By Maria Morera Johnson

 

 

“He is God not of the dead, but of the living.”  ~ Mark 12:27a

Jesus’s public ministry was often met with challenges from those in authority. Pharisees, Scribes, and in today’s Gospel, the Sadducees, repeatedly questioned Jesus in an effort to catch Him in violation of the religious laws that bound them. They were less interested in the truth and more interested in redefining the truth to fit their vision.

An Act of Faith

The Sadducees were so committed to the laws that they could not fathom the Truth. They could not hear Jesus’s message because they could not receive it with an open heart of faith.

In today’s Gospel, the Sadducees pose an absurd hypothetical situation to Jesus. They want to know who is the rightful husband of a woman who has married and widowed seven times in this life. The scenario is possible but unlikely. Their point is in trying to catch Jesus in a dilemma, but Jesus responds in a manner that both answers the question and leaves them questioning.

A God of the Living

We often live in this quandary, too, stuck in the reality we see instead of trusting our God, who is not only merciful, as we hear in Tobit’s account in the first reading, but also filled with kindness and compassion, as we hear in the psalm. So when Jesus tells the Sadducees (and us!) that God is “of the living,” He leads us to trust in Him.

Jesus is unconcerned with the seven husbands. Instead, he reassures us that all will be well when we put our trust in God.

 

Prayer

Good and merciful, Lord; we place our trust in you, both in this life and the eternal life you have prepared for us. Amen

Call to Action

Practice the habit of affirming throughout the day, “Jesus, I trust in you.”

 

 

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