Joel Green in his commentary on Luke (1997, 718) claims that this dispute between the Sadducees and Jesus is about scriptural interpretation.
The Sadducees ask Jesus: ‘do you follow Moses’. But Jesus takes the question away from obedience to the scripture to the interpretation of scripture. Who can interpret Moses faithfully?
Both the conversation around the resurrection and the conversation around the authority and interpretation of scripture are alive. The way we would go about discussing these issues is very different. Although both the question of the Sadducees and Jesus’ interpretation of Moses at the burning bush use logic they also both have an element of enjoyment and fun: it might even seem frivolous. The Sadducees are creative in their reading of scripture and Jesus uses his imagination in his interpretation.
In the conversation around the resurrection it is interesting how intertwined identity is with relationship. Although in life a woman’s identity is defined by her relationship with her husband, in the resurrection this is not the case anymore. In the resurrection a woman’s identity just as a man’s identity is defined by her relationship with God. “Those who are considered worthy of a place (…) in the resurrection (… ) are children of God.”
6 November 2016
Luke 20:27-38
This weekly blog on one of the lectionary readings is by Anne Claar Thomasson-Rosingh, Programme Leader for Lifelong Learning at Sarum College.