In 1884, Edwin Abbott published a book called Flatland, a romance of many dimensions.
In this story, the protagonist, a square, lived in a two-dimensional world, but then dreams
of visiting a one-dimensional world, and then is visited by a three-dimensional sphere
who comes to help him see the possibility of a world with three dimensions.
In his dialogue with the sphere, as he begins to grasp this, he asks a series of questions.
If you're not looking, I'm going to hold up a piece of paper to try to show you what he's
asking when he asks us.
In one dimension, does not a moving point produce a line with two terminal points?
Here's your line.
In two dimensions, does not a moving line, so this line is moving towards me, create,
produce a square, or a rectangle in this case, with four terminal points?
One, two, three, four.
Now we're in two dimensions.
Okay?
Now when you take this and you move it through space like this, in three dimensions does not
a moving square produce a blessed being, a cube with eight terminal points.
Can't fold this into a cube, but imagine six sides just like a dice, right?
So it's got eight points all the way around, four in the bottom, four in the top.
And then he asks the question.
And that cube in four dimensions shall not a moving cube that result in a still more divine
organization with 16 terminal points.
Okay, are you lost yet?
Yeah.
Because we just transcended our three-dimensional world with that last question, didn't we?
It's hard to imagine a four-dimensional world, and yet the whole purpose of his book.
Well, his book had multiple purposes.
One was a critique of Victorian society, and particularly the roles of gender in Victorian
society.
Secondly, it had a great profound mathematical basis.
It's still being used today that that picture of all you have to do is keep increasing the
space, and you get more dimensions.
But he also was making a theological point.
Could it be that the world is more than it seems?
Could it be that the world that we live in is more than nearly subject to the laws of nature?
Could it be that if a transcendent and supernatural God interacts with our three-dimensional natural
world, could it be that we would find surprising things that challenge and stretch our minds beyond
what we would expect or imagine?
C.S. Lewis was a big fan of Flatland.
He actually quotes it multiple times in his writings in Miracles and in Mere Christianity.
When he talks about in Mere Christianity, the Trinity, he asks a similar set of questions.
That if the Christian God is depicted, we usually think of one person being one being.
And then God in the Bible is depicted as one God in three persons.
And we think, how could this be?
He says, well, imagine that fourth dimension, the Flatland.
Maybe we, because we are so stuck in our thinking of the world as we see it, maybe we can't imagine
what it would be like.
If a God who is transcendent and supernatural does exist, how does this redefine what our world
is like, how does this redefine how our understanding of him could change?
Well, friends, as we continue in our series in the book of Luke this morning, this idea will
inform how we understand what happens in the next part of Luke.
We're looking in Luke chapter 20.
If you want to turn there in your Bible, it's page 827 in the Pew Bibles.
We're continuing through this series in the book of Luke.
And just in case you're visiting or wondering, remember, in this part of Luke, Jesus, having
done his ministry in Galilee and having moved towards Jerusalem, has now arrived in Jerusalem
heading to the cross and to the resurrection.
In this context, there's severe conflict that's increasing with the religious leaders and authority
of the day, while the crowds continue to admire Jesus and his teaching.
And through these conflicts and through these interactions, Jesus is constantly clarifying
the nature of the kingdom of God and the nature of whom he is and pointing to himself
as the center of the establishment of that kingdom on this earth.
And this brings us to Luke chapter 20, starting in verse 27.
We're going to read 27 through 44.
Let's read this together.
There came to him some Sadducees, those that deny that there is a resurrection.
And they asked him a question, saying, Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother
dies, having a wife but no children, the man must take the widow and raise up offspring
for his brother.
Now there were seven brothers.
The first took a wife and died without children, and the second and the third took her.
And likewise, all seven left no children and died.
Afterwards, the woman also died.
In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be?
For the seven have her as a wife.
And Jesus said to them, The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage.
But those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the
dead neither marry nor are given in marriage.
For they cannot die anymore because they are equal to angels and are sons of God being sons
of the resurrection.
But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed in the passage about the bush, where he calls
the Lord, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.
Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all live to him.
And some of the scribes answered, Teacher, you have spoken well, for they no longer dared to
ask him any questions.
But he said to them, How can they say that the Christ is David's son?
