TOMORROW NEVER COMES
So run the lyrics of a song: “I gonna live like tomorrow never comes, there’s no end in sight … and live like tomorrow never comes …” Though this song came out in 2013, yet curiously enough, this was the philosophy, the way of life lived and enjoyed by the Sadducees in the days of Christ. We can conclude that the world has not changed … and I wonder if it ever does.
We have to bear in mind that the Sadducees were wealthy and powerful. They lived in luxury in the northern part of Jerusalem. They only believed in the Torah, the Pentateuch or the first five Books of the Scriptures, and as life after death was not mentioned in these Books, they never believed in after-life. But there is another point worth mentioning; they were against the idea of a promised Messiah. The arrival of the Messiah meant a change of life, on outlook in general, of personal sacrifices. SO … they were better off without the Messiah.
The question they put to Jesus was not genuine, it was too far-fetched. It did exist, it was known as the Law of the Levirat. Levirate marriage is a type of marriage in which the brother of a deceased man is obliged to marry his brother's widow, and the widow is obliged to marry her deceased husband's brother. But, curiously enough it was not applied.
They simply did not believe in the resurrection after life. Then, I suppose, she drank of the same arsenic in her old age, consequently she died. Now, if we admit the resurrection of the dead, the situation becomes intricate: in the future life which of the brothers will be her husband? For the Pharisees, the objection is extremely serious. They are convinced that eternal life is the perfection of this life. They, therefore, lowered their eyes, muttered some explanation and moved away quickly among the funny comments of those present.
Christ took the floor and answered: “The sons and daughters of this age marry and are given in marriage, but those of the other world … they are like angels … they are the sons and daughters of God” (vv. 34-36). This first part of His answer was directed to both the Sadducees and the Pharisees. The latter believed that after-life was going to be a continuation of this life on earth, plus a bonus of great meals, feastings, drinks and the rest.
It would make no sense to die and then return to the same body, the same life. Life with God is a completely new condition: when introduced into it, a person, while maintaining his own identity, becomes a different being, immortal, equal to the angels of God. Can anyone be sure, or say with certainty, how life after resurrecting from death is going to be? Can a caterpillar know, how his life is going to be before becoming a butterfly. Correct me if I am wrong, but could a baby in his mother’ womb know what life is when he goes out the mother’s womb.
It would be wise to quote a thought from the Book of Wisdom: “A perishable body is a burden for the soul and our tent of clay weighs down the active mind. We are barely able to know the things of earth, who then may hope to understand heavenly things?” (9:15-16). I think it would be wise to digest Saint Paul’s word. We can approach these sublime and ineffable reality only through faith, believing that those things that no eye has seen, no ear has heard, nor any mind fathomed, God has prepared for those who love him (1 Cor 2:9).
The mortal body gets sick, withers, ages and undergoes dissolution and is not introduced into the eternal world. It remains in this world: the person is invested with another body “incorruptible, glorious, full of strength, spiritual” (1 Cor 15:42-43). The second certainty is that the resurrection of Christ demolished all barriers that separated the living from the dead. An intimate and deep bond unites all.
When on earth, we, the living, gather around the Eucharistic banquet, we are in communion with the brethren in heaven. We are confident that our memory makes them happy, increases our love and theirs, rekindles our desire and hope to be united one day with Christ and with them. It’s worth repeating the last words: ‘rekindles our desire and hope to be united one day with Christ and with them.’ And who are ‘them’? Well our parents, wives and husbands, children, friends … and who knows who else? What a joyous treat.
Our flaws, mistakes, weaknesses will be totally purified by the encounter with the “fire” of God’s love. In us, no form of evil or death remains. That is why Christ said we will be like angels.
So run the lyrics of a song: “I gonna live like tomorrow never comes, there’s no end in sight … and live like tomorrow never comes …” Though this song came out in 2013, yet curiously enough, this was the philosophy, the way of life lived and enjoyed by the Sadducees in the days of Christ. We can conclude that the world has not changed … and I wonder if it ever does.
We have to bear in mind that the Sadducees were wealthy and powerful. They lived in luxury in the northern part of Jerusalem. They only believed in the Torah, the Pentateuch or the first five Books of the Scriptures, and as life after death was not mentioned in these Books, they never believed in after-life. But there is another point worth mentioning; they were against the idea of a promised Messiah. The arrival of the Messiah meant a change of life, on outlook in general, of personal sacrifices. SO … they were better off without the Messiah.
The question they put to Jesus was not genuine, it was too far-fetched. It did exist, it was known as the Law of the Levirat. Levirate marriage is a type of marriage in which the brother of a deceased man is obliged to marry his brother's widow, and the widow is obliged to marry her deceased husband's brother. But, curiously enough it was not applied.
They simply did not believe in the resurrection after life. Then, I suppose, she drank of the same arsenic in her old age, consequently she died. Now, if we admit the resurrection of the dead, the situation becomes intricate: in the future life which of the brothers will be her husband? For the Pharisees, the objection is extremely serious. They are convinced that eternal life is the perfection of this life. They, therefore, lowered their eyes, muttered some explanation and moved away quickly among the funny comments of those present.
Christ took the floor and answered: “The sons and daughters of this age marry and are given in marriage, but those of the other world … they are like angels … they are the sons and daughters of God” (vv. 34-36). This first part of His answer was directed to both the Sadducees and the Pharisees. The latter believed that after-life was going to be a continuation of this life on earth, plus a bonus of great meals, feastings, drinks and the rest.
It would make no sense to die and then return to the same body, the same life. Life with God is a completely new condition: when introduced into it, a person, while maintaining his own identity, becomes a different being, immortal, equal to the angels of God. Can anyone be sure, or say with certainty, how life after resurrecting from death is going to be? Can a caterpillar know, how his life is going to be before becoming a butterfly. Correct me if I am wrong, but could a baby in his mother’ womb know what life is when he goes out the mother’s womb.
It would be wise to quote a thought from the Book of Wisdom: “A perishable body is a burden for the soul and our tent of clay weighs down the active mind. We are barely able to know the things of earth, who then may hope to understand heavenly things?” (9:15-16). I think it would be wise to digest Saint Paul’s word. We can approach these sublime and ineffable reality only through faith, believing that those things that no eye has seen, no ear has heard, nor any mind fathomed, God has prepared for those who love him (1 Cor 2:9).
The mortal body gets sick, withers, ages and undergoes dissolution and is not introduced into the eternal world. It remains in this world: the person is invested with another body “incorruptible, glorious, full of strength, spiritual” (1 Cor 15:42-43). The second certainty is that the resurrection of Christ demolished all barriers that separated the living from the dead. An intimate and deep bond unites all.
When on earth, we, the living, gather around the Eucharistic banquet, we are in communion with the brethren in heaven. We are confident that our memory makes them happy, increases our love and theirs, rekindles our desire and hope to be united one day with Christ and with them. It’s worth repeating the last words: ‘rekindles our desire and hope to be united one day with Christ and with them.’ And who are ‘them’? Well our parents, wives and husbands, children, friends … and who knows who else? What a joyous treat.
Our flaws, mistakes, weaknesses will be totally purified by the encounter with the “fire” of God’s love. In us, no form of evil or death remains. That is why Christ said we will be like angels.
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