1. The tricky question
In today’s Gospel, the Sadducees had a tricky question for Jesus. If you were Jesus, what would be your response to the Sadducees?
The Sadducees were extremely conservative, and only accepted the Pentateuch, also known as the Five Books of Moses which are also the first five books of the Bible, as divinely inspired. Moses never said anything about resurrection; so the Sadducees refused to accept any ideas about resurrection. They were not going to accept any new revelation from God in a book, such as the later books of the Bible, nor from a person, such as Jesus. The Sadducees wanted to use this tricky story and question to deny the Resurrection. It is like people living in Miami and trying to deny the snow during winter. The Sadducees’ vision is just history and their experience; they do not have a future and new life.
2. The Resurrection
When I read today’s Gospel, a Chinese story came to mind: A very poor lady married two husbands, but they both died. People told her, since she married two husbands, after she died, she would be cut into two parts and be given to her two husbands. She was really scared. They suggested her to donate a threshold to the temple, and then she could keep her whole body. This is a sad story; however it also shows we Chinese believe in afterlife in a certain way.
Christians believing in Resurrection is not based on a philosophy or an idea, but a reality: Jesus, the incarnated God, rose from the dead on Easter morning. We can confidently say something about the afterlife.
About the afterlife, firstly, we have a soul. Death is not the end of everything. In Chinese culture, we have the veneration of our ancestors. This reminds us of our life being connected with our ancestors. The Creed for us Christians ends with the line, “We believe in the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.” We will find some big surprises when we get there. We trust that God is calling us to a place of light, happiness and peace. Are we serious about going to heaven?
Resurrection is the real future of human beings and all creatures. Before Jesus Christ, there were two kinds of people among Jews: the Sadducees who did not believe in the Resurrection; the other was the Pharisees who did. Without the Resurrection, we, human beings, would not have a real future. If we do not have a future, even our current life will lose its meaning and joy.
Actually, we all have hopes about the future life. Jesus told us and showed us the way of life and the real future of life. Our life and the whole world has a profound new being in God’s plan through the salvation of Jesus Christ. The Resurrection is the fulfillment of human beings and all creatures. Resurrection points to the new life of human beings.
3. A new life
The Resurrection of Christians is not just something happening in the future, but also here and now in our daily life through the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Resurrection is new life.
After the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, all the creations are saved and transformed into a new being. The vision of humankind is eternal. The horizon includes past, present and future. The dynamic of human life is the life of Jesus Christ, the Children of God
When we gather together here to celebrate the Holy Eucharist, we celebrate not only the historical event of Jesus Christ, but also we meet with Jesus Christ and his creatures in God’s love here and now. We celebrate our new life as God’s family. This is the Christians’ understanding of human life. Of course, we know we are still ongoing on the way of our life which is full of temptations and weaknesses, but our life connects with our future life, the Resurrection.
Being Christian is being here and now with joy and hope of Resurrection. Being Christian is cherishing our life, others and the whole world as God’s gift. Being Christians is trying to fulfill our callings and responsibilities in any situations as children of God. Christians are new human beings; Christians have a new life on earth and a life of eternity in Heaven.
No comments:
Post a Comment