For David himself says in the book of Psalms, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies your footstool.
And David thus calls him Lord.
So how is he his son?
Let's pray.
Lord, we are thankful this morning to you for your word.
And we are thankful for the fact that we are not left to grasp after you or to imagine
you on our own.
But God, you have revealed yourself.
You've revealed yourself in the person of Jesus.
And you have revealed yourself through this book, the Bible, so that we might know who you are.
And God, I pray this morning you help give us clarity and greater understanding of who you are this morning.
And Lord, that as we understand you more, that our hearts will be turned towards you.
Lord, in faith, in devotion, in love, in loyalty, in service.
Lord, we pray these things in Jesus' name.
Amen.
So how does Jesus in these two interactions stretch our understanding of his kingdom and of himself?
Well, in the first section he answers a question from his opponents, and then that's in verses 27 through 40,
and then in 41 through 44, he asks a question of his own.
We're going to look at exactly what he's doing.
We'll look at the first interaction first, and then the second one.
So in the first one, in verses 27 through 40, we see that Jesus is redefining our understanding
about relationships in eternity.
Who are the Sadducees?
This is the one time in the book of Luke that the Sadducees show up,
and it's important, and I want to give you just a brief picture of the political layout,
the political spiritual layout of Jerusalem in the first century.
The Jewish people were ruled by a group called the Sanhedrin,
which is about 70 people who were his elders who oversaw, politically and religiously,
the people of Israel in that day.
They included, they were made up of chief priests and scribes and teachers of the law,
and there was an extended community about them that you see referred to over and over again in the book of Luke.
Now, among this structure then, there were two parties, kind of like we have today.
On one hand, there were the Pharisees.
The Pharisees were more theologically progressive.
That is, they had a continually growing tradition of truths in their understanding of the Old Testament,
but they were politically conservative and resistant to Roman rule and to compromise.
The other party were the Sadducees, and the Sadducees actually were probably the greater party in terms of numbers.
They had probably more people on the Sanhedrin, but they were more theologically conservative.
They held up only the first five books of the Bible, the Torah, as the authoritative word of God,
so they didn't believe in things like angels, or demons, or the afterlife, or judgment.
And most importantly, as is seen here and in other places like Acts 23,
they did not believe in resurrection.
They did not believe that people would be resurrected from the dead at all.
They thought that this is the life you lived, and then you died.
And it actually made them politically pragmatists,
so they were more collaborators with the Roman rulers than opponents.
But it's in this context, then, that they come to Jesus after a series of other questions,
probably from more on the Pharisee side.
Now the Sadducees weigh in with their question,
and it looks like they're trying to co-opt him.
Sort of say, hey, don't you agree with us?
And the question they ask is based on...
It feels pretty obscure, doesn't it?
It's based on a law in Deuteronomy 25, where it says, in verses 5 and 6,
It says,
The family lineage, because that was connected with wealth and land and all sorts of important things in the society.
This is the kind of thing you see in Genesis 38,
where Tamar was wedded to one of Judah's sons,
and then two others, and they died,
and their failure to fulfill this...
It's also behind the story of Ruth,
and how Boaz interacts with Ruth in chapter 4,
how he has to properly navigate the laws of love and marriage.
But the point of their question is,
if this is what God instructs us about how marriage works,
isn't it ridiculous to think that there could be a resurrection?
Because if there were a resurrection,
and we were just raised back to life,
you've got one woman,
and seven brothers,
and they're all married?
That's the most ludicrous thing I've ever heard.
That's what they would have thought of.
That's what they would have imagined.
And that's the challenge.
And so they're using the law as an example of,
if this law is real,
then there's no way the resurrection can be true.
And Jesus' response
challenges and expands their understanding
of human relationships in life to come,
and what eternity could look like.
So first, he affirms,
like, yeah, that would be weird.
If people were given in marriage,
like, one marriage is still affirmed,
one man, one woman.
We don't do those things.
So yes, that would be weird.
If in this age, that was all we had,
and if the age become just like this one,
that's exactly what it would look like.
But then he goes on.
You see this in verse 35.
But to those who are considered worthy
of attaining to the age to come,
that is, those who are God's people
who are going to be with Him forever,
it does not work that way.
