The sanctity of married life has always been a good storyline. We have had it in fictional tales such as with Eastenders and Coronation Street, but also in real life with Donald Trump and Boris Johnson. We, as society, seem to enjoy the delight in poking our ‘mental fingers’ deep into the plot and seeing what is behind the headlines. Whether it really applies to us is another question. Anyway what does marriage mean?
This week’s reading comes from Luke 20 and relates to Sadducees. There is little really understood about this group of religious people other than the joke that, as they didn’t believe in the resurrection, they were sad…you see. Moving on…
Sadducees
Just like in the United States, power and religion are seemingly deeply entwined. The Republican party are apparently closely linked to the religious right.
It was historian Josephus who mentions the Sadducees as a group which are link to the Hasmonean High Priest and rule of Judah in the 2nd C BC. We read about them in Acts. The Sadducees were ones who strictly followed scripture but not to the traditions handed down by the Pharisees. If it wasn’t written down it wasn’t for them. They believed that God doesn’t commit evil, that man has the free choice of good or evil, and there are no rewards after death – no matter how goody two-shoes you’ve been. The Sadducees used the Torah whereas the Pharisees used a range of historical texts, where they could see evidence for the resurrection.
By the time that the Gospels were penned, some had been identified as part of the Essene community linked to John the Baptist. Nevertheless, their influence, as with the Pharisees, was seen to be declining. Possibly the comments of Jesus directed to the Pharisees might be a link to the marginalisation of the religious groups following the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70.
Where’s Jesus?
He has finally arrived into Jerusalem. He has made his triumphant arrival, been saddened over its current state, had a serious word or two over the money changers in the Temple. Now he is on the receiving end of some hostile questioning.
The Sadducees offer a question about marriage, and in particular Levirate Marriage. What does marriage mean? There are numerous forms of marriage, not just between one man and one woman. This discussion speaks of a marriage with no children where the man dies – what should happen to the woman? The brothers of this man are honour bound to “look after the woman” by marrying her. Unfortunately she has a nasty habit of losing husbands as they all die ‘in marriage’. I am sure someone might have asked a few questions of the Judge back in Luke 18 perhaps… But, in the end, she also dies. Possibly exhausted by the trauma of it all.
So whose wife will she be in the resurrection? the Sadducees ask; you might even see the
curl in the lip and the raising of the eyebrow as they feel that
have won an argument with this religious tearaway.
So Marriage
What does marriage mean? It wasn’t about love back then, it was about honour for the man, an institution where the woman was a chattel, a possession. Just like a throw-away materialistic society today, once the woman was of little use, they could be discarded, divorced easily. She could not do likewise.
I wonder as we know little of the actual life after death, in terms of physical bodily state for example, whether we might consider whether this text speaks to our relationships?
A question for you…
Jesus speaks of this marriage, not disdainfully, but one about belonging. It is about the Kin_dom of God, not Kingdom of God. It is about family with God and one another. Jesus speaks that our resurrected life will be different but here focuses upon justice, where there is equality.
A question we might like to consider is whether
resurrection is the same as immortality?
Before you might click here, what’s your response?Why not add it in the comments below. Here’s an answer.
Sadly, for many women even in the enlightened UK today, I think marriage still means women are second class citizens, expected to do everything, including giving up their jobs when called to. A happy marriage is still a dream in our society, but over 50% of marriages apparently fail in the UK today.
Tracey,, I wasn’t aware of that statistic. I wonder whether this passage doesn’t possibly refer to marriage but how relationships between us and God should be. How much better – not even quantifiable – would it be for society to change to show equality and justice for all.
I found the dialogue interesting and was very good