June 3
Gospel
Mark 12:18-27
The God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob is the God of the living
Some Sadducees – who deny that there is a resurrection – came to him and they put this question to him, ‘Master, we have it from Moses in writing, if a man’s brother dies leaving a wife but no child, the man must marry the widow to raise up children for his brother. Now there were seven brothers. The first married a wife and then died leaving no children. The second married the widow, and he too died leaving no children; with the third it was the same, and none of the seven left any children. Last of all the woman herself died. Now at the resurrection, when they rise again, whose wife will she be, since she had been married to all seven?’
Jesus said to them, ‘Is not the reason why you go wrong, that you understand neither the scriptures nor the power of God? For when they rise from the dead, men and women do not marry; no, they are like the angels in heaven. Now about the dead rising again, have you never read in the Book of Moses, in the passage about the Bush, how God spoke to him and said: I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob? He is God, not of the dead, but of the living. You are very much mistaken.’
Reflection
This passage challenges the Sadducees’ understanding of life after death by highlighting that God is the God of the living. Jesus points to the continuity of relationship with God beyond death, where the power of God transforms our present assumptions and enlarges our hope. The key insight is that Scripture reveals the reality of life fullness in God, not merely a continuation of earthly patterns. The resurrection reorients our human categories (marriage, status) toward a transcendent destiny where we are made whole in God’s presence, like the angels, in a living relationship with Him.
Reflection Question
How does the promise of the living God reshape the way you view your daily priorities, relationships, and hopes for the future?
Prayer
Lord, open my heart to the truth that You are the God of the living. Help me to trust in the resurrection power that transcends my familiar patterns and fears. Ground me in Your eternal life today, so that I may live with hopeful obedience and share that hope with others. Amen.
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