They are not given in marriage,
nor do they take wives for themselves,
because there's no more marriage.
in eternity.
Not the way it is here.
For a number of reasons.
One is because when you enter into eternity,
you're going to live forever.
One of the great purposes of marriage
is procreation,
and the continuation of the human race.
That will no longer be necessary
when nobody ever dies.
So there will be no more need
for that aspect of marriage.
But even more importantly,
your relationships will change.
Often,
in this age,
our marital relationships,
our family relationships,
become the most important thing about us.
And what Jesus says here is,
the most important thing,
is that you are going to be called
the Son of God,
and the Son of Resurrection.
And here,
just in case you're wondering
why he uses Son language,
Son is a role,
not a gendered word.
Here,
it's a matter of,
you are fully receiving
the inheritance
of the one
who is bestowing it upon you.
Right?
So,
so what he's saying is,
what you think right now
is so important
in this marital relationship
is going to become
inconsequential,
because you are now
going to be in a new family.
You are going to be
in the family of God.
And you will be accepted
as a son or as a daughter
with full standing,
with full inheritance,
with full rights,
and with an eternal relationship
with God himself.
And in fact,
in other parts of Scripture,
that is pictured
of the marriage
between God and his people.
This beautiful,
eternal relationship
of mutual love.
God's love for us,
his people,
and our responding love
to him
as our Lord,
as our King,
as our Savior.
This is the picture
that Jesus brings back
to them.
And he says,
you don't understand.
You're thinking
that the next stage
is going to be
just like this one.
You're thinking
three-dimensionally.
Let me expand your brains.
And just in case
you think I'm making this up,
he continues on
in verse 37
and following.
Do you see
what he says here?
He says,
look,
this even comes
from the very place
where your authority
comes from,
the Torah,
the first five books
of the Bible.
Do you remember
God when he appeared
to Moses
at the burning bush?
Do you know that story?
What did he say?
I am the God
of Abraham,
Isaac,
and Jacob.
They are not
dead people.
It doesn't say
I was the God
of Abraham,
and Isaac,
and Jacob
when they were alive
and now they're dead
and that doesn't matter
anymore.
I am the God
of Abraham,
and Isaac,
and Jacob
today.
God is the God
of the living,
not the dead.
Therefore,
Abraham,
Isaac,
and Jacob
are in some way
alive today.
And that's why
we believe
in the resurrection.
And that's why
they too
are part
of this grand family
that I am
portraying to you
as going to be
the reality
of our existence
in the age
to come
for all who
are in
God's family.
For all who
are connected
to God forever,
they will live
with Him
forever.
And what a
great joy
it is.
Now,
these may not
be the questions
that are burning
in your mind.
Does the resurrection
really be proved
by those things?
Leveret marriage
probably hasn't
crossed your mind
this week.
I would imagine.
But these were
the questions
that the Sadducee
brought to Him
saying,
hey,
we want you
to be on our side
and we're going
to try it.
We're going to
throw you our
best curveball
to see if you
can play ball
with us
or if you'll
agree with us
because you've
either denied
the resurrection
and you agree
with us
or you've
got to
solve this
problem.
And Jesus
explodes their
world view
and stretches
their mind
and their
imagination
to think of
the kingdom
of God
as bigger
than they'd
imagined
and to think
of being a part
of the people
of God
as greater
than they could
ever hope.
And that's
how the people
respond.
Do you see
at the end
of that section
verse 39
some of the
scribes,
interestingly
not the
Sadducees,
it's hard to
say where the
scribes fit in,
but some say
good answer Jesus,
alright,
we're convinced.
Just like we've
seen before.
People come to
Him,
they ask Him
hard questions.
And when He
gives them an
answer based
in the truth
of the
scriptures,
in the truth
of reality,
they shut
their mouths
before Him.
The next
stage is
going to be
greater and
more different
than you
imagine.
So what does
this mean for
us?
Well,
I can preach
lots of great
sermons now
on how to do
this.
I'm going to
try to do
this quickly.
First of all,
marriage is
placed in
its proper
context.
Because marriage
is a created
order, it is
meant to be
a part of
this age, it
is a good
and a blessing
that God
has given
us, but it
is not
ultimate.
