Live in the Present, Not in the Future

The test that the Sadducees posed to Jesus is the very definition of the English word “crass.” To justify their distrust and disbelief in the resurrection of the body, they asked a question about the levirate law, an ancient biblical practice requiring a man to marry his deceased brother’s widow to preserve the family line and inheritance. They try to equate eternal life with earthly life.

The Sadducees were wealthy and powerful men of the time who accepted a limited number of biblical books and claimed that there was no teaching about the afterlife in them. Jesus responds by telling them that life will be transformed, not just a continuation of our mortal lives. Jesus argues that the fact that the living God speaks as “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” If they worship the living God, these men must also be living.

The resurrection is our source of hope, confidence and joy as Christians. Rather than trying to imagine what the afterlife is like, we need to look at our present reality rather than focusing on the future. The Scriptures teach us that we have absolutely no conception that comes close to the reality of the resurrection. Living in the present means letting go of the past and concentrating on how we can best live out our vocation today. As St. Paul tells St. Timothy, we must “stir into flame the gift we have received.”

God has promised us life eternal, and God is faithful to that promise. It was that promise that made it possible for the Ugandan martyrs, young men between the ages of 13 and 20, suffer death rather than abandoning their faith. We give praise for the example of these young men and ask that we might be as faithful as they were.