In the Gospel we see that everyone asks Jesus to come down from the Cross. They mock him, but this is also a way of excusing themselves from blame as if to say: it is not our fault that you are hanging on the Cross; it is solely your fault because if you really were the Son of God, the King of the Jews, you would not stay there but would save yourself by coming down from that infamous scaffold. 

Therefore, if you remain there it means that you are wrong and we are right. The tragedy that is played out beneath the Cross of Jesus is a universal tragedy; it concerns all people before God who reveals himself for what he is, namely, Love.

In the crucified Jesus the divinity is disfigured, stripped of all visible glory and yet is present and real. Faith alone can recognize it: the faith of Mary, who places in her heart too this last scene in the mosaic of her Son's life. She does not yet see the whole, but continues to trust in God, repeating once again with the same abandonment: “Behold, the handmaid of the Lord” (cf. Lk 1:38).

Then there is the faith of the Good Thief: a faith barely outlined but sufficient to assure him salvation: “Today you will be with me in Paradise” . This “with me” is crucial. Yes, it is this that saves him. Of course, the good thief is on the cross like Jesus, but above all he is on the Cross with Jesus. And, unlike the other evildoer and all those who taunt him, he does not ask Jesus to come done from the Cross nor to make him come down. Instead he says: “remember me when you come into your kingdom”. 

The Good Thief sees Jesus on the Cross, disfigured and unrecognizable and yet he entrusts himself to him as to a king, indeed as to the King. The good thief believes what was written on the tablet over Jesus' head: “The King of the Jews”. He believed and entrusted himself. For this reason he was already, immediately, in the “today” of God, in Paradise, because Paradise is this: being with Jesus, being with God.

[Pope Benedict, homily at the Consistory, 21 November 2010]

The text of the Gospel of Saint Luke, now proclaimed, brings us back to the highly dramatic scene that takes place in “the place called Calvary” (Lk 23:33) and presents us with three groups of people gathered around the crucified Jesus, discussing his “figure” and his “end” in various ways. Who, in reality, is the one who is crucified there? While the common and anonymous people remain rather uncertain and limit themselves to watching, "the leaders, on the other hand, mocked him, saying, 'He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, his chosen one. As we can see, their weapon is negative and destructive irony. But even the soldiers - the second group - mocked him and, almost in a tone of provocation and challenge, said to him, 'If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself', perhaps taking their cue from the very words of the inscription they saw above his head. Then there were the two criminals who disagreed with each other in judging their fellow sufferer: while one blasphemed him, repeating the contemptuous expressions of the soldiers and leaders, the other openly declared that Jesus "had done nothing wrong" and, turning to him, implored him: "Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom" .

This is how, at the climax of the crucifixion, just as the life of the prophet of Nazareth is about to be taken, we can gather, even in the midst of discussions and contradictions, these arcane allusions to the king and the kingdom.

2. This scene is well known to you, dear brothers and sisters, and needs no further comment. But how appropriate and significant it is, and, I would say, how right and necessary it is that today's feast of Christ the King should be set against the backdrop of Calvary. We can say without hesitation that the kingship of Christ, which we celebrate and meditate on today, must always be referred to the event that took place on that hill and be understood in the saving mystery wrought there by Christ: I am referring to the event and mystery of the redemption of man. Christ Jesus, we must note, affirms himself as king at the very moment when, amid the pains and torments of the cross, amid the misunderstandings and blasphemies of those present, he agonises and dies. Truly, his is a singular kingship, such that only the eye of faith can recognise it: 'Regnavit a ligno Deus'!

3. The kingship of Christ, which springs from his death on Calvary and culminates in the inseparable event of the resurrection, calls us back to the centrality that belongs to him by reason of what he is and what he has done. Word of God and Son of God, first and foremost, "through whom - as we will shortly repeat in the "creed" - all things were created", he has an intrinsic, essential and inalienable primacy in the order of creation, in relation to which he is the supreme exemplary cause. And after 'the Word became flesh and dwelt among us' (Jn 1:14), also as man and son of man, he attained a second title in the order of redemption, through obedience to the Father's plan, through the suffering of death and the consequent triumph of the resurrection.

