LECTURE LXXVI. THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD. MARK Xii. 18-27. 18. Then come unto him the Sadducees, which say there is no resurrection; and they asked him, saying, 19, Master, Moses wrote unto us, If a man's brother die, and leave his wife behind him, and leave no children, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother. 20. Now there were seven brethren: and the first took a wife, and dying left no seed. 21. And the second took her, and died, neither left he any seed and the third likewise. 22. And the seven had her, and left no seed: last of all the woman died also. 23. In the resurrection therefore, when they shall rise, whose wife shall she be of them? for the seven had her to wife. To preserve the families of the Israelites distinct and entire, Moses had enacted the law to which these Sadducees refer.1 If the head of a family died, and left no children, the nearest of him who was himself unmarried was to espouse the widow, that the race might not become extinct. We have an instance in the case of Ruth the Moabitess. She had 1 See Deut. xxv. 5-10. 2 been the wife of Mahlon, an Israelite from Bethlehem. After his death she left the country of Moab, and settled at Bethlehem; when Boaz the nearest kinsman of her husband claimed the right of purchasing some land which had belonged to his family, and also of espousing Ruth. The ceremony is detailed at length. Boaz summoned ten men of the elders of the city, and "said unto them, and unto all the people, Ye are witnesses this day, that I have bought all that was Elimelechs, and all that was Chilions and Mahlons, of the hand of Naomi. Moreover Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, have I purchased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance, that the name of the dead be not cut off from among his brethren, and from the gate of his place; ye are witnesses this day." 3 On this national law the Sadducees invented what they thought a plausible argument against the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead. But the argument took for granted that there could be no resurrection of those who had died in this present world, except to another world of the same kind,— where men marry, and are given in marriage, because sin has brought death into the world: and if a fresh generation did not supply the place of those who die, the world would soon be left without inhabitant. Let them form higher views of the power of God, and learn juster notions of the world to come. 24. And Jesus answering said unto them, Do ye not therefore err, because ye know not the scriptures, neither the power of God? 2 Ruth. iv. 9. 25. For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as the angels which are in heaven. 26. And as touching the dead, that they rise: have ye not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? 4 27. He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living, ye do therefore greatly err. Thus their own scriptures, properly interpreted, supplied them with a proof of the resurrection: a proof which might the better satisfy them, because it came from the books of Moses himself, in whom they professed exclusively to trust. In his first revelation of himself to Moses at the bush, the bush which "burnt with fire and was not consumed," God had announced himself as "the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob:" the God i. e. of their deceased forefathers. But, as our Lord argues, if the dead rise not, if once departed out of this life, they exist no more for ever, what is God to them? or what are they to God? He can show them no farther favour, for they are not; and they can show him no reverence or love; for they are not. As the prophet has written, "The grave cannot praise thee, O Lord, death cannot celebrate thee the living, the living, he shall praise thee.” 5 It would be to deprive God of the honour done unto his name, if we were to suppose him to be God not of the living, but of the dead. "For all live to him." So St. Luke fills up the sentence: 6 all, whether living or dying, are equally dependent on him, "in 4 Exod. iii 16. Isa. xxxviii. 19. 6 Luke xx. 38. whom they have their being." He has created all for his own purposes, and their death and their life are alike under his government. Whether he арpoints them to remain, like Abraham, or Isaac, to fulfil his will on earth: or whether he takes them to himself, as he took Enoch, away from this present world they equally "live to him," and he is equally their God. Accordingly we find St. Paul speaking of himself as living alike unto God, whether in the flesh or out of it. 7 "To me," he says, "to live, is Christ;" my earthly life, if I remain in the flesh, is the fulfilling of his will. "To die," to be removed from the flesh, is likewise to "be with Christ;" then in presence, as now in spirit. So that living or dying, he was the Lord's. Lord was his God, whether dead or living. The One remark is too obvious to be passed over, in our reflections on these words. That the Lord may be our God when dead, he must be our God whilst living i. e. we must live our earthly life in his service, that we may attain eternal life in his kingdom. We cannot live here to this world, and then rise to glory in another. The purpose of Him who is "the resurrection and the life" in taking upon him our nature, is then answered, and not before, when he "brings us to God:"9 brings us to him as his children, to receive his favour, and as his servants, to do his will. And those whom he thus brings to live to God here, he will here 6 Gen. v. 24. John. xi. 25. 7 Phil. i. 21-23. 91 Pet. iii. 18. с с after receive to" enter into the joy of their Lord," in that world where life has no longer either end or beginning where they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven. LECTURE LXXVII. THE LOVE OF GOD AND MAN. MARK Xii. 28-34. 28. And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? 29. And Jesus answered him, mandments is, Hear, O Israel; Lord: The first of all the com- 30. And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. 31. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.' The same question had been asked of our Lord before, and had received the same reply. "A certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He 1 Deut. vi. 4. |