God of the Living, not of the Dead (Wednesday, Week 9, Year 1, 2021)

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Tobit 3:1-11, 16-17 gives an account of a woman who was mocked and reproached for being responsible for the death of her successive seven husbands who were actually killed by an evil demon. Depressed, confused and dejected, Sarah had to face the ridicule of the world on account of the unfortunate death of the seven husbands. She must have been seen as an agent of death; maybe much more identified with death than with life. 

 

It could be that a mere mention of her name might have sounded like a sad prelude to the news of death, misery and bad luck. In that kind of situation, what concept of “God” would she have had? Would she have had a concept of a God who is God of the living or God of the dead? Your guess is as good as mine. For the Jews, the number 7 suggests finality, completeness or a kind of a dead-end situation. That Sarah’s marital situation was still the same even after marrying “seven” husbands metaphorically speaks about her utter hopeless situation.

 

But even at the brink of hopelessness, she still hoped and prayed; and God proved to her that He God cannot be identified with “death” but with “life”: that He is the God of the living, not of the dead, the God who could bring life and hope into dead and hopeless situations. To this end, God sent Archangel Raphael to go, heal and give life to Sarah and Tobith.

 

In Mark 12:18-27, the Sadducees who did not believe in the resurrection presented another case of a woman who married seven husbands; all died without a child. The question is: after the resurrection, whose wife would she be? Jesus directed their attention to the fact that God is not God of the dead but of the living.


As for the reality of resurrection, there's no need to be bothered about which body we would rise with, whose wife or husband we would be. No need to be bothered about material wellbeing and possessions. The most important thing is to know that life continues after death, not this earthly kind of life but a glorified and transformed life. Our God is the God of the living, not of the dead. He will surely grant new life to those who sleep in death. If we must be bothered at all, let us be bothered about our preparedness for the new life after death.


Prayer:

In our day-to-day affairs, may we never lose sight of the fact that life continues after death, Amen!


Have a blessed day!



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