The joy of
sex that was
given to us
to have in
marriage is
not the
ultimate joy
for human
existence.
And so
this challenges
perhaps our
idolatry of
marriage in
some circles.
It challenges
us to not
love marriage
more than
God does or
to value it
in a way that
God does not
value it.
It does help
us understand
that the
purpose of
marriage is to
point towards
this greater
reality of
God and His
people for
eternity.
And the
joy for us
means that
the joy of
that means
that that's
for all who
have placed
their faith,
for all who
are in
God's people.
They get to
enjoy that for
eternity.
And this
affirms those
who are single,
that they are
not second
class, that
they have not
missed out.
No, instead
they are being
prepared in a
different way for
the glory that
we will all
share in, in
eternity.
as God's
people together.
And so we
can be single,
and we can be
celibate, and
we can be fully
human now, and
full of hope for
eternity.
And we can live
together as a
community of
married and
single people
together, pursuing
after God,
without feeling
threatened, or
insecure, or
cast, because of
being one or
the other.
So first, it
places marriage in
its greater
context.
And of course,
this is based in
a deeper thing
that this passage
is pointing to,
and that is our
human identity is
most importantly
grounded in how
we are related
to God.
people.
What Jesus says
here is being a
son of God, a
son of the
resurrection, one
of God's people, is
the most important
thing about us.
And we will all
carry identities,
identities of our
gender, of our
family, of our
race, of our
nationality.
We will all carry
identities that are
related to roles.
We're a volunteer,
we're in our
workplaces, in our
family.
We will all have
roles.
But all of these
secondary identities
are meant to find
their fulfillment and
their glory and
their goodness under
the most important
question, which is,
how are you related
to God?
God.
And this, then, makes
us consider not only
how we think about
ourselves, but how
we think about one
another as well,
isn't it?
You're probably
familiar with this
quote from The Way
of Glory, C.S.
Lewis, but it's
worth reading again
in its fullness to
listen, to think
about how this
picture of humanity
will change how we
live.
C.S.
Lewis writes this,
It is a serious
thing to live in a
society of possible
gods and goddesses,
to remember that the
dullest and most
uninteresting person
you can talk to may
one day be a creature
which, if you saw it
now, you would be
strongly tempted to
worship, or else a
horror and corruption
such as the now me,
if at all, only in a
nightmare.
All day long we are,
in some degree,
helping each other
to one or other
of these destinations.
It is in light of
these overwhelming
possibilities, it is
with the awe and
the circumspection
proper to them,
that we should conduct
all our dealings with
one another, all
friendships, all
loves, all play, all
politics.
There are no ordinary
people.
You have never talked
to a mere mortal.
Nations, cultures, arts,
civilizations, these are
mortal, and their life is
to ours as the life of a
gnat.
But it is to immortals.
But it is immortals whom
we joke with, work with,
marry, snub, and exploit.
Immortal horrors are
everlasting splendors.
So as Jesus expands the
sacrifice's view, and our
view, of what it means to
be human in this world,
C.S. Lewis says it ought to
affect how we interact
every day with each person.
Are we helping them to know
God and to be one of God's
children?
Or are we pushing them
away?
Or denying God, being
silent about Him in a way
that will help them continue
to live apart from Him?
Friends, this is the mission
in the church, that we would
display the glory of God so
that people would come to
know the greatness of His
love, the depth of His
mercy and grace to us in
Christ, the fearsomeness of
the judgment upon our sin,
and the greatness of the
salvation that we have in
Christ.
At the very center of it all
is the question of the
resurrection of the dead.
Because here's the thing,
if Jesus did not rise from
the dead, then we would
probably make it all up.
And we're just imagining
another world.
But if Jesus did rise from
the dead, and friends,
there is good reason to
believe that.
There's good reason from
history, there's good reason
in the Bible, if this is a
question that you are
wrestling with, you need to
go downstairs after the
service to the bookstall and
find someone who can help you
look through those books and
find something that's going to
be helpful particularly for you
to the questions that you
have.
Recognize that if Jesus
rose from the dead, then
this is one of the most
important questions that we
could be asking our friends.
Do you know the one who was
raised from the dead?
