Today’s gospel finds Jesus disputing with the Sadducees. They come to him with a series of hard questions, hoping to trap him into speaking out against the Law. Jesus knows what they are up to and takes the conversation beyond those arguments to a new level.
Their arguments are based on the assumption that life after resurrection will be in some way a continuation of the life we already know. We have to admit that there is a certain amount of appeal in that assumption, even as we face the unknown we hope that there will be something familiar to cling onto.
Jesus however takes them beyond that assumption, reminding them that life after resurrection will not be a copy of life on earth. Yet, even as he removes that assurance he offers them a deeper, truer hope, reminding them of Moses’ encounter with God at the burning bush:
“God spoke to him, and said: ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.’” God is God, not of the dead, but of the living.”
It seems to me that his words are a call for us to leave behind all that would prevent us from embracing the new life offered by the resurrection. He invites us to let go of the ways that would hold us bound.
His invitation echoes that of Deuteronomy when God calls the people to choose life. If we are to be free to choose the new life Christ offers us we have to be prepared to let go, and to step out into the unknown.
Where is Christ calling you to step into the unknown today?