Just a little workout on Easter Sunday morning. It's good for us. Take your Bibles with me this morning and turn to the Gospel of Luke chapter 20, 27 to 40. We are continuing our sermon series through the Gospel of Luke, but in the providence of God, we actually come to a text this morning that deals with resurrection. And then if you have not brought a Bible with you this morning, there are black pew Bibles in the pew racks in front of you or along the chairs in the back. And our scripture reading this morning is found on page 880 from those black pew Bibles. In Luke's gospel, We have seen that Jesus has entered the city of Jerusalem. We saw several weeks ago the triumphal entry, the crowds proclaiming Jesus to be king. Then Jesus enters into the temple and he cleanses the temple because of the selling, the buying and selling, the thievery that's going on there in the temple. And then when we come to chapter 20, Jesus is immediately confronted by Jewish rulers. And this is actually the final of those confrontations, at least until Jesus' arrest a little bit later in the gospel. We have seen all of the Jewish groups of leadership essentially take a shot at Jesus. All of them, as you look at the combined testimony of the Gospels at this point, have all come out Jesus and they've all challenged him. And now we come to the final one. And these are actually the biggies, the Sadducees, the most significant group, the leadership group in the temple and among God's people in the first century. We have seen a series of questions, a series of three questions. First, Jesus was asked, by what authority are you doing these things? And who gave you that authority? Secondly, Jesus was asked in a way to try to trap him, should we pay taxes to Caesar or not? And now they come and they ask Jesus, the Sadducees in particular, ask him a third question, and it's a question about the resurrection. Hear God's word now as we read this passage. Luke, Chapter 20, beginning in verse 27 and reading through verse 40, hear the word of the Lord. There came to him some Sadducees, those who deny that there is a resurrection, and they asked him a question saying, Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies, having a wife but no children, The man must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. Now, there were seven brothers. The first took a wife and died without children, and the second and the third took her. And likewise, all seven left no children and died. Afterward, the woman also died. In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had her as wife. And Jesus said to them, the sons of this age marry and are given in marriage, but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage, for they cannot die anymore. because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed in the passage about the bush where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. Now, he is not God of the dead, but of the living for all live to him. Then some of the scribes answered, Teacher, you have spoken well, for they no longer dared to ask him any questions. The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of our God stands forever. Again, go to God this morning in prayer. Father, as we reflect on the resurrection this morning, the nature of the resurrection, both Jesus and ours, We pray that you would write this great truth of your word on our hearts. And if there are any here who do not believe in an afterlife, who do not believe in a life in the age to come or who are not ready for that life. God, I pray that you would use your word to convict them and to challenge them and to draw them to the truth and following Christ, our risen Savior. Be with us now and teach us from your word, we pray in Jesus name. Amen. Easter Sunday is the biggest day of the Christian year as we focus on the resurrection, the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. The facts that we proclaim, the facts that we focus on, that Christ has died and Christ has been raised from the dead. These are the central truths of Christianity. There are, of course, all other important truths, but this is at the heart of Christianity. The Apostle Paul told the Corinthians that when I came, I proclaimed nothing but Jesus Christ and him crucified. And then he actually goes on. That's early in first Corinthians. He goes on to spend a whole chapter on the resurrection in first Corinthians, chapter 15. These are the two central events that are at the heart of the Christian life. Jesus died. And on the third day, he was raised from the dead. It is not enough for Jesus simply to die. Many times you'll see and we read historically in books, in literature, or we see in movies, depictions of great heroes who lay down their life for a loved one or loved ones or a certain people. Maybe they give their life for their country, but a great and honorable thing. And yet that's the end of the story. There's no more. And those books and movies except the fond memories of the one who who sacrificed for them. And it is a wonderful thing that Jesus died for us. Jesus died in our place. Jesus took our sins. He bore the wrath of God for his people. That is a great and wonderful thing. But that cannot be the end of the story. If that were the end of the story, there would be no hope. It would mean that death has the last word, that sin is victorious, that evil will win. And so scripture proclaims that there's something after the death of Christ, he rose again from the dead, as Paul says in first Corinthians 15, if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile. We are still in our sins, and in fact, he says we are most of all people to be pitied. Ever hear people say, well, I'm a Christian and and I live this way as a as a Christian and and even if it's not true, this is still the best way to live. Well, you know what, hogwash. Paul says, if you live this way and all this isn't true, then we're we're pity