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17 hat articles of faith are “non-negotiable” for you?
In 1 Thessalonians 4, Paul has stated that, when Christ comes again, both the faithful who have died and those still alive will be “gathered together to him”, i.e. Christ. But it seems that a person thinking himself inspired by God (“spirit”, v. 2) or by just saying it (“word”), or in a letter supposedly from Paul (“as though from us”) claims that the new era (“the day of the Lord”) has already dawned, that the future is already here. The author of this book insists that this is not so, that God’s kingdom is still in the formative stage, for certain events must first occur: first there will be “rebellion”, (v. 3, a general revolt against God), and then the “lawless one”, the Devil, the full extent of evil, will be fully seen. But the author thanks God for those who are faithful at Thessalonica, because “God chose you” (v. 13) for admission to his kingdom, to be forerunners (the “first fruits”, v. 13, of the harvest were God’s) of other faithful who will come later, through being set apart for him through the Holy Spirit and through their faith. They will share with Christ in union with God. Paul’s readers are to remain faithful to the doctrines (“traditions”, v. 15) they received verbally and via authentic letters.
Closing Prayer
Holy God, all our worship is met by the cleansing gaze of your passion for justice.
Enfold us in your grace that we may embody our devotion in acts of justice
and in defense of the helpless, to the glory of your name. Amen.