Glimpses of Heaven

Based on Luke 20:27-38
First delivered Nov. 10, 2019
Rev. Dr. Kevin Orr 

            Things were starting to get pretty intense for Jesus. As he draws nearer to Jerusalem and all the events that lead up to the cross, Jesus has to deal with a number of confrontations with people who want to argue with him and publicly humiliate him.

            First up were the Pharisees, who had been dogging him his entire public ministry with their accusations and complaints. They demand that Jesus tell them where his authority comes from for what he teaches and the ministry that he does. They basically want him to tell them where he gets off saying what he says and doing what he does. But Jesus throws it right back at them, demanding they tell the crowd where they think John the Baptist got his authority, from heaven or from men. Now the Pharisees are put on the spot. They don’t want to look foolish before Jesus by saying they believe it is from heaven but they also don’t want to look foolish before the crowd if they say it was from men because the crowd believed John was a prophet. So, they bailed and say, “We don’t know.” That’s not a very flattering look either. Basically, Jesus turned the tables on them and they fell in the trap they were setting up for Jesus. So, Jesus says he won’t tell them where his authority comes from either.

            Jesus hadn’t gone very far when some other seekers slipped up beside him. Well, they appeared to be seekers but in fact they were spies sent to try to catch Jesus in a trap. They first butter him up by saying they know that Jesus is right about everything he says and teaches the truth of God, no matter how uncomfortable it may be to some. He tells it like it is. So, they ask Jesus his position on a controversial topic that they think is going to force Jesus to say something that either way is going to get someone mad. They ask, is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not. We talked about taxes last week, how those tax revenues propped up the Roman empire that was oppressing the people. If Jesus says it is lawful then that will cause the people to be upset at him. If he says it is unlawful then these spies will be able to report back that Jesus is encouraging a rebellion against Rome. But, of course, Jesus sees past the trap, asking to see a coin. He probably didn’t have one himself. He asks whose image is on the coin. Why, it is the image of Caesar. After all, the money belongs to Rome. So, Jesus tells them to give to Caesar what is Caesars and to God what is God’s. But everything belongs to God. What kind of answer is that? It was an answer that got Jesus out of their trap. The spies were left speechless and there were probably a few in the crowd who looked at each other and whispered, “Nice.”

            After these two confrontations. Jesus had not walked very far when the next one comes at him. This time the provocateurs are Sadducees. These are the royal priests, full of education, well cared for, elitist by nature. They only considered the books written by Moses, the first five books of the Bible, to be authoritative. They had no use for the prophets, probably because if they were self-critical they would have seen the prophetic writings targeting their character. They did not believe in angels or spirits, nor did they believe that there would be a resurrection. And they want to get Jesus on record whether he believes in the resurrection as well. They probably think he already does since Jesus isn’t as sophisticated as they are. So, they lay before Jesus a plausible but ridiculous example. A woman marries but her husband dies childless. According to the tradition she is to next be married to one of her brothers-in-law so that hopefully she will bear a son through him. The point of this practice is to assure that her original husband’s name continues through a son. Having a girl doesn’t count. And to die childless is even worse. In this scenario, the purpose of the woman and of marriage was to perpetuate a paternal line. This woman may have had love for her original husband, but her brother-in-law? As Tina Turner famously sang, “What’s love got to do with it?” This widow has now become the means to an end. And as the Sadducees spin out this example, they say the first brother-in-law dies without her birthing a son. So, another brother-in-law gets to try to make her pregnant. Same result. Then comes another. Her original husband had six brothers. They all get their chance and, amazingly, they all die. She is widowed seven times. You have to wonder by brother-in-law number four they would be preparing their last will and testament before bedding with her. At any rate, the whole example is absurd. Having set up this silly hypothetical they ask Jesus whose wife she will be since she was married to all seven of them.

            The Sadducees may not have realized this but when they brought up the question of resurrection it must have struck a chord with Jesus. I bet resurrection had been on Jesus’ mind a lot in those days. He was drawing closer to Jerusalem. He knew what he would face; the betrayal of his disciples, the beatings, the show trial, the crucifixion, the worst, most painful form of dying in those days. Anticipating all that suffering and pain must have weighed heavily on Jesus. I can imagine that when he mulled over what he would have to endure that what helped him take that next step toward Jerusalem was to shift his wanderings toward what happens after; his glorious resurrection. It must have been anticipation of his resurrection that gave Jesus the courage to keep moving toward the pain, suffering and cruel, humiliating death that was waiting for him.