pitiable. We are to be pitied. We live this way as God's people, we seek to follow Christ, to walk with Christ because it is true and there is a life to come. We walk a sacrificial life as Christ walked a sacrificial life because this world is not all there is. There is more to come. And Scripture proclaims that this is the absolute truth, that that Jesus died and Jesus rose again. But there are many skeptics today who don't believe this. In fact, there are many skeptics in the church today who don't believe this. Many today in churches around the world will be hearing messages generally about hope, about remaking ourselves, tying it maybe to spring when new life begins to sprout up from the ground. And so you can you can change. You can you can be new. There's there's hope. The darkness of winter, the long days are gone. Now the light is coming and it's something along those lines. It's a spiritualized kind of resurrection, but not a literal, physical, bodily resurrection that is taught in God's Word. Skeptics over against the clear teaching of the Word of God and the clear teaching of Jesus here in Luke chapter 20. The resurrection gives us eternal hope. It assures our salvation. And Jesus resurrection and ours are intricately tied together in God's word. Now, here in Luke, chapter 20, we encounter a group of skeptics. It's a group of Jewish priests and leaders called the Sadducees, and they come and they ask Jesus about resurrection. They don't believe in a resurrection. And so they come and they ask Jesus about a resurrection. Of course, this is specifically related to our resurrection, but it also applies in many ways to Jesus' resurrection as well. And what they are trying to do here is attempting to do really two things with one question. Both attempting to discredit Jesus, and attempting to disprove the idea of a resurrection, the truth of resurrection. And I want us this morning to look at their skepticism about the resurrection. Then we're going to see what Jesus says about the nature of resurrection life. And then we're going to see Jesus own confirmation of the truth of resurrection. So let's look at those three things this morning. First of all, skepticism regarding resurrection. You notice the Sadducees come to Jesus and Luke tells us that these Sadducees deny that there is a resurrection. So right off the bat, we know there's an agenda here. And they come and they ask Jesus this question and they say, Teacher, verse 28, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies, having a wife, but no children, The man must take the widow and raise up offspring for her brother. And then the passage goes on, then the first brother and the second brother and the third brother and the fourth brother, the fifth and sixth and seventh. They all take her to be wife in accordance with the Old Testament teaching, and they all die. And then the wife dies, whose wife is she going to be in the resurrection? And basically, this question is designed to show how crazy the idea of resurrection really is. The question itself is an attempt to disprove some notion of a resurrection. But of course, their own scenario is somewhat crazy, isn't it? Instead of seven brides for seven brothers, the old movie, We have one bride for seven brothers here in Luke chapter 20. And this passage basically draws on the Old Testament notion, the Old Testament teaching of what we call leveret marriage. That is, if your brother is married, he dies without offspring, you Mary, you take his wife to be yours and you raise up offspring for your deceased brother so that his name is not blotted out of the land. That's precisely what Deuteronomy 25 says, that the name not be blotted out of Israel, that the heritage, that the name will continue in Israel. And they ask this question, seven brothers all die, the wife dies, whose is she? They're trying to trap him. They think this question really has no answer. Only in one sense, if you if you accept their presuppositions, it is kind of a crazy scenario. Whose wife would she be if we accept their presuppositions? And they're also seeking to, of course, disprove the resurrection, the idea of resurrection itself. What's behind this skepticism? Why this skepticism? I think there are three things quickly. Luke does not include it, but the other Gospels, at least Matthew, includes these words. Matthew has Jesus saying, records Jesus words that they're basically asking this question because because they know neither scripture. Nor the power of God. They don't understand scripture and they don't understand the power of God. They know they don't understand scripture. The Sadducees believed that only the first five books of the Old Testament were authoritative. That was their their canon. Those were their scriptures. The rest of the Old Testament was not authoritative for them, only those first five books of Moses and the Sadducees. On the one hand, I think there's other motivation here could say, well, it's not here. And so there is no resurrection, we don't we don't see it taught here in in these first five books of the Old Testament, the five books of Moses. They miss things like Isaiah 26, 19, but your dead will live, their bodies will rise or Job 19 that I quoted in my prayer this morning, for I know that my redeemer lives and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed yet in my flesh, I shall see God. A clear affirmation of the Reformation, Job chapter 19. We could quote other verses as well that teach that the resurrection is taught in Scripture, even in the Old Testament, prominent in the Old Testament. You don't know God's word. You don't understand God's word. You haven't treated God's word rightly. Neither do you understand the power of God. If we believe that God exists and God is all powerful, then can't God raise the dead? But a third reason that these Sadducees may be skeptical with regard to the. Resurrection, they were, as one