Today’s Scripture Readings

Some Sadducees, those who say there is no resurrection, came to him and asked him a question, ‘Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies, leaving a wife but no children, the man shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother. Now there were seven brothers; the first married, and died childless; then the second and the third married her, and so in the same way all seven died childless. Finally the woman also died. In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had married her.’

Jesus said 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. Indeed they cannot die any more, because they are like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection. And the fact that the dead are raised Moses himself showed, in the story about the bush, where he speaks of the Lord as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive.’ Then some of the scribes answered, ‘Teacher, you have spoken well.’ For they no longer dared to ask him another question.

In today’s Gospel, the Sadducees challenge Jesus with a hypothetical scenario meant to assert their superiority. Citing Jewish Law, they introduce the challenging question of a widow married in turn to seven brothers and ask whose wife she will be in the life to come. Their question reveals a limited view of life eternal; one that is only shaped by earthly structures where at that time, a woman’s worth and security depend on male kinship.

Jesus rejects this narrow perspective. He teaches that the resurrection is not a continuation of earthly arrangements. In God’s kingdom, known to us as heaven, dignity is not assigned by role or relationship but given directly by God. Life in the Spirit is unencumbered, transformed from physical and social constraints into an experience of pure love. Jesus anchors this hope by recalling Moses’ encounter with the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the faithful God ‘of the living,’ whose love is stronger than death.

On this feast of St Cecilia, a Roman noblewoman in the third century, martyred for her faith, we remember those whose hope in the resurrection shaped their lives with courage.

God of the living, strengthen our faith in the resurrection and the future you offer through the Spirit. Free us from whatever binds our identity or limits our hope, that all may know their dignity in you. Teach us to live with the courage of St Cecilia and the trust proclaimed by Jesus, that we may walk in your light now and be prepared for the fullness of life you promise, now and forever.