A question designed to embarrass Jesus
(From the Gospel of Luke, chapter 20, verses 27 & 34-40)
One day, a group of men called Sadducees came to Jesus. Even though none of them believed in the resurrection - life forever with God after you die - they decided to ask Jesus a tricky question about it. They hoped that his answer would embarrass him in public and make people stop listening to him.
This is the question the Sadducees asked Jesus: "Are there married people in heaven?"
Jesus knew what they were up to. He said to them, "In this earthly life, grown ups get married so that they can know how wonderful it feels to be very, very close to someone in a loving relationship. But after you die and are with God forever in heaven, you don't have to be married in order to know what being very, very close to someone feels like. That is because in heaven, everyone is in a very, very close relationship of love with God. Being resurrected feels like being born into one huge family where everyone feels very close to God and where everyone knows that God loves them, and will always love them - forever and ever."
Jesus looked at the Sadducees. "Remember," he told them, "God is God of the living, not the dead. We have life with God, first here on earth and then forever in heaven."
Someone who worked in the Temple overheard Jesus' answer to the Sadducees' question. "Good answer, Jesus!" he said.
After that, people realized that they'd have to find another way to embarrass Jesus in public. He was too clever to be caught giving a stupid answer to one of their questions.
Questions to think about:
Has anyone ever tried to embarrass you in public?
Why would the Sadduccees want to embarrass Jesus?
What do you think heaven is like?
How do know God's love now?