He is not God of the dead but of the living. (Mark 12:27)

When I read the Gospel readings for the daily Mass, I am always most struck by those that involve the Sadducees questioning Jesus about laws of faith.  In every example, Jesus’s answers turn the questions on their heads, shattering the foundations upon which the questions were based.  Yet, when I read these passages and reflect prayerfully, I see in myself occasions in which I have pursued similar lines of logic pursued by the Sadducees.  So too is it with today’s reading.

In today’s Gospel reading, we see the Sadducees questioning Jesus again, this time about resurrection.  In their argument, they propose a scenario that seeks to disprove resurrection with the hypothetical and ironic example of polygamy in the afterlife.  It is important to know that the Sadducees, who were the high-ranking priests of the day, did not ascribe to the idea of resurrection or the afterlife.  They are essentially trying to position Jesus to either deny the law of Moses or deny the afterlife.  Jesus’s response confirms that, for us, marriage and sexuality are not our ultimate goal in our search for salvation.  What’s more, Jesus reveals the truth of the scriptures, that it all points to salvation, which is for the living.

When I read passages such as this, I find it helpful to put myself in the position of others present in the Gospel reading – the Sadducees in this case.  But the most notable take-away for me from today’s reading is the mental gymnastics in which we tend to engage to avoid the truth of the Gospel.  The truth is easy to read but difficult to commit to.  So, as we reflect on today’s readings, let us focus our lived faith on accepting these truths, so that we too may achieve the eternal reward that is revealed to us in scripture and in Jesus’ words today.