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Eternally Alive
Last week, I encountered many news of death. In Seoul, 이태원, so many young people lost their lives. Senseless death. Also in India, too many people were on the bridge which was not ready to take people. And it collapsed. In Seoul, at least 150 people died. In India, at least 135 people died. While listening to these sad stories of death, I read today’s passage. I saw a video of people in 이태원 before the accident. They had no idea of death coming to them. They were smiling and walking as though it was another normal day in that crowd. They were walking like sardines. There was only one policeman who was shouting to people not to go into the narrow alley. His face was filled with concern for the safety of people. He was the only one who was shouting and warning people.
In today’s passage, we hear a lot about being alive. It says we are alive. We are not dead, but alive.
Indeed they cannot die any more… (Luke 20:36)
Being children of the resurrection… (Luke 20:36)
Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive. (Luke 20:38)
Being Alive! How wonderful it is. We have the resurrection and we are eternally alive.
Sadducees
Sadducees did not believe this wonderful truth. In today’s story, we hear the debate between Jesus and the Sadducees. Because they didn’t believe in the resurrection, they attacked Jesus with a ridiculous story they made up. They tried to prove how senseless it was to believe in the resurrection. I understand that they could not accept the resurrection. It is hard to believe it. Still, many people don’t believe in the resurrection.
Sadducees misunderstood about the resurrection. To them, the resurrection was simply the continuation of the life they had. It was just the lengthening of the life they had. So they thought that they would get married and have kids and live in the same way.
But Jesus said this to them.
Those who belong to this age marry and are given in marriage; but those who are considered worthy of a place in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. (Luke 20:34, 35)
To Jesus, the resurrection was not just the repetition or the lengthening of the life they had. To Jesus, the resurrection was the transformation. To Jesus, the resurrection, was the change. You were dead but now you are alive.
The Power of Resurrection
Yes we experience death every day. We all become older, weaker, and in the end, we will perish. That is the life we know and that is the life we see. We see a lot of deaths around us. Many people become weaker, getting sick and die. That is what we see in our daily life.
But when St. Paul met Christ, he saw something different. He experienced the power of resurrection. Not only was the resurrection happened to Jesus, the power of his resurrection was working within Paul. It was not just the miracle he experienced on the road to Damascus that changed him. It was the power of the resurrection he experienced that changed him. Now he saw something different in his life.
So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. (2 Corinthians 4:16)
So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! (2 Corinthians 5:17)
For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. (2 Corinthians 5:1)
This was what St. Paul experienced. He experienced something wonderfully different about his life. You don’t just get older and weaker. You don’t just perish. He realized that the life within him regenerated itself continuously. He realized that this was what it meant to be alive.
Being Alive
That was what Jesus said in today’s passage.
Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive. (Luke 20:38)
God makes us alive. That is God we believe. In God, all of us are alive. Our souls will come alive. Our life will be awakened. Those who believe in God will not die.
This is what our Lord, Jesus said.
I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this? (John 11:25, 26)
If there is no resurrection, we have no hope. Everything becomes meaningless and useless.
That was what St. Paul said.
If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. (1 Corinthians 15:19)
If Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation has been in vain and your faith has been in vain. (1 Corinthians 15:14)
If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile (1 Corinthians 15:17)
To St. Paul, the resurrection was the sure thing and everything. It was the very foundation of what he believed. Without the resurrection, everything would have fallen apart. His thoughts, his actions, his sacrifices, and his life. Because he believed in the resurrection, death could not overpower him any more.
That’s why he was able to boldly proclaim to the death.
Death has been swallowed up in victory.
Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 15:54-57)
In Christ, no more death! That was what Christ came to show us.
…in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. (John 1:4)
Nothing could take away life that was in Christ. Nothing could destroy life that was in Christ. Even death could not defeat life that was in Christ. That is being alive.
The Living Power
When you are connected with Christ, you are connected with the life force. The life force will move within you powerfully. The eternal life does not become a theory. The power of the eternal life will work within you.
Fear of death will slowly lose its grip on you. Victory of life will take over your life. You will see hope in the hopeless situation. You will see the light in the darkness. You will see power in desperate situation.
When you fall into the unbreakable chain of depression, slumps, and lack of confidence, let the power of resurrection work in your life. Be connected with Christ and taste the power of life hidden within him. That is what it means to be alive. You will come out of your personal slump.
We live in a difficult time. Economically it is not so good. Everything is so expensive but our economy is not any better. My brother told me that is called stagflation.
Personally you may face challenging times. But we can all come out of these slumps when we experience the power of resurrection. That is being alive. Sadducees never experienced the power of being alive. To them, the resurrection was just a ridiculous theory. For us, the resurrection is the living power. Be alive in Christ!
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