Title: The Time of Resurrection (Matthew 22:23)
Contents
Today is Easter Sunday. I pray that the new hope of the resurrection will fill your families.
I returned from the United States last year and delivered my first sermon on my return home in the first week of November under the title "God Who Makes All Things New". Since then, we have been talking about the biblical meaning of "making all things new" successively. Today's sermon will be the conclusion of everything that has been said so far.
Today's text is a story of controversy with the Sadducees after Jesus entered Jerusalem. After Jesus entered Jerusalem, several important events occurred. One of them is the argument with the Pharisees and the Sadducees.
The Pharisees have been arguing over paying taxes to Caesar, trying to somehow entangle Jesus with his words. When the Pharisees failed in this tax debate, the Sadducees rose up. Perhaps the Sadducees rejoiced at the defeat of the Pharisees.
The reason is that the Pharisees and Sadducees originally had opposite views on religious and political issues. One of them is the issue of resurrection. On the issue of the resurrection, they had different views. The Pharisees acknowledged the resurrection, but the Sadducees did not.
The Sadducees have argued with Jesus over the doctrine of the resurrection. According to the original Jewish custom, there was a custom of brothers marrying a widow of a brother of the same family. It is questionable to what extent this was carried out in practice, but if a brother died childless, his brother was obliged to marry the widow and bear children for the brother. Children born in this way were legally regarded as children of the deceased brother. If the man refused to marry the widow, these two went to the elders, and the woman took off the man's sandals, spit in his face, and cursed him, when the man refused to marry him. Your brand will be stamped. (De 25:5-10)
The Sadducees, citing this marriage custom, questioned Jesus. Of course, he intended to frame Jesus. The Sadducees' question is based on the premise that seven brothers in a family all married the widows of their childless brothers in turn, and then died. " was a question.
Jesus established and answered a principle to the Sadducees. What Jesus set out as a principle pointed to a fundamental error in their understanding of the resurrection. He pointed out that they are starting from the error of thinking about the kingdom of God from an earthly point of view, thinking of eternity within the realm of time. The essential point Jesus answered is that the time of the Resurrection is not to be considered from an earthly point of view. I am saying that this is completely different from the real world.
Jesus said: “In the resurrection there are no marriages and no marriages.” This is not to deny the necessity of marriage, but to say that the world of the resurrection is not an extension of this world, but a world that is completely renewed by the power of God. If the world of the Resurrection is not an extension of the present world, but a world completely different from the present world, in what sense is it different? And what kind of resurrection should we live in hope of? can't help but ask. The reason is that, after all, the ultimate goal of our faith has to do with the resurrection. What death and resurrection are intrinsic should not be explored in ourselves or others, or in the past or future. It must be grasped only in the death and resurrection of Christ.
Today, at this time, I will tell you about this world and the other resurrection world and its effect on this life.
First, let's talk about the resurrection, which is different from the present.
First, because the resurrection belongs to the eternal dimension, not the temporal dimension, it transcends the laws of temporal time, space, and nature. The mortal world has limitations in terms of time-limited physical relationships. But in the world of resurrection, this is completely transcended. No matter who you are, you cannot escape death, and you cannot live outside the laws of nature. Nor can it transcend time and space. But in the resurrection world, it transcends death and transcends the limits of the present time limit. After Jesus was resurrected, he appeared to his disciples several times. Each time, Jesus appeared beyond the limits of the temporal limits of time.
Second, resurrection does not mean returning to this mortal life, which is doomed to death, but entering into eternal life (resurrection to eternal life). To enter into eternal life is to “put on this mortal thing that will not die” (1 Corinthians 15:54). In other words, something happens throughout this mortal life.
What happens to the whole of the dead is a transformation (1 Corinthians 15:52) and a transfiguration (Philippians 3:21). To be specific about this change, it means that a person finds his own healing, reconciliation, and fulfillment.
Resurrection to eternal life means that nothing is lost from God. Man rediscovers in God not only the last moment, but his entire history, which is not the same as being captured on video film from birth on earth to death and preserved in the heavens of eternity. If that were the case, the resurrection would not be very good news for us. Because almost all life on earth is an experience of mistakes, sickness, tears, sighs, and sighs. If such lives are recreated at the time of the resurrection, the resurrection will be a time of shame and regret, not a time of joy, praise and celebration. We do not need to wait in hope of such a resurrection.