What do you think about that
crying?
So Jesus answers the
Sadducees.
He in fact silences them as
he expands their worldview and
blows up some of their primary
theological commitments.
And it seems like at this point
the conversations are over.
Nobody has any more questions
for them, for him.
But Jesus turns the table and
he has a question for them.
And this is what we see in
verses 41 through 44.
And he said to them, and it's
not sure who the them is, it
might be the scribes, it might
be the Sadducees, it probably
is just the crowd that includes
a little bit of both.
And he asked them a question.
How can your understanding of
King David and of the Messiah
be true?
Because David in the Psalms,
in Psalm 110,
says the Lord, that is the God
who reigns on high, Yahweh,
Jehovah, the Lord said to my
Lord, the Messiah,
Adonai, sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies
your footstool.
Why is this a challenging
question?
Well, because in the culture
of the day, there was an
understanding that you would
never be greater than the
Father.
The Jewish people were waiting
for a Messiah.
They were waiting for someone
to come and restore the throne
of David, to restore the
kingdom of Israel under David's
rule, to fulfill the promises
of the 2nd Samuel 7, 12.
I said, when your days are
fulfilled and you lie down to
the Father, I will raise up
for you an offspring after
you, who shall come from your
own body, and I will establish
his kingdom, and he shall
build my house for my name,
and I will establish the
throne of his kingdom forever.
And they're looking for the
ones who are going to do
that.
But the cultural assumption
is that that son of David
would never be greater than
David.
He would simply be laying down
the greatness of David.
That the restoration of the
kingdom of David wouldn't be
greater than what David had.
It would simply be returning
to what had been now
and the lost.
And it's important to
understand that, because
otherwise the question
doesn't make sense, does it?
Because what Jesus is saying
is David didn't just see
this son as someone who
would fulfill what he is
for.
But he called him my Lord.
And how can a son be revered
by a father as the Lord?
This does not make sense
to them.
But I think when you
jump to Facebook, it's
David.
And Jesus doesn't spell it
out.
We only get three verses.
And the last verse that Jesus
leads us with is, how is he
his son also?
How can it be possible that
the Messiah can be both
the Lord and the Son of the
great King David?
You're expecting a Messiah
who's going to be like
David, who's going to be
another human king who's
going to come and establish
a human kingdom.
And everyone knew that Jesus
was the son of David already.
You go back to the beginning
of Luke.
You're reading through the
story of Luke.
You go back to the very
beginning, right?
And in Luke 1.27, we
understand that Joseph is in
the house of David.
And when the angel appears
to Mary and says that this
one, your child, will sit on
the throne of David.
So from the very beginning
of this story, this is the
direction that it's going.
The expectation of the
Messiah is that it will be
another one like David.
And he comes, and he teaches
with authority, and he heals.
And people think, yes, this is
it.
Jesus himself, in the parable
of the tenants two weeks ago,
said, I'm the son of the
landowner.
But in that parable, the landowner
wasn't just the king, was he?
He was God, the owner of all
things.
And when Jesus poses this
question to the people, what he's
really saying is, who do you
think I really am?
Because the Messiah is greater and
more different and more glorious
than you could imagine.
And this is what Luke has been
writing his whole gospel to tell
us.
Is that this Jesus is, yes, the son
of David.
Yes, the one who will sit on the
throne.
Yes, he is a human who walks the
earth to identify with us and to be
our brother as a human being.
But he is more than that.
He is also the divine, incarnate
son of God.
The second person of the Trinity
who took on human flesh.
And the Messiah is not simply
another great human ruler.
But it is the invasion of God
into this world in a unique one
time.
So that he might be the savior
that we really need.
Because he's heading not for
simply the restoration of a
kingdom and a throne.
But he's heading for the cross
and the resurrection.
And as he heads for the cross,
in his humanity he's able to
identify with us as human beings.
And in his divinity he's able to
identify with us in his sinlessness.
So that he might be the perfect
savior who could die in our place.
And yet he didn't stay dead,
but he rose from the dead.
Showing his power over sin and
death.
And establishing himself as a
savior who will live forever.
Who is the God of the living.
And will bring all who are in him
along with him.
Into this glorious future hope.
