“Now then, at the resurrection whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?’” (Luke 20:33).
I have been thinking about the story recorded in the Gospel of Saint Luke that describes the Sadducees asking about the woman who was widowed seven times.
The story the Sadducees told of the woman widowed 7 times and childless...
“Some of the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus with a question. ‘Teacher,’ they said, ‘Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. Now there were seven brothers. The first one married a woman and died childless. The second and then the third married her, and in the same way the seven died, leaving no children. Finally, the woman died too. Now then, at the resurrection whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?’” (Luke 20:27-33).
I have been thinking about this very legalistic approach to Christ. Here were these people who did not believe in the resurrection of the body, asking God Himself about a very unrealistic and extreme example of an application of this belief.
And the part of the story that struck me most profoundly was their complete lack of empathy.
Just imagine that woman for a minute… She was living in a world that valued her only to the extent that she was the possession of her husband or that she was a maker of children. And in the example that the Sadducees provided, this women lived a lifetime being completely unable to fulfil either of those roles. She outlived all her husbands and she never bore a child. In a world that devalued widows and childless women – as in Christ’s world – such a thing was a personal tragedy for this woman of epic proportions. And yet, the Sadducees did not show any compassion for the brokenness of this woman. They showed no love of care for her. Instead, they were interested only in the cold hard facts and technicalities.
But today, as I reflect on this story, my mind is drawn, not so much to the inadequacy of the Sadducees, but rather to the response of Christ… Because He wholeheartedly rejected this unempathetic approach to the woman and her plight. He focused not on the legal technical rigidity of the law, as the Sadducees did. Instead, He saw the humanity of the woman and He spoke of the essence of the law – rather than its technicalities.
And this makes me feel such peace and joy. Because my Beloved is not trying to catch me out with clever rules or silly tricks – He loves me far too much for that. My Beloved is trying to catch me – firmly and warmly in His perfect embrace. And when I feel most worried that I have got it wrong again, it is my Beloved, who calls me back and gives me the strength to try again.
For He knows I am broken and He loves me anyway…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
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