Are You My Husband?
Stories
Lectionary Tales for the Pulpit
Series V, Cycle C
Object:
Some Sadducees, those who say there is no resurrection, came to him and asked him a question, "Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies, leaving a wife but no children, the man shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother. Now there were seven brothers; the first married, and died childless; then the second and the third married her, and so in the same way all seven died childless. Finally the woman also died. In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had married her." (vv. 27-33)
P. D. Eastman wrote an enchanting tale titled, Are You My Mother? He tells the story of a mother bird who sat on her egg. The egg jumped, and the mother bird realized her baby would soon arrive and be hungry. She said, "I must get something for my baby bird to eat!" And, she quickly left so that she could quickly return.
But she did not return soon enough. The egg continued to jump until the baby bird jumped out. Immediately, the baby bird asked, "Where is my mother?" He looked up, down, and all around. But he did not see his mother. So he set out on a quest to find his mother.
He went down out of the tree. The baby bird could not yet fly, but he could walk. Being a newborn that had never seen his mother or even himself, he didn't know what a mother bird looked like.
He came to a kitten and asked, "Are you my mother?" The kitten just looked at him but didn't say a thing. The kitten was not his mother, so he went on.
Then he came to a hen and asked, "Are you my mother?" The hen said, "No," so the baby bird went on.
Then the bird came upon a dog. "Are you my mother?" he said to the dog. The canine replied, "I am not your mother. I am a dog."
Still searching, the young bird came to a cow where he asked, "Are you my mother?" The perplexed cow responded, "How could I be your mother? I am a cow."
The confused bird continued seeking his mother as he comes upon a car, a boat, and a plane, but none are his mother. Finally he comes to a big backhoe. The backhoe scoops him up, which panics the little bird. And just as the bird wonders what will become of him, the backhoe places him back in his nest just before his mother returns with his first meal.
Most of us are not confused about our mothers, but the Sadducees in today's scripture create a similarly fictional tale in which they have a woman ask, "Are you my husband?"
The Sadducees were an aristocratic, priestly class descended from Aaron through Zadok. They had aligned themselves with the Roman rulers enough to maintain their role as priests in the temple. Outside of God, they were skeptical of anything supernatural. They did not believe in angels or the resurrection.
As such, they created a situation to trap Jesus. They proposed that a woman, through a series of unfortunate events, was married to seven men. Assuming there was a resurrection, she would go around asking, "Are you my husband?" They wanted to know to whom she would be married in this "mythical" resurrection.
Jesus responded that they were asking the wrong question. They were asking an earthly question regarding a spiritual situation. She would not be a wife in heaven. She would be a child of God -- full of life -- which was far more important than being a dead wife.
P. D. Eastman wrote an enchanting tale titled, Are You My Mother? He tells the story of a mother bird who sat on her egg. The egg jumped, and the mother bird realized her baby would soon arrive and be hungry. She said, "I must get something for my baby bird to eat!" And, she quickly left so that she could quickly return.
But she did not return soon enough. The egg continued to jump until the baby bird jumped out. Immediately, the baby bird asked, "Where is my mother?" He looked up, down, and all around. But he did not see his mother. So he set out on a quest to find his mother.
He went down out of the tree. The baby bird could not yet fly, but he could walk. Being a newborn that had never seen his mother or even himself, he didn't know what a mother bird looked like.
He came to a kitten and asked, "Are you my mother?" The kitten just looked at him but didn't say a thing. The kitten was not his mother, so he went on.
Then he came to a hen and asked, "Are you my mother?" The hen said, "No," so the baby bird went on.
Then the bird came upon a dog. "Are you my mother?" he said to the dog. The canine replied, "I am not your mother. I am a dog."
Still searching, the young bird came to a cow where he asked, "Are you my mother?" The perplexed cow responded, "How could I be your mother? I am a cow."
The confused bird continued seeking his mother as he comes upon a car, a boat, and a plane, but none are his mother. Finally he comes to a big backhoe. The backhoe scoops him up, which panics the little bird. And just as the bird wonders what will become of him, the backhoe places him back in his nest just before his mother returns with his first meal.
Most of us are not confused about our mothers, but the Sadducees in today's scripture create a similarly fictional tale in which they have a woman ask, "Are you my husband?"
The Sadducees were an aristocratic, priestly class descended from Aaron through Zadok. They had aligned themselves with the Roman rulers enough to maintain their role as priests in the temple. Outside of God, they were skeptical of anything supernatural. They did not believe in angels or the resurrection.
As such, they created a situation to trap Jesus. They proposed that a woman, through a series of unfortunate events, was married to seven men. Assuming there was a resurrection, she would go around asking, "Are you my husband?" They wanted to know to whom she would be married in this "mythical" resurrection.
Jesus responded that they were asking the wrong question. They were asking an earthly question regarding a spiritual situation. She would not be a wife in heaven. She would be a child of God -- full of life -- which was far more important than being a dead wife.