And the sacroses and the Pharisees
and the chief priests and the
scribes.
All of whom were in different ways
clinging to their earthly power
and their earthly position.
And their hopes for this life.
Jesus comes and he explodes their
hopes and their visions and their
dreams.
Says there's something greater.
Something greater that I have come
forward.
Something greater that I am.
So that I might do more than you can
ever ask or imagine.
In the resurrection we see all of it
coming together.
Pointing us to a great God who
examines us to re-examine our lives.
And to respond to this God man died
and resurrected for us.
So we see that when Paul goes into
the Areopagus in Athens and preaches
a sermon about an unknown God.
As he comes to the end of it.
He says.
Being then God's offspring.
We ought not to think that the divine
being is like gold or silver or stone.
Or merely human.
An image formed by the art and
imagination of man.
The times of ignorance God
overlooked.
But now he commands all people
everywhere to repent.
Because he has fixed the day
on which he will judge the world
in righteousness by a man
whom he has appointed.
And of this he has given assurance
to all by raising him from the dead.
This is the incredible thing.
Jesus looks at these people and says
who do you say I am?
And the whole rest of the Gospel of Luke
and the whole Christian message
is saying Jesus is the Savior
who because he has been raised from the dead
calls all people
to respond to him.
The question of
are you in Christ or not
is the most important question
that you can ever ask for yourself.
And it is the most important question
for you to ask
as you are loving your neighbor
and loving this world.
How then do we respond to this?
Well there are two things.
One is that
we must admit to ourselves
that like in flat land
we are like A square
who lives in a two-dimensional world
trying to understand
a three-dimensional God.
We must confess our need
to learn from God
about who he is
and what his kingdom is like
and not assume
that it is like the world
that we live in.
Friends, there is only one way
that we know how to do this
and it's here.
If you're here this morning
and you're wondering
why in the world
are we talking about resurrection?
It's the most ridiculous thing
in the world.
The challenge is
to read these accounts.
Read what the gospels say.
Start here
to understand who God is
and who Jesus is.
For those of you
who have been walking with Jesus
and knowing him
for years and years and years.
Keep reading this
because we so often forget
and we so easily
fall back into
our two-dimensional thinking
about who God is
and what he's up to
in this world.
So I know it's really simple
but read your Bible
because it's how we understand
God.
It's how he has made himself
known
to us.
But more than that
it's to not only understand him
but it is to know him.
It is to respond
to Jesus
in worship
and adoration.
It is to make him
the most important thing
in our lives.
not a slice
of what we do
not an activity
that we fit
into our schedule
but he is
the center
the gravitational
center
of our lives
because he is
this great God
and great Savior.
and I became
Christian
back in high school
it was largely
because I had
a couple of friends
and you know
they were
a worldly Christian
and I was
not very impressed
I thought it was
kind of silly
and I mocked them
for their faith
but you know
I wanted
the God
in the center
of their lives
and I didn't know
I saw
that they had
a security
and a courage
a love
and a commitment
to truth
in ways
that I could not
understand
and as I got
to know them
more I saw
that all of that
came from the
God who they
trusted
the God who
they committed
themselves to
the God
whose love
they had
experienced
and were
now showing
the evil
friends I pray
that we might
be
those kinds
of real
Christians
where the
reality of
this
supernatural
transcendent
God
come to
earth
to be our
Savior
is so real
for us
that as we
as C.S.
was said
work and
play
snub and
marry
exploit
and interact
rough shoulders
with
that we
might be
those people
that we
might know
God in this
way
that we
might help
others to know
them as well
let's pray
Lord as we
talk about
these things
we feel
like we
are just
touching
on
eternity
Lord to
think of
these things
in the same
way that
Jesus pointed
us to
a greater
reality
about
your kingdom
and about
who you
are
God I
pray
I pray
that you
would continue
by your
spirit to
help us
to understand
and to
taste and
see and to
know more
of this
reality of
your kingdom
Lord that
we might
live lives
that have
increased
reality in
them
the reality
of you
and who
you are
the reality
of your work
in the world
the reality
of eternity
and the way
that changes
how we
live
Lord we
pray these
things in
Jesus name
Amen
Well it's fun to
preach this
passage because
we're having
baptism this
morning