Whose Is She?

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

“Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship” (2 Thess. 2:3-4). The son of destruction will be revealed at the coming of the Lord in His kingdom. This is promised by the Holy Spirit, as recorded by St. Paul.

And so it happens. The man of lawlessness is revealed. The son of destruction comes to light. Sometimes he ventures into the light all on his own, as though he could get away with mischief in broad daylight. Other times he sneaks out under the cover of some shadow, some ruse that he thinks will cloak him with stealth, so that he can lead off captive the sons of light.

The Sadducees are the face and the mouthpiece of the son of destruction in today's text. But they are not alone. The Pharisees and scribes are right there alongside them on the Temple Mount. The Herodians have just finished trying to trick the Lord of Glory with their false questions. Read through all of Luke chapter 20, and you might marvel at how the devil can unite such diverse and ordinarily opposed people and groups in the effort to unseat the Lord of Hosts.

And that is what he will do. He is the son of destruction, who sets himself up against the God of heaven and the worship of the Lord of Hosts. He will use any means necessary in his attempt to sway the sons of the resurrection away from their God.

The Sadducees were very good at something that we all like to do. They cherry-pick texts from here and there, and string them together to make the Scriptures say what they like. The Sadducees had less material than most to work with, since they denied the authority of anything or anyone other than the Books of Moses, but they nevertheless were well able to pick and choose what they wanted Moses to say for them.

Case in point: They pulled out this bit regarding so-called levirate marriage from the book of Deuteronomy. Moses had indeed instructed the people that a man ought to take the childless wife of his dead brother, and in her flesh raise up sons for his brother. This is a fact of the Mosaic law. They had every right to appeal to it as a point of law.

But if you want to listen to Moses about levirate marriage, you must also listen to Moses about everything else. Which the Sadducees failed to do. For if they had, they might have believed in the resurrection of the dead. Or in angels. Or in Jesus.

They thought they could corner God into saying either something they liked, or something for which they could kill Him. So they ask a stupid question. What good is it to ask a question about marriage after the resurrection when you do not believe in a resurrection to begin with? Everybody listening knew they question was a ruse.

Therefore Jesus does not address the question of levirate marriage, but rather the question of resurrection. Is there a resurrection from the dead? Is there a life in the world to come? The Sadducees did not believe in either of those things. Do you? You will very shortly confess that you believe in them. Do you believe what the Church confesses?

The Church confesses her hope in the resurrection of the dead – the resurrection of the body – and the life of the world to come, the everlasting life to come, because Jesus declares these things to be so, and seals His proclamation with His own flesh now raised anew.

Marriage is a beautiful gift, given by God before the fall into sin for the unity of our race and the procreation of children to all generations. God unites a man and a woman in blessed union in their flesh, where they are united till death do them part. Furthermore, marriage is given by God as an icon in our flesh of the eternal reality of the union between our Lord Jesus Christ and His Bride, the one holy catholic and apostolic Church. Just as Christ and His Church live together in blessed union, so also do His people live as husband and wife, displaying this great miracle in their flesh.

However, marriage unites a husband and wife in the flesh. That is, in your sinful, corrupt, mortal, temporary flesh. The Law acknowledges the fact that no human institution is binding upon those who have died. Death is the end of the Law. The grave is the border of the Law's influence. When you die, you are no longer married in the flesh, because the Law is no longer binding upon you.

The point of your hope in the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting is that you hope in the promise that you are a son of the resurrection, a son of God. And the point of marriage, among other good things, is to procreate and produce children. However, the sons of the resurrection are not born according to the flesh or according to the will of man.

The procreation of the Kingdom of Heaven is not according to natural means. The Bride of Christ produces sons of God by the birth from above – the new birth in water and Spirit. Because you are born not of flesh and blood, but of water and Spirit, therefore in the resurrection there is no need for marrying or giving in marriage.

Indeed, there truly is no need for marriage in heaven, because you all will be joined together into the one inviolate, indissoluble Bride of Christ, who will be united to her Bridegroom eternally. When the real thing comes, the icon fades away.

We confess that our sinful flesh will be destroyed. You know that the bodies of those laid in the grave long ago are no longer as they were that day. There are some who have been blown apart by bombs, burned by fire, or ravaged by beasts. And yet, all the dead shall rise at the judgment, at the resurrection of the body. For we shall be remade in our bodies. We shall become then as we ought to be now. We will be raised incorruptible, as St. Paul promises the Thessalonians, and our mortal nature will put on immortality.

Marriage unites a man and a woman into one flesh. This is a beautiful and noble thing, an institution given and sanctified by God. But this bond ends in death. However, at the resurrection of the body, we shall all be united not to one another in marriage, but to our Lord Jesus Christ in the mystical union of the Church and her Head.

The blessed Job confesses this hope, saying: “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God” (Job 19:25-26). In your flesh you shall see God. You shall see your Great Redeemer. You shall see the one who unites man and woman in blessed matrimony, and to whom all the faithful shall be united in the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting.

Your Redeemer lives, even though He died, even though He died your death for your sins upon the cross. He lives, your ever-living Head. He lives to be your everlasting Bridegroom, from whom you can never be bereft.

The hope in this passage is not that you will know your spouse in the resurrection. The hope in this passage is not that Jesus will silence the lies of the devil. The hope in this passage is not in this passage. Your hope is in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Your hope is in the God of the living. Your hope is in the resurrection of the body and the life of the world to come. Your hope is in the forgiveness of sins that enables you to live in Christ, now and forever.

Those who have gone before us in faith and are now at rest shall be raised incorruptible, just as you shall be. You shall join the multitude who are innumerable to the human eye, but who are each known and loved by the God and Father of us all. Moses believed and confessed the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come, and so do you. You are sons of the resurrection, yes even sons of God through His only-begotten Son Jesus Christ.

So, to answer the question from the Sadducees – the faithful and childless woman is not the wife of any of the brothers, nor will she be at the resurrection. She is, just as you are, the Bride of Christ. And that marriage will never end.

“Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.” (2 Thess. 2:16-17).

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.