Commentary on the Gospel of
God of the living
Life after death is a reality that we find easier to acknowledge than to explain. We talk about it using the language of the present, which is the only means we have. The question about marriage brought up in today's Gospel is a classic example.
In Jewish law, if a man died without children, his brother was obligated to marry his widow and have children in the deceased brother's name. This situation is reflected in the Old Testament story of Tobit, where Sarah becomes the subject of ridicule from her own maidservants. Distraught after the deaths of seven husbands, she pleads with God to take her life.
The question is hypothetical and is posed by the Sadducees, who do not believe in the resurrection. They ask whose wife a woman would be at the time of the resurrection if she had been married to seven husbands. This question reflects the type of dodging employed by Israel’s teachers. However, Jesus changes the focus of the discussion by explaining that in heaven, there will be no marriage and no childbearing. The afterlife represents an entirely new way of being.
We often speculate about the afterlife, drawing from our present experiences. However, the truth is that life after death is a mystery of God's plan, and we are meant to be a part of it. The challenges we face now are insignificant compared to the greatness that is being revealed in us. We are being saved not because of our own merit but by God’s grace. Death has lost its power, and the path to life and immortality is open to us. This has been made possible through Jesus our Savior.