commentator puts it, a priestly aristocracy. They were wealthy. They were in charge in the temple in Jerusalem. They accommodated they. They they compromised with Rome to maintain their power and leadership over God's people. In other words, they lived for now. And if you live for now, You don't necessarily need or want a resurrection to come because we all know you can't take it with you. Well, isn't this what's behind much skepticism today? Don't understand scripture. Don't know the word of God. Or write it off in some kind of spiritualized fashion to deny a bodily resurrection. Don't know the power of God or don't can't grasp the power of God. Resurrection, some say, doesn't happen. Resurrection can't happen. They don't know the power of God. Or with so many people, life is all about now. It's all about now. Now, some people, yes, hedge their bets. Some people may come to church on Sunday morning, on Easter Sunday. Get in church on certain days of the year. Just to make sure that. You know, you're getting right with God at certain times of the year. Or at least attempting to. But really, ultimately, try to live life fully immersed in this world. Hedging our bets, just in case, just in case God exists, just in case there's an afterlife, let's do some things to make God happy. But I'm going to live immersed in this life. Skepticism, skepticism. That's what we see with these Sadducees. But then Jesus goes on to answer them and we we see, first of all, that Jesus attacks their presuppositions and he talks about the nature of resurrection life. He goes on to say, pick up in verse 34, the sons of this age marry and are given in marriage, but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection of the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage. Marriage is part of life in this world, in this age. Life in the age to come is different. It's not exactly the same as life in this world. And so they attack these Sadducees presuppositions. People don't marry. They're not given in marriage in the age to come. Scripture basically teaches us that there are two primary reasons for marriage. The first is procreation. To have children, to populate the earth. But notice what Jesus says here in verse 36. He says when he after he says people neither marry or are given in marriage, he says, for they cannot die anymore because they are like the angels and are sons of God being sons of the resurrection. Why are people not married anymore and given in marriage? Because there's no need for procreation. People become immortal. They will no longer die. So no need of marriage because no need of death, he says there. They're equal to the angels. They're like angels. And what he means here is they are immortal, like the angels. He doesn't mean here that they become angels. Let's get that fact of Scripture right this morning. Some people think And you will hear this, especially when when children die. People talk about the child as a little cherub or a little angel. Flying around in heaven. Or. It's one of the most popular Christmas movies of all time, it's a wonderful life described one pot line, Clarence, the clockmaker who's trying to earn his wings as an angel. That's not biblical. We don't become angels. In fact, better than that, angels were not created in the image of God. We were. We will judge angels, the apostle Paul says in first Corinthians, chapter six, we will become truly and fully human. But we are immortal. We will not die. That's the first reason we we don't need marriage. The second reason scripture gives for marriage is for companionship. It is not good for the man to be alone. But you know what? In the age to come, there's something far better. Something far better than the companionship of marriage. It is full, complete enjoyment of God and Jesus Christ in the company of all the saints. What a glorious picture that is, the enjoyment of God in the company of all the saints. Jesus says here, they are they are sons of God and sons of the resurrection. We we fully enjoy in heaven being children of our heavenly father. Scripture describes the church as the bride of Christ. And as one commentator puts it, here's a great way to think of it. In this life, we are engaged to Christ. And then we we fully when we fully enter his his presence, we enjoy him. We enjoy him now, but fully in an unhindered way, enjoy him. Isn't that truly a match made in heaven? The enjoyment of Jesus Christ. In fact, satisfaction comes only in fully enjoying and being married to Christ, our Savior. Some of you might think it's a sad thing that we won't be married in the age to come. I have to confess, as I was studying this week, there was a twinge of sadness in one sense. I love my wife. I have a great marriage. It's a wonderful marriage primarily because I have a great wife. She makes it great. It's a it's a great relationship. But when we got married, we said till death do us part. We, I think we'll we'll know each other. And the age to come, but. What what God does is God replaces even some of the good things in this life that don't continue into the age to come. God replaces them with something even better. And that's what happens in the age to come, it's replaced with something even better. In fact, it'll be better for her in the age to come, because then I'll finally be able to love her the way I need to. As a new creation, fully made new, I can finally love my wife. So she gets the benefit. You singles in our midst. I thank God for you. I know many of you want to get married and you're still at a place where you would like to get married, and there's nothing wrong with that, there's nothing wrong with praying for a spouse, but you know what you do for us? You remind us that marriage is not the ultimate. As you are devoted to God and you, as Paul says, are not kind of mixed. You have to please your spouse and please and live for God as you devote yourself to living for God. You don't