During a recollection for a group of fourth high school students, a boy voiced out a problem: “My eldest brother was born ten years ahead of me, but he died when he was only two years old. My mother died when she was 50 years old. Suppose I die at 60 and then meet my brother and my mother in heaven, would I be older than either of them?”
A grown man, half-jokingly, half in earnest, explains his fear of flying: “Suppose the plane blows up in the air and I am blown to pieces. At the resurrection of the body, God will certainly find it difficult to assemble all my shattered pieces. I’d rather die as one piece so I will be among the first to raise whole from the dead.”
Tough questions these, as tough as the situation the Sadducees present to Jesus in today’s gospel.
I’m sure each one of us believes in the resurrection. That everybody will be resurrected at the end of our lives on this earth that is why we are here attending this Mass. If there is no hope for resurrection, there is no need for us to do good towards our neighbor, to love and to serve them. If there is no hope for resurrection, there is no need for us to sacrifice and offer our lives for the sake of other people. If there is resurrection, there is no need for us to pray, to go to Mass on Sundays, to work for peace and justice, to join in all religious activities of our church, to receive sacraments and many more.
If there is no afterlife, my becoming a priest is worthless and meaningless. If I know pa lamang, I’d rather get married to the most beautiful woman in the world, have kids and live in a comfortable and beautiful home. But we do believe in the afterlife or in the resurrection of the dead.
It is because in today’s gospel, a group of Sadducees approaches Jesus and asks Him a question about the resurrection or afterlife. The Sadducees, mainly composed of aristocrats and most of them are wealthy do not believe in the resurrection of the dead and even in angels and spirits. They want to ridicule the preaching of Jesus about life after death by asking and giving Him a concrete situation about who the husband would be in heaven of a woman married the seven different men in her earthly life. Actually, they base their question from the law that can be found in the book of Deuteronomy chapter 25 verses 5-10 which says: “”If a man’s brother dies leaving a wife and no child, the brother should marry the widow and raise posterity to his brother.”
They contend that if there is resurrection of the dead body, then God will have to unravel complicated situation like that of seven brothers who one after another married the same woman.
The truth is, the Sadducees do not like Jesus. They present the case not because they want an honest answer, but because they scheme to put Jesus in a tight spot.
But as Jesus often does, Jesus turns an insincere query into an occasion for genuine teaching. First, he draws a sharp distinction between “this age” (our earthly life) and “that age” (life at the resurrection or life after death). He makes it clear that the resurrection is not simply a continuation of earthly life. He speaks of resurrection not of everyone but only of “those judged worthy of a place in the age to come.”
Also, if we are resurrected, we have still body but a glorified body different from that of our earthly body. The resurrection is a different mode of existence altogether. Those worthy of the resurrection do not have to marry to ensure the continuity of the human race. That is why Jesus says: “The children of this age marry and remarry, but those who are deemed worthy to attain to the coming age and to the resurrection of the dead neither marry nor given in marriage. They can no longer die, for they are like angels,” (vv. 34-26). So those who are worthy in the age to come, they are like angels and spirits and are not liable to death.
During Vatican I era, the Church did not allow that dead bodies be cremated but the dead body should be buried in the cemetery. It is because we do believe that it is the same body we have in afterlife, but above all we respect really the human body since it is where God dwells.
So, if we do believe in the afterlife or in the resurrection of the dead, we should do the following:
First, be sure to have a citizenship in heaven. To become citizens rather than aliens or foreigners in the kingdom of God is our main goal in this life.
There was story about a rich and famous man died and arrived at the gates of heaven. “What have you done that entitles you to admission in heaven?” asked St. Peter. “I once gave a needy beggar one peso,” answered this man.
“Is that correct, Angel Gabriel?” inquired St. Peter. “Yes, St. Peter,” said the angel. St. Peter continued: “What else have you do?” “Well, I once gave a newspaper boy, two pesos,” said the man.
“That’s on the record,” said the angel again. “And what else have you done to your credit?” asked St. Peter. “That’s all I can remember,” said the man.
“Angel Gabriel, what shall we do with this man,” St. Peter asked. “St. Peter, give him back his three pesos and tell him to go to hell!” said the angel.
Lastly, let us too reflect on these words in the letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians (15:14,17-19): “If Christ has not been raised then our preaching is useless and your believing is useless…If Christ has not been raised, you are still in your sins. And what is more serious, all who have died in Christ has been for this life only, we are the most unfortunate of all people.”