            Do you ever wonder what it will be like in heaven? Most of us have heard stories of people who have died and come back to life who talk about the tunnel of light, who have gotten a glimpse of heaven, and then have come back to life. I have even met a couple people over the years who have had an after-death experience. These experiences bolster our anticipation that one day we will be in heaven. That can be a comforting thought when we are going through difficult trials or when we are confronted with mortality, the death of someone close to us or even our own mortality. We look around at all that is going on in the world, or our own situations, and we find ourselves wondering wistfully what heaven will be like. I wonder if many of us here are looking toward heaven with anticipation.

            We learn from Jesus a little about what heaven will be like when he responds to these educated fools who try to trap Jesus in their absurd example. First, Jesus tells them that there will be no weddings in heaven. Why? Because there will be no need. Look at how marriage is being understood here. At its foundation, marriage is understood to be the legitimate, legal way for a man to continue his paternity through his sons for the purpose of keeping his name going and to pass along his inheritance. The wife in this scenario is but a means to an end. And this needs to happen because the man will die someday and needs at least one son to pass his property to when he dies. But in heaven no one dies. So, there is no need to arrange inheritance transfers. The way Jesus lays it out, immortality undermines a core reason for marriage. Why get married when no one is going to die? This understanding of the purpose of marriage is a little different from our own. People don’t get married these days primarily so that a man will have a son to pass his inheritance. Men don’t get married by thinking to themselves, “Hey, I’m going to die someday. I better go get married.” Most couples get married mainly because they love each other and want to do life together as partners. If they don’t have children that’s fine. Some couples never intend to have kids. For most, marriage is primarily about their love for each other. Our understanding of marriage is not the same as how marriage was understood back then. But the main point Jesus is making here is that since there is no death in heaven there is also no reason for people to get married or even be married in heaven. Jesus doesn’t say it, but I wonder if there were women in the crowd who were relieved to know that in heaven they would not find themselves being objectified as baby producers. Maybe in heaven they will have their own dignity as full human beings and not means to an end.

            Speaking of equality, Jesus also tells us that in heaven we will be equal to the angels. Matthew Henry, a commentator of the Scriptures from the 19^th century, reflects on this by saying when we enter the heavenly country we will become “naturalized citizens” of equal standing with the native-born angels that walk that land. In heaven, we will live as equals with the angels. They will receive us as citizens and help us assimilate to life in heaven. The angels will assist us in our heavenly citizenship, teaching us what we will do and how we will live in this new world.

            And that leads to the last thing that Jesus tells us about heaven in this passage. Jesus says that God will still be our God. As I said a moment ago, the Sadducees believed that Moses was the only authority of God’s will. Jesus uses Moses to make his argument for the resurrection. When Moses was at the burning bush and God is speaking to him, God says, “I am the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” Jesus then tells them that to God these ancestors are still alive. Jesus says that God is not the god of the dead but of the living. God is still God for Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. They are still in relationship. Thus, they must still be alive. In the same way, we will always be in relationship with God. As Paul says later in his letter to the Romans, not even death can separate us from the love of God through Christ Jesus our Lord. God will always love us. God will be our God for eternity. Our relationship with God endures forever. So, in heaven, as we live out our heavenly citizenship with the angels, we will continue to nurture our relationship with God, loving and serving God, forever. This is our destiny.

            Until that time comes, we still have our mortal lives here on earth: our lives filled with a lot of joyful moments, but also with times of challenge, struggle, suffering and loss. Our lives will never be as challenging as was Jesus’ final week before his crucifixion, but still there are times when life is hard, the losses mount, and we can be overcome with grief. We get through one challenge and another one is just a few more steps along the road toward the eventual end of that road when we breathe our last breath. I don’t have to convince you that life is hard. And sometimes we are discouraged and grow weary.

            It is one of the gifts that Jesus has given us, to give us a few glimpses of what heaven will be like. These glimpses remind us that this world is not all there is, that the life we live here is just the beginning, the launching point for eternity. Some have said that the life we live now is a school that trains us for the resurrection life we will live in heaven. These glimpses of heaven give us the strength to keep pushing forward, to face our challenges and endure our struggles, knowing that we will get through this and one day there will be a new day, the eternal day, when the sun will always shine and there will be no night, an eternal Spring, when everything is becoming new, where life is bursting forth everywhere. And we will tend that good land, working alongside the angels, serving God as the Spirit directs, and joining with those on the earth below in worship of our God and King. The day will come when we will see the one who has journeyed with us every step of the way, from life, to death, to resurrection…Jesus our Lord and Savior.