The whole history we find in God is a discovery as a history of life that has already been reconciled, restored rightly, healed, and completed. Therefore, in this present life, even the life of a severely disabled child or the life of a child who died early is found to be a healed and completed life in the resurrection, so that will be a time of joy, grace and glory.
In that sense, the resurrection of the new creation does not mean the creation of something different from a complete break with the old, but in the sense that the new creation of this mortal life into eternal life, that is, our life is accepted into the divine life. New creation.
That is why, at the time of the Resurrection, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, they are like the angels in heaven. Because the purpose and center of the resurrection is full fellowship with God, it is the time when the purpose of this life is fully fulfilled. Therefore, there is no need for such things as getting married or getting married at that time.
Third, human life is transformed by death rather than being discarded (vernichtung). Death is not "the end or the cessation of the whole person." Death can be said to be the form and transformation of one's life, that is, the transformation of the whole human being. Through death, human beings are transformed from a temporally limited life to an immortal life, and freed from temporal and spatial limitations in their limited present existence (Dasein).
Unlike other creatures, humans were created in the image of God. Human beings created in the image of God have a soul, which is a gift from God. This means the immanence of the Spirit of God. God's relationship to man as a whole is realized by the Spirit of God, which transcends the human spirit, with body and soul, past and future, social and natural relationships. In this Spirit of God we live "before God" and God's "shining face" is directed toward us in the presence of His Spirit. Therefore, death is the separation of the soul from the body, not the separation of man from God. In that sense, death is not the abolition of the whole person, but the transformation of the human form of life.
Next, I will talk about the effect of the resurrection on our temporal life.
Resurrection gives us hope and confidence in a new life. We live in this world and experience failure, division, hatred, and frustration in life. In such a life, is it possible to overcome such a 'hard' world? Is there any other life than this one? There are times when you ask the question. Resurrection is the answer to the question that arises from the doubts of such a life.
※ Man's relationship with God and the rules of man contained therein are sometimes indicated in the biblical tradition as "soul" (Matt. 10:28), but in most cases as "spirit". Although the same word spirit is used in this relation, the spirit of God and the spirit of man are distinct (Psalm 104:29,30). Distinguish their breath from yours. The "Spirit" of God refers to God's relationship to man, and the human spirit refers to man's relationship to God. The spirit relationship is of the same kind, but the second relationship of the spirit depends on the first relationship. 'In the Spirit' God is both transcendent symmetry (Gegenűber) and immanent presence (Gegenwant) to man. The 'spirit' of man refers to the immanence of the Spirit of God, and the 'spirit' of God refers to the transcendence of the human spirit.
In this world, we suffer and struggle because of hatred and hatred, we fear and tremble because of the forces of injustice, and sometimes we are gripped with fear because of death. But the resurrection is a sure guarantee that all these things can be overcome.
Last Holy Week Wednesday, during Holy Communion, I read a letter from this year's 'Taiz Community' titled "From Doubt to Brilliant Fellowship". The Resurrection has paved the way for a truly brilliant world of communion in this world of doubts and conflicts. We can truly reconcile and love beyond hatred, hatred, and mistrust. We can live a life of hope and praise in this world of tears and sighs. We can boldly walk through the gates of death without fear or trembling in the face of death of any kind. No matter what injustice or threat we face, we can confidently move forward on the path of justice without being discouraged. Because there is a resurrection.
The church is not just a funeral service for the dead, waiting for death. The church is a community of resurrection that allows us to break through the gates of death and enter the eternal world.
God is not the God of the dead. God is the God of living people. That is why life is not destroyed by death, but transformed into eternal life before God. We live with the promise and hope of this eternal life. We do not believe in the afterlife, but in "everlasting life." Believing in the afterlife is not Christian resurrection faith. We do not believe in the immortality of the soul, but that life in holy communion with God is never abandoned, but is completed and transformed in God.
Finally, I close my sermon by giving a figurative image of the resurrection.
"A grain of wheat by itself does not have the ability to transform itself. If you leave it alone without planting it in the ground, at some point it will wither and die. But when it is planted in the ground, it rots in the ground and gives new life. As it is conceived, a bud sprouts, a stem is formed, a flower blooms, and it bears a fruit. The form of the seed is lost, but it is not destroyed, but is transformed."
We can think of what the resurrection means from this image.
⊙ Resurrection is a completely different dimension from this world.
⊙ Resurrection is not the creation of new things after being completely destroyed, but entering into eternal life.
⊙ Resurrection is the hope of this life and the power of existence.