With this twofold primacy converging in him, we therefore have not only the right and duty, but also the satisfaction and honour of confessing his exalted lordship over things and men, which can be called kingship in a term that is certainly neither inappropriate nor metaphorical. "He humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and given him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord" (Phil 2:8-11).

This is the name of which the apostle speaks: it is the name of Lord, and it designates the incomparable dignity that belongs to him alone and places him alone—as I wrote at the beginning of my first encyclical—at the centre, indeed at the summit of the cosmos and of history. “Ave Dominus noster! Ave rex noster”!

4. But if we wish to consider, in addition to the titles and reasons, the nature and scope of the kingship of Christ our Lord, we cannot fail to refer to that power which he himself, on the verge of leaving this earth, defined as total and universal, placing it at the basis of the mission entrusted to the apostles: “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you" (Mt 28:18-20). These words not only explicitly claim sovereign authority, but also indicate, in the very act of sharing it with the apostles, its ramification into distinct, albeit coordinated, spiritual functions. If, in fact, the risen Christ tells his disciples to go and reminds them of what he has already commanded, if he gives them the task of both teaching and baptising, this is explained by the fact that he himself, precisely by virtue of the supreme power that belongs to him, possesses these rights in full and is empowered to exercise these functions as king, teacher and priest.

There is certainly no need to ask which of these three titles comes first, because, in the general context of the salvific mission that Christ received from the Father, each of them corresponds to equally necessary and important functions. However, in order to remain faithful to the content of today's liturgy, it is appropriate to insist on the royal function and to focus our gaze, enlightened by faith, on the figure of Christ as king and lord.

In this regard, the exclusion of any reference of a political or temporal nature seems obvious.

To Pilate's formal question, "Are you the king of the Jews?" (Jn 18:33), Jesus explicitly replies that his kingdom is not of this world and, in response to the Roman procurator's insistence, he affirms, "You say that I am a king," adding immediately afterwards: "For this I came into the world, to bear witness to the truth" (Jn 18:37). In this way, he declares the exact dimension of his kingship and the sphere in which it is exercised: it is the spiritual dimension that includes, first and foremost, the truth to be proclaimed and served. His kingdom, even though it begins here on earth, has nothing earthly about it and transcends all human limitations, reaching towards its fulfilment beyond time, in the infinity of eternity.

5. It is to this kingdom that Christ the Lord has called us, giving us the gift of a vocation that is a participation in those powers of his that I have already mentioned. We are all at the service of the kingdom and, at the same time, by virtue of our baptismal consecration, we are invested with a dignity and a royal, priestly and prophetic office, so that we may effectively collaborate in its growth and spread. This theme, on which the Second Vatican Council so providentially insisted in its constitution on the Church and in its decree on the apostolate of the laity (cf. Lumen Gentium, 31-36; Apostolicam Actuositatem, 2-3), is certainly familiar to you, dear brothers and sisters and children of the diocese of Rome who are listening to me. But today, on the feast of Christ the King, I wish to recall it and strongly recommend it to your attention and sensitivity.

You have come to this sacred assembly as representatives and leaders of the Roman laity, who are most directly involved in apostolic action. Who better than you, given the duty of exemplarity that falls upon Christians in the city, is called upon to reflect on how to conceive and carry out such work on such a significant occasion? It is truly a service to the kingdom, and this is precisely why I have summoned you today to the Vatican Basilica, to encourage your hearts to render ever vigilant, concrete and generous service to the kingdom of Christ.

I know that, in view of the new pastoral year, you are studying the theme of 'community and communion', and you have based your reflections on the well-known words addressed by the Apostle John to the first baptised, which can be considered as the dynamic programme of every Christian community: 'What we have seen with our eyes, what we have contemplated and what our hands have touched, namely the Word of life... we proclaim to you too, so that you may be in communion with us' (1 Jn 1:1, 3).

