GOSPEL COMMENTARY LK 20:27-38
Divine oracles
Fr. Jerry J. Pokorsky
Throughout history divine oracles have been popular. Oracles have no earthly entanglements and demand an immediate and complete surrender of freedom. Far from liberating us, we are made intellectual and moral slaves to the wishes of the oracle who often is too eager to claim mastery over us. From the ancient Greek Oracle of Delphi to seers and palm readers in our day, in our sloth, we can be all too eager for the quick and easy answers to difficulties in our earthly journey. But it is impossible for anyone to be an oracle of divine wisdom from a truly Christian point of view.
In this regard the encounter in Sunday’s Gospel is instructive. The Pharisees and Sadducees look to Jesus to resolve a religious dispute dividing the two groups. The Pharisees believe in the resurrection of the dead; the Sadducees do not. In the question posed to Christ, the Pharisees busied themselves with complications of multiple marriages preceding the resurrection of the dead. It is up to us to guess their motives, but it seems safe to conclude both sides were putting Jesus to the test, at best seeking an ally in Him. The answer Christ gives, however, not only proves to be unsatisfactory to both sides but reveals how God teaches us day to day.
Christ weighs in on the side of the resurrection of the dead but not to the full satisfaction of the Pharisees. He insists, “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 are given in marriage. They can no longer die, for they are like angels; and they are the children of God because they are the ones who will rise.”
In His response, Christ reveals that His authority does not deny the history of salvation; He embraces it. He has not come “to abolish the law or the prophets.” He has “come not to abolish but to fulfill” (cf. Mt 5:17-37). Unlike the credentialed religious authority of the Pharisees and Sadducees, Christ roots His teaching in tradition, invoking Moses: “Even Moses made known in the passage about the bush, when he called out, ‘Lord,’ the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob; and he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.”
The high point of the synthesis of the old and the new in the person of Christ can be found after the Resurrection on the road to Emmaus. Here the risen Lord, unrecognized by His forlorn disciples, says to them, “‘Oh, how foolish you are! How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?’ Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them what referred to him in all the Scriptures” (cf. Lk 24:13-35). The teaching of Christ fulfills the tradition of Scriptures. He is not a revolutionary stand-alone “oracle of divine wisdom.” He is the word made flesh who reconciles all humanity to Himself.
The way of Christ, therefore, cannot be reduced to the relatively few words contained in the Gospels, as vitally important as these words are. Christ and His teaching can only be understood with the full weight of the Old Testament before Him and the authentic interpretation of the “deposit of faith” by the magisterium of the church over the centuries. Hence, expecting a priest, bishop or even a pope to “change the teachings of the church to catch up with modern ways of thinking” is, in effect, treating the church as a magical “oracle of divine wisdom.” She is not. The church — and all popes, bishops and priests — are mere guardians of God’s self-revelation within the context of all of man’s history where we all “work out (our) salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil 2:12-18).
Living a good and upright life is the fruit of a continuing encounter with the living God in Scriptures, church teaching, prayer and the sacraments. It is not a matter of surrendering one’s freedom to a mysterious oracle. It is not slavery. It is the hard work, with God’s grace, of freely living a life of Christian principle and virtue in Christ.
Fr. Pokorsky is pastor of St. Michael Church in Annandale.
Luke 20:27-38
27 And there came to him some of the Sadducees, who deny that there is any resurrection, and they asked him,
28 Saying: Master, Moses wrote unto us, If any man's brother die, having a wife, and he leaves no children, that his brother should take her to wife, and raise up seed unto his brother.
29 There were therefore seven brethren: and the first took a wife, and died without children.
30 And the next took her to wife, and he also died childless.
31 And the third took her. And in like manner all the seven, and they left no children, and died.
32 Last of all the woman died also.
33 In the resurrection therefore, whose wife of them shall she be? For all the seven had her to wife.
34 And Jesus said to them: The children of this world marry, and are given in marriage:
35 But they that shall be accounted worthy of that world, and of the resurrection from the dead, shall neither be married, nor take wives.
36 Neither can they die any more: for they are equal to the angels, and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection.
37 Now that the dead rise again, Moses also showed, at the bush, when he called the Lord, The God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob;
38 For he is not the God of the dead, but of the living: for all live to him.Inspiration of the Holy Spirit - From the Sacred Heart of Jesus
I am the Resurrection and the life. If you eat of my flesh and drink of my blood I will raise you up on the last day. If you believe in my words you will receive the wisdom to understand what I have said and you will open your heart to learn from my spirit of truth.
I came to the world precisely to give eternal life, something that was lost because of sin. Now, this new life starts with the resurrection; but the Sadducees were a group denying the resurrection of the dead. They presented me a human argument to try to discredit the spiritual designs of God for the next life. My answer to them was to take them out of their material way of thinking so that they could see with the eyes of the spirit more sublime things, in fact, nothing to do with the needs of the flesh.
I have said that in the last times true worshippers will worship God in spirit and in truth, and indeed when you leave this material human existence, you will come to share fully in my divine nature, your souls will live in my spirit.
When your life on this earth is finished, you will be on your own. All the attachments of the world will be left behind; your family, your possessions and your entire journey will have been instrumental for your entry into eternal life. Once you close your eyes for good, it will become a matter between you and me.
The reason why you cannot enjoy abundantly the fullness of your spirit now is because you are still in the flesh.
The mind is superior to the body, in the same way that the spirit is superior to the soul. The mind lives in the body just as the spirit lives in the soul. But being in the weakness of the flesh, the world is presenting continuous stimuli to the soul to distract it from the contact with the spirit.
The spiritual person understands the need to prepare for eternal life; he will put into practice my instructions on self-denial, he will abide by my commandments of love, he will not depend entirely on the desires of the flesh but on his desires for me.
Remember that you are a child of God, the Father of all Spirits. A true child of God is more in the spirit than in the flesh. While you are on your flesh you are on a journey, meditate on your spirit, pray in your spirit, and familiarize yourself more with your real identity as a child of God. My spirit will be united to your spirit to keep you constantly searching for me. I am looking forward to the moment of your resurrection, when you will know yourself as you truly are and you will know me as I am.
Author: Joseph of Jesus and Mary