The Dangerous Hope of Resurrection

Gospel Reflection Luke 20:27-38

For around 17 years of my adult life, I have had the privilege of ministering within congregations across the spectrum, from non-denominational to Methodist, Episcopal to Mennonite, house churches to high church, and literally every time I read scripture, I’ve approached the text with the same three questions: 

What is God and/or Jesus up to? 
What are the people up to?
Where do God and people's stories intersect? 

In this morning’s Gospel reading from Luke, we have this really strange interaction where the Sadducees come to Jesus with this ridiculous hypothetical about a woman married to seven brothers… I don’t think they’re actually looking for spiritual truth.

There’s something else… I think they're protecting their power. Jesus knows it.

This morning, I want us to understand who the Sadducees were, why they opposed Jesus so fiercely, and what Jesus's response teaches us about living faithfully in a world where the powerful still manipulate religion to maintain their control over our politics, our economy, and even God's creation itself. 

Who Were the Sadducees? 

The Sadducees were the one-percenters of first-century Jerusalem. They were the aristocratic, priestly sect that dominated the religious and political landscape during the Second Temple period. They represented the wealthy upper class and controlled the Temple—the center of Jewish religious, economic, and political life. They held positions like high priest and formed most of the Sanhedrin, the ruling Jewish council. 

But here's what made them different from other Jewish groups of their time. Their key beliefs were:

• Scripture alone: They accepted only the written Torah—the five books of Moses—as divine authority, rejecting the Pharisees' oral traditions and later prophetic books. 

• No afterlife: They denied the resurrection of the dead, the immortality of the soul, and any rewards or punishments after death. 

• No spiritual beings: They rejected the existence of angels and spirits. 

• Political pragmatism: They collaborated with Roman authorities to maintain their power and the social order that benefited them. 

Now, you might be thinking: "That's an interesting history lesson, but what does it have to do with us?" Everything. Because once you understand why they believed what they believed, you start seeing Sadducees everywhere. 

The Politics of Resurrection 

Here's what we need to understand: The Sadducees' denial of resurrection wasn't just a theological position. It was a power strategy. 

Think about it. If there's no resurrection, no afterlife, no divine justice beyond death, then what does that mean? It means this life is all that matters. Earthly power is ultimate power. The rich and powerful have already won. The poor and oppressed have no hope beyond their suffering. You’d better cooperate with those in power now because there's no cosmic re-balancing coming later. 

But if there IS resurrection and divine justice? Then everything changes. 

Earthly power becomes temporary and ultimately meaningless. God will hold the powerful accountable. The suffering of the oppressed is not the final word. "The last shall be first" becomes a terrifying threat to those who are currently first.

You can resist earthly power because it doesn't have the last word.

The Sadducees understood this perfectly. That's why they denied resurrection. Because resurrection belief makes people ungovernable. If people believe death isn't the end, what leverage do you have over them? 

Threats become less effective—"Obey or we'll kill you" loses its power. 
Bribes become less appealing—why accumulate wealth you can't take with you when God will redistribute everything anyway? 
Status becomes meaningless—your aristocratic bloodline and priestly privilege mean nothing in the end.

The early Christians baffled Roman authorities precisely because martyrdom didn't deter them. They welcomed death. That's what resurrection belief does—it breaks the primary tool of authoritarian control. 

And here's the really insidious part: if there's no divine justice coming, then the Sadducees could oppress without consequence, accumulate wealth without cosmic reckoning, and collaborate with empire without divine judgment.

The poor they trampled? They just die and cease to exist. No justice for them. How convenient. 

If the Sadducees could convince the common people that there's no resurrection, then work becomes everything—better submit to the system because this job, this life, is all you get.

Revolution becomes pointless—why risk your one and only life-challenging power? Injustice becomes tolerable. "Life's not fair, then you die" breeds resignation, not resistance. 

The Confrontation 

So, when the Sadducees come to Jesus with their question about the woman married to seven brothers, understand what's really happening. On the surface, it's about how resurrection works. But below the surface—power and property. 

Notice how they frame it: the woman is treated as property being passed between men. The question is "whose possession will she be?" The whole scenario assumes relationships are about ownership and control—which tells you everything about how the Sadducees viewed the world. 

But watch what Jesus does. He doesn't play their game.3 

"You are wrong," he says, "because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God." 

