Pentecost 22 (year C proper 27)- 2 Thessalonians 2; Luke 20:27-40

 This Sunday is the Twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost, and we are moving toward the end of the church year. The readings for the latter part of the church year, as well as those at the beginning of Advent, highlight Christian teachings about the last or end things (in theological terminology called eschatology from the NT Greek eschatos, "last"). The Old Testament prophets and the New Testament Epistles and Gospels are filled with teachings about the last things, both about the end of worldly history and the end of individual earthly life.

We see two aspects of teachings about the last things in our readings from 2 Thessalonians 2:1-8, 13-17 and Luke 20:27-40. In 2 Thessalonians 2, the Apostle Paul does two things. The Apostle warns believers about enduring worldly problems, which will lead to the man of sin (usually identified as the great Antichrist) and his defeat by Christ. Paul also encourages believers to hold on to their good traditions about the love, mercy, and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Luke 20:27-40 recounts an encounter between Jesus and some Sadducees over the topic of the resurrection of the dead. The Sadducees were a party drawn from the Jewish priestly establishment, and they were very this worldly in outlook. In particular, they did not expect any meaningful afterlife, and they ridiculed the idea of bodily resurrection. These Sadducees come to test Jesus by using an extreme and even ridiculous case about seven unfortunate brothers and one unfortunate woman. They don't expect any resurrection, but they want Jesus to answer the question, "To whom will the woman be married in the world to come?" 

Of course, Jesus sees their cynicism and refuses to play their legalistic game. He points out that life in the resurrected state will be different from life in this world. Marriage is a sacred and valuable institution for earthly life, but heavenly and spiritual life will transcend its categories. The basic identities of human beings will continue in the world to come, but the temporary conditions of earthly life will pass away. Resurrection life will leave behind worldly problems. It will be angelic, spiritual, and glorious.