God of the Living

Day 111: Luke 20:27-47

“Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all live to him.” - Luke 20:38 ESV

No matter who you are, there is so much mystery and conversation around what we will experience after we die. Some believe, like the Sadducees, that this life is all there is. Once you take your final breath here, you cease to exist. Even in typing those words, I felt a wave of depression come over me. If that were true, the extent of our hope would be an upcoming vacation or ordering a large Coke from McDonald's.

Jesus taught that there is life after death. In fact, He believed that Moses taught the same thing (Exodus 3:1-4:17).

Following Jesus isn't just something to make us feel better about this life until we one day die. Being a disciple of Jesus means that we will, no matter how negative the circumstances, always have so much to look forward to.

Here is an even greater angle on that truth: We have no adjectives to adequately describe or help us fully comprehend what is waiting for us one day in heaven (1 Corinthians 2:9).

It won't be the activities or the temperature or the coffee that will overwhelm us in heaven. What will make us so content and joyful will be the constant, tangible presence of God (Revelation 21:3).

I know today just started, but will you join me in begging Jesus (along with the Apostle John) to come quickly (Revelation 22:20)?

The following quote is long, but it does a great job describing our passage for today:  "Jesus went further. As we have said, the Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection or the body. They declared they could not believe in it because there was no information about it, still less any proof of it, in the books of the law which Moses was held to have written. So far no Rabbi had been able to meet them on that ground; but Jesus did. He pointed out that Moses himself had heard God say, ‘I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob’ (Exodus 3:1–6), and that it was impossible that God should be the God of the dead. Therefore Abraham and Isaac and Jacob must be still alive. Therefore there was such a thing as the resurrection of the body. No wonder the scribes declared it to be a good answer, for Jesus had met the Sadducees on their own ground and defeated them." - Barclay, W. (2001). The Gospel of Luke (pp. 297–298)