Then he completely redefines the conversation. Resurrection life isn't about ownership and control, "they neither marry nor are given in marriage." It's about being "children of God," identity based on divine relationship, not earthly status. 

And then comes the final blow. Jesus quotes their own Scripture—the Torah they claim to follow—back at them. Moses at the burning bush calls God "the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." Present tense. "He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive." 

Do you see what Jesus is doing? He's saying: 

Your power structures don't extend beyond death. Your system of ownership and control ends with resurrection. God's justice WILL come. And the poor, the oppressed, the "nobodies" you've trampled? God knows them by name. They're alive to Him. 

This is revolutionary. And it's why the Sadducees will plot to kill him.

Recognizing Modern Sadducees 

Friends, the Sadducees didn't disappear in 70AD when the Romans destroyed the Temple. They just changed their clothes. Today's Sadducees are easier to spot than we'd like to admit. Watch for those who: 

Use religious language while serving wealth. Who preach a prosperity gospel, that says, God wants you rich—and if you're not, it's your fault. They wrap nationalism in religious garments and claim God blesses our nation above others. 

They emphasize heaven later to keep you compliant now. "Your reward is in heaven," they say, so don't worry about poverty, injustice, or exploitation on earth. They make resurrection so otherworldly that it becomes irrelevant to present suffering. 

They want you focused on individual salvation while ignoring systemic sin. Save  souls, they say, but don't talk about racism, poverty, or climate destruction. Keep your faith personal and private. Don't organize. Don't resist. Don't imagine  alternatives. 

Because here's what modern Sadducees understand, just like the ancient ones: people with resurrection hope are dangerous to unjust power. 

What Jesus Shows Us 

So, what does Jesus's response teach us about living faithfully right now, in a world where the wealthy consolidate power, where corporations exploit creation for profit, where religion gets co-opted to serve empire? 

First, speak truth to power. Jesus doesn't soft-pedal his critique. He publicly exposes the Sadducees' ignorance and hypocrisy. But notice—he's not trying to convert them. He's exposing them for the sake of everyone else listening. The powerful rarely change. But the crowd is listening. So, we speak truth about climate destruction, wealth inequality, and systemic injustice, not because billionaires will suddenly repent, but because the people need to hear it named. 

Second, refuse their framing. The Sadducees want to debate resurrection on their terms—as property law, as ownership, as control. Jesus completely re-frames it as relationship, life, and divine justice. 

Today's powerful want us debating false choices: jobs versus environment, economy versus justice, security versus compassion. We must reject this way of thinking entirely and imagine God's alternative. 

Third, build resurrection communities now. Jesus doesn't just critique the Sadducees—he's building a movement that operates by different values. His followers share possessions, practice radical hospitality, center the marginalized. We're called to create alternative communities: local food systems, mutual aid networks, community-owned energy, and economic solidarity. These aren't just survival tactics. They're signs that the Sadducees' system isn't inevitable. 

Finally, root everything in resurrection hope. This is crucial. We don't act from despair or naive optimism, but from resurrection hope. The powers killed Jesus…God raised him…Death and empire don't get the last word. 

This isn't escapism—"it'll all be fine in heaven, so let's ignore earth." It's defiant hope that sustains resistance. When we protect a forest, we're betting on life. When we house the unhoused, we're betting on dignity. When we share resources, we're betting on abundance over scarcity.

Even if the Sadducees win every earthly battle, God's kingdom bends toward justice, restoration, and life. 

Conclusion: The God of the Living 

The Sadducees tried to eliminate Jesus to protect their power…God raised him from the dead. 

That's the pattern. That's the promise. That's what keeps us going when today's Sadducees seem unstoppable. 

We plant trees we may never sit under. We protect forests for generations we'll never meet. We fight for justice we may never see. Not because we're guaranteed to win in earthly terms, but because God is "not the God of the dead, but of the living." 

The resurrection is the ultimate threat to unjust power because it proves: death doesn't win, empire doesn't win, wealth doesn't win, violence doesn't win. God's life-giving justice wins. 

The Sadducees denied resurrection because people who truly believe in resurrection are ungovernable. They can't be threatened into compliance. They can't be bribed into silence. They can't be convinced that injustice is inevitable. 

Because they know something the Sadducees never understood: this system isn't ultimate. Another world is breaking in. And life, ultimately, wins. 

Build the alternative. Live as if resurrection is real. 

God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.

That changes everything. 

Thanks be to God.