Thirty-Second Sunday of Ordinary Time, C November 10, 2019
Fr. Albert St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette
Just what are we waiting for? Christians are always talking about heaven… wanting to go there after death, but what does that mean, exactly? Much we don’t know, but there is actually a good bit that we do. Sadly, there are a lot of bad ideas about heaven out there and getting the wrong idea could really mess up your chances of getting there.
So, what are we waiting for when we die? In short, we are waiting for the resurrection from the dead. The Sadducees don’t believe in this resurrection, so they try to trick Jesus but end up looking foolish when he, as usual, has the perfect response to their question. Before we get to that, however, we need to deal with death.
Human beings are, by definition, made of a soul-body unity. You’re not a soul trapped in a body and you’re not just some smart ape. You are a body-soul unity, meaning you have a connection to both the physical and spiritual worlds at the same time. Death is simply what happens when the soul is separated from the body. Since human beings are meant to be both body and soul, death is actually quite unnatural, it puts us in a state we’re not meant to be. Without a body, we are incomplete. That’s why we naturally protect our bodies. That’s why the king in the first reading tortures the seven brothers – he figures their desire to protect their bodies will compel them to give in to his commands.
But they know something he doesn’t. The Jewish brothers all know that, even though he can destroy their bodies in this life, God will give them new, better bodies in the next life. It’s not that they want to escape their bodies, but that they genuinely trust God to give them new ones.
This leads us to what is probably the most common error about death. Human beings do not become angels when they die. Angels are spiritual creatures without a body. Their minds work in a totally different way; Even the way they experience time is different. God uses angels in his plan in a different way than human beings. They are not the same thing. In fact, after Jesus, being an angel would make you less, not more. God became man, he did not become an angel. Angels will never have a real body. Human beings do have bodies and they will get them back at the end of time. Notice that Jesus says we will be like the angels, not the same, not identical, but similar. We will be similar in having eternal life and not getting married, but we do not become angels.
The other common mistake is that our souls get new bodies in the sense of reincarnation – that we get another earthly body and start this life all over again. How terrible that would be! Why would anyone want to go through this life again and be stuck with yet another broken, unreliable body that will eventually die? No, your soul belongs with your body. It cannot be transferred to someone else’s. Reincarnation is completely incompatible with Christianity. Every person, body and soul together, is unique and unrepeatable. Every person journeys through this broken world only once. They will return from the dead with their own body, never someone else’s. And if they have followed God, that body will be perfect, complete, and even better than it was on earth.
The Jewish brothers get all this and look forward to getting their bodies back. But if we have bodies, does that mean we get married and, you know, do what married people do? What about someone who has had multiple spouses? This is the tricky question of the Sadducees. But the trick rests on a complete misunderstanding. Heaven is like earth but not like earth. Our resurrected bodies are like our earthly bodies but not like them at the same time. We will be men and women, but there will be no more marriage – and therefore no more marital act.
Those who have had wonderful marriages might recoil at such an idea – how can there be eternal happiness without marriage? It’s not because heaven is less than earth, but that it is more. Marriage and the things that go with it are a temporary reality, shadows of something much deeper, more dynamic, passionate, and powerful. Marriage is a sign of God’s love for humanity. In heaven, we will directly experience God’s love and through God’s love our love for all other human beings. Will you know your spouse in heaven? I don’t see why not. But you will not be married to them because you will be united to God and all humanity in a new and deeper way.
So, what are these resurrected bodies like? Our bodies will be immortal, incapable of disease or death, and they will also be completely obedient to us; No more struggling to walk or move. After rising, Jesus could apparently pass through locked doors, so we will move in a different way. He could also eat, but he didn’t need to eat. So, we might have food, we might not. But we’ll never starve or suffer hunger.
There’s plenty of reasons to look forward to this body, reasons that it’s far better than becoming an angel or being reincarnated. Yet, we can’t just assume we all end up there. In the first reading, the fourth brother says something very frightening to the king, “for you, there will be no resurrection to life.” Jesus tells us in John’s gospel that everyone will rise from the dead and that some will go to eternal life, but that some will go to condemnation.
That’s right, you get your body back even in hell. It won’t be the awesome glorified version Jesus has, but one stuck in the torments of sin and condemnation forever. You will rise from the dead, but the quality of that resurrection depends one what you do before you die. So use your earthly body well! There are many things our bodies let us do on this earth, but none of them are worth losing out on the glorified body of heaven. Forget about pleasure. Pursue authentic love, love as service, sacrifice, and gift. Use your body to receive the sacraments worthily. Use your body to bring others to Christ. Use your body to serve those in need. Even your bodily illness, pain, and suffering – when united to Jesus on the Cross – can serve the only thing the body is meant for: Love. Use your broken, imperfect body for love now and, one day, that love will transform your body to be greater and more perfect than you’ve ever imagined.