2 Timothy 1:1-3,6-12 ·
Psalm 122(123):1-2
Mark 12:18-27
Popular images of life after death and heaven tend to depict earthly, familiar scenes—pastures, clouds, choirs, and even harps playing. We often use these ‘homely’ images to describe what lies ahead.
However, the life to come with God remains a mystery—simple at its core. We understand basic truths: we will live on, our existence will be eternal through Jesus’s death and resurrection. Still, detailed descriptions elude us. Faith is about trust, and though we live by faith, it’s natural to seek some recognizable aspects of the life to come to help us hold on.
Today, we read about the Sadducees devising a very fanciful scenario regarding marriage in heaven, not to gain wisdom but to trap Jesus and support their belief that there is no resurrection.
Like Jesus, we shouldn’t get too caught up in these invented stories.
Jesus doesn’t get sidetracked by the absurd scenario; instead, he reiterates the core truth—our future life with God will be different, but no less real. His words that we’ll be ‘like angels’ affirm his humanity and his full sharing in our life. Just as we trust and hope, so did he.
We get a glimpse of the life to come in his story—if we want to see how we will be with God, we need only look to his life, which perfectly reflects God’s love.
Jesus worked to make people feel at home with God. His kindness, sacrifices, compassion, and care are all expressions of this love.
It is this love that will embrace us too. Jesus’s promise and example can be summed up in an image he uses elsewhere—a home, a safe place where we belong.
Hospitality and welcoming were core values in his culture, and they remain central to the kingdom of heaven. He will greet us into eternal life with the same care and openness.
Fr Joseph Osho