9th Week in Ord. Time, Wednesday – 3rd June 2020 — Gospel: Mk 12,18-27
Promise of a perfect relationship
Previously the Pharisees and Herodians have utterly failed at their mission of humiliating Jesus. Now Sadducees come up with a question to show that the belief in the resurrection is absurd, hoping to weaken Jesus’ credibility as a teacher. They base their disbelief in the Deuteronomic passage about widows (Deut 25,5-6). Once again, Jesus points out their blind spots. First, there was an error in understanding the Scriptures. They failed to understand, that in the resurrection there is neither marriage nor procreation. Second, they failed to believe in the power of God, power over death and the grave. Jesus doesn’t stop by showing why their argument is wrong. He actually opens up another level of theological understanding. Jesus explains that God not only restores the dead to life but gives them a completely transformed existence. In this life, being in relationship with a spouse is only a sign of the loving relationship of God. In eternity, there will be an intimate relationship with God. Those who die in friendship with God will continue to enjoy that friendship even after this earthly life. Human relationships in the resurrection will be so different that we will enjoy more perfect and deeper relationship with others than we had on this life.
