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Commentary on the Gospel – November 22, 2025
They Are Like Angels
The Sadducees did not usually interact much with Jesus. They were too important, too distant from the people, too occupied with preserving their privileged social status at all costs. Their sin was not hypocrisy, like that of the Pharisees, but cynicism—a cynicism that openly mocks the good, challenges it, and looks upon it with contempt. When they approach Jesus, they pose a legal question backed by the authority of Moses and do so in such a way that the conclusion appears ridiculous. That is precisely their aim: to make belief in the resurrection look foolish. The law of levirate marriage (cf. Dt 25:5–6) aimed to ensure the deceased brother’s lineage (and the transmission of his inheritance), which in the time of Moses was the only acceptable way of surviving beyond death. The Sadducees’ technical scenario makes it perfectly clear that, for them, belief in the resurrection is absurd, exposed in the ridiculous picture they describe: a kind of male harem around a single woman—and one who, in their scenario, remains childless. For the Sadducees, “who deny the resurrection,” the only possible good is found exclusively in this world: wealth, social success, and power.
Jesus’ response, full of clarity and meaning, exposes the internal weakness of their cynical question. First, they are framing the issue incorrectly by projecting into eternal life the structures and institutions that make sense only in this passing world. “In this life,” Jesus says, “men and women marry”—and He could add, “they have children, they accumulate wealth, they leave inheritances.” All of this expresses the limitations of this earthly world, limitations that cannot be transferred into the eternal life to come. Eternal life is not simply life without end—it is full life, where everything that is truly good is preserved (saved) while the limitations that hinder fullness here are overcome. This is what Jesus means when He says: “they neither marry nor are given in marriage… they cannot die… they are like angels… they are children of God… they share in the resurrection”—that is, they share in the life of the Risen One, Jesus Christ, the Son of God. We cannot measure the world of the hereafter (which escapes any attempt at imagination) using the parameters of the here and now. On the contrary, we must measure our earthly life—our relationships, values, and behaviors—by the standards of the world above.
But how is this possible? The fact that the world to come cannot be imagined does not mean it cannot be understood in the light of faith. This is the meaning of the second part of Jesus’ response. He wisely relies on a text the Sadducees—who accepted only the Pentateuch—knew very well. In the episode of the burning bush (cf. Ex 3:1–14), God reveals Himself to Moses in the form of a fire that burns without consuming: God purifies like fire, but does not destroy; He is not a bearer of death, but of life.
Jesus does not mock, as the Sadducees do. Instead, He highlights with seriousness and precision the absurdity of believing in a God who condemns us to death and, at best, preserves us only as a fleeting memory—one that will not last long, for who remembers anyone beyond their grandparents? The only “eternal memory” that truly matters is remaining in the mind of God, in communion with Him. The God who remembers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob does not abandon them somewhere in the corner of history; rather, having created them and given them life, He rescues them from death. In silencing the Sadducees, Jesus strengthens our hope today. And we, called to be “like angels,” can already begin in this life to be messengers of good news, living a resurrected life through works of love.
Fraternally,