make your spouse your idol. You remind us of the ultimate things. And you point us to ultimate things and praise God for that. You may not quite see it that way right now. But praise God for that, because marriage is not all there is. There's something more. And of course, these truths affect how we live now. Truths about the afterlife affect how we live now. Seeking to live for God. Seeking to enjoy God, seeking to find our satisfaction in God and in God alone, not in some human being. Not in some earthly pleasure, Not in our wealth, not in material things, but even now seeking to find our joy and pleasure and satisfaction in God alone. That's how we live in this age, in light of the nature of resurrection life. And third and finally, then Jesus goes on to address the reality of the resurrection. And Jesus gives a scriptural proof at the end of this passage, one that is specifically suited to the Sadducees. Where does Jesus go to prove the resurrection? He goes to the beginning of scripture. He goes to the book of Exodus. One of the first five books of Moses, the ones that the Sadducees held as authoritative, neglecting the rest of them. Jesus said, it's right from where you where you rest. This proves the resurrection, the reality of the resurrection. And he says in verse 37, but that the dead are raised, even Moses showed in the passage about the bush. where he calls the Lord, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. Now, he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all live to him. Not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. Ken Hughes uses the illustration here, if someone were to come to you and to say, I am a friend of your father's versus someone coming to you and saying, I was a friend of your father's. The first one assumes I am the friend of your father's, that the father is living, that that there is an ongoing relationship. But I was the friend of your father's probably assumes that the father has died. Well, I said simply become not friends anymore, but you get the point. There's the difference. And that's that's really the point that Jesus is making here. I am I am the God. Of Abraham. Isaac and Jacob, not I was, but I am the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Why? Because though they have died in this life, they are still living. And that's the point here. As Leon Morris puts it, this statement is true only if they are alive beyond the grave. He goes on to say this, the alternative is to think of God as the God of nonexistent beings, which is absurd. They still live. And Jesus points that out. from Exodus chapter three. Scripture is filled with teachings of the resurrection, it's it's filled in the Old Testament, but also especially in the New Testament. On the lips of Jesus himself in John's Gospel, John 11, I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live. First Thessalonians, chapter four, that Dean read earlier in our service this morning, when Christ returns, the dead in Christ will rise. And we who believe in him who is still alive at the time will be we can be caught up to greet him at his return. A glorious truth. When we die, we die in the Lord, we we go to to be with him, we go into his presence. But then when Christ comes again, our bodies will be raised. And we will be with him forever and ever. And it all goes back to the resurrection of Jesus. Because Christ was raised, we will be raised. Scripture teaches it. In fact, the resurrection of Jesus Christ is one of the most historically verifiable events in all of Scripture. Jesus at one time appeared to many, but at one time appeared to 500 people, and Paul can say in First Corinthians, chapter 15, they're still alive. You can you can go ask them. Or many of them are still alive. The Jews, by the way, when the Christians were proclaiming that Christ had risen from the dead, all they had to do was produce a body. And they never did. Scripture proclaims it and scripture proclaims that that it is historically verifiable that Jesus rose from the dead. So here Jesus teaches us about the resurrection and about resurrection life to come. All will be raised. All will be raised. But as verse 35 says. Those who are considered worthy to attain to that age. There is going to be a separation. And what does it mean here when Jesus said those considered worthy to attain? He doesn't make it clear here, but the rest of the gospel of Luke does is by repentance and faith. Repenting of sin and trusting in Jesus Christ and Christ alone for salvation. That's how we attain to the resurrection in the age to come. Those who don't Scripture elsewhere teaches this are going to be raised, but they're going to go to a resurrection of judgment. Away from the presence of God and endless torment, Scripture teaches us. But here we have this great truth, we trust Christ. When we put our hope in him, we will be raised to new life. Do you believe this morning? Are you a skeptic this morning? Look at the truth and the facts and the proclamation of the word of God. If you are here and you do believe, cling to that hope. Do what Jesus says in verse 38, live to God now. In this life. Because this is the nature of life now, and it's the nature of life for all eternity, living to and for God, believing that Christ has died, that Christ has been raised, that Christ will come again and we will be raised with him and live with him forever and ever. Let's pray. Our God, we give you thanks that you have given us scripture and that we you have shown to us your power. It's seen in all that your hands have made. And so, our father, we pray that you would help us to to believe fully and wholly in the resurrection of Christ and all resurrection that is to come. And then in light of that and in light of resurrection life. We ask that you would give us grace to walk in your ways, to live, to you, to worship you, to enjoy you and to give you glory both now and forever. Amen.