Luke 20:27-40
To him all are alive. (Luke 20:38)
Have you ever heard of Hades, the Greek god of the underworld? How about Anubis, the Egyptian god of the afterlife? Or Ankou, the Celtic version of the Grim Reaper? It seems that every ancient religion had its own “God of the dead” (Luke 20:38). Every religion, that is, except for Judaism. The Jewish people believed in one God, not many, and they believed that this God is sovereign over heaven, the earth, and the underworld (Psalm 139:8).
So when some Sadducees—who didn’t believe in the resurrection—came to Jesus with their trick question about a much-married widow, Jesus was ready. He told them how God had identified himself to Moses as the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, patriarchs who had been long dead. If he is still the God of these men, then they must still belong to him. Even the Sadducees agreed that there was no god of the dead who could lay claim to them. So like the patriarchs of old, the righteous who die in God’s friendship are not lost forever in the shadowy underworld of Sheol (Psalm 115:17-18). They are still with the Lord.
This is stunning, wonderful, heart-filling good news for us! Everyone can be alive to God. He offers life—even eternal life—to everyone, even to those who are walking around “dead” in their sins. His mercy is open to every single person. All we have to do is accept God’s offer of life in his Son, and he will gladly give it!
If all are alive to God, then hope is the only real answer to the sin we see in ourselves and in the world. Despair and cynicism and bitterness and condemnation? They all fall away in the presence of a God who never gives up on us. They all pale in the face of a God who always holds out hope.
Today is a good day to reaffirm your faith in the mercy of the Lord. It’s also a good day to let his love banish any anxiety you might have over loved ones who have yet to believe in Christ. He is the God of the living who offers life to everyone. There’s always hope!
“All praise to you, Jesus, for your persistent love!”