Here, dear friends, is your plan for life and work: you, believers and Christians, lay people and committed priests, gathering the testimony of the apostles, have already seen Christ the Redeemer and King, you have encountered him in the reality of his human and divine, historical and transcendent presence, you have entered into communication with him, with his grace, with the truth and salvation he brings, and now, on the basis of this powerful experience, you intend to proclaim him to the city of Rome, to the people, families and communities who live there. This is a great task, a high honour, an ineffable gift: to serve Christ the King and to devote time, effort, intelligence and fervour to making him known, loved and followed, in the certainty that only in Christ - the way, the truth and the life (Jn 14:6) - society and individuals can find the true meaning of existence, the code of authentic values, the right moral line, the necessary strength in adversity, and light and hope regarding meta-historical realities. If your dignity is great and your mission magnificent, always be ready and joyful in serving Christ the King in every place, at every moment, in every environment.

I am well aware of the serious difficulties that exist in modern society, particularly in populous and frenetic cities such as Rome today. Despite certain complicated and sometimes hostile situations, I urge you never to lose heart. Take courage! Work zealously throughout the diocese and in individual parishes and communities, bringing everywhere the enthusiasm of your faith and your love for punctual and faithful service to Christ the Lord. So be it.

[Pope John Paul II, homily, 23 November 1980]

On this last Sunday of the liturgical year, we join our voices to that of the criminal crucified beside Jesus, who acknowledged and acclaimed him a king. Amid cries of ridicule and humiliation, at the least triumphal and glorious moment possible, that thief was able to speak up and make his profession of faith. His were the last words Jesus heard, and Jesus’ own words in reply were the last he spoke before abandoning himself to the Father: “Truly I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise” (Lk 23:43). 

The chequered history of the thief seems, in an instant, to take on new meaning: he was meant to be there to accompany the Lord’s suffering. And that moment does nothing more than confirm the entire meaning of Jesus’ life: always and everywhere to offer salvation. The attitude of the good thief makes the horror and injustice of Calvary – where helplessness and incomprehension are met with jeers and mockery from those indifferent to the death of an innocent man – become a message of hope for all humanity. “Save yourself!” The shouts of scornful derision addressed to the innocent victim of suffering will not be the last word; rather, they will awaken a response from those who let their hearts be touched, who choose compassion as the authentic way to shape history. 

Today, in this place, we want to renew our faith and our commitment. We know too well the history of our failures, sins and limitations, even as the good thief did, but we do not want them to be what determines or defines our present and future. We know how readily all of us can take the easy route of shouting out: “Save yourself!” and choose not to think about our responsibility to alleviate the suffering of innocent people all around us. This land has experienced, as few countries have, the destructive power of which we humans are capable. Like the good thief, we want to speak up and profess our faith, to defend and assist the Lord, the innocent man of sorrows. We want to accompany him in his ordeal, to stand by him in his isolation and abandonment, and to hear once more that salvation is the word the Father desires to speak to all: “Today you will be with me in Paradise”.

Saint Paul Miki and his companions gave their lives in courageous witness to that salvation and certainty, along with the hundreds of martyrs whose witness is a distinguished element of your spiritual heritage. We want to follow in their path, to walk in their footsteps and to profess courageously that the love poured out in sacrifice for us by Christ crucified is capable of overcoming all manner of hatred, selfishness, mockery and evasion. It is capable of defeating all those forms of facile pessimism or comfortable indolence that paralyze good actions and decisions. As the Second Vatican Council reminds us, they are sadly mistaken who believe that, because we have here no lasting city and keep our gaze fixed on the future, we can ignore our responsibility for the world in which we live. They fail to see that the very faith we profess obliges us to live and work in a way that points to the noble vocation to which we have been called (cf. Gaudium et Spes, 43). 

Our faith is in the God of the living. Christ is alive and at work in our midst, leading all of us to the fullness of life. He is alive and wants us to be alive; he is our hope (cf. Christus Vivit, 1). Each day we pray: Lord, may your kingdom come. With these words, we want our own lives and actions to become a hymn of praise. If, as missionary disciples, our mission is to be witnesses and heralds of things to come, we cannot become resigned in the face of evil in any of its forms. Rather, we are called to be a leaven of Christ’s Kingdom wherever we find ourselves: in the family, at work or in society at large. We are to be a little opening through which the Spirit continues to breathe hope among peoples. The kingdom of heaven is our common goal, a goal that cannot be only about tomorrow. We have to implore it and begin to experience it today, amid the indifference that so often surrounds and silences the sick and disabled, the elderly and the abandoned, refugees and immigrant workers. All of them are a living sacrament of Christ our King (cf. Mt25:31-46). For “if we have truly started out anew from the contemplation of Christ, we must learn to see him especially in the faces of those with whom he himself wished to be identified” (John Paul II, Novo Millennio Ineunte, 49). 

On that day at Calvary, many voices remained silent; others jeered. Only the thief’s voice rose to the defence of the innocent victim of suffering. His was a brave profession of faith. Each of us has the same possibility: we can choose to remain silent, to jeer or to prophesy. 

Dear brothers and sisters, Nagasaki bears in its soul a wound difficult to heal, a scar born of the incomprehensible suffering endured by so many innocent victims of wars past and those of the present, when a third World War is being waged piecemeal. Let us lift our voices here and pray together for all those who even now are suffering in their flesh from this sin that cries out to heaven. May more and more persons be like the good thief and choose not to remain silent and jeer, but bear prophetic witness instead to a kingdom of truth and justice, of holiness and grace, of love and peace (cf. Roman Missal, Preface of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe).

[Pope Francis, homily in Nagasaki, 24 November 2019]

(Lk 20:27-40)

The defeat of death is the cruel fate that has clouded the mind of all civilizations.

But if God creates us and calls incessantly to enter into dialogue, then what remains of us? Is the goal of all our turmoil a pit?

The Sadducees want to ridicule the doctrine of the resurrection dear to the Pharisees and - it seems - also to Jesus.

However, Master does not apply provisional categories of this world to dimensions that go beyond.

The ties also must be conceived in the relief of the divine reality.

Members of the priestly class did not believe in another life, and in the Torah it seemed to them that there was no note about the resurrection.

In short, they conceived the relationship with God in the dimension of life on earth.

In fact, the Pharisees believed in the raising of the dead in a very banal sense: a sort of improvement and sublimation of the (same) conditions of being natural.

For them, the existence of the afterlife was only an accentuated, ennobled and embellished extension of this form of our being.

Instead life «in the era, that» [v.35 Greek text] is not a strengthened existence, but an indescribable and new condition - as of direct communication. Comparable to the immediacy of love.

The body decays, gets sick and undergoes dissolution: it’s a natural cycle.

‘Resurrection of the flesh’ designates access to an intimate existence of pure Relationship, in our weakness and precariousness, assumed.

Evangelists use two terms to indicate the difference between these forms of life: (transliterating) Bìos and Zoe Aiònios [Life of the Eternal] which has nothing to do with the biological reality [v.36: «equal to angels»].

Life «in the era, that» is not an enhanced existence with respect to this mode of existence, but an indescribable and new condition - precisely, as of ‘direct communication’.

Comparable to the one-to-one of Friendship: a ‘being-with and for’ others; readily, everywhere.

Collimating with the way of existence of the Angels: they do not have a life transmitted by parents, but by God himself.

«About the bush...» - Jesus replies. He also silences the Sadducees by making them reflect; and He draws the foundation of the Resurrection (but as He understands it) precisely from Exodus.

Thus He shows that already in the Law there is a presentation of God incompatible with a destiny of humanity devoted to extermination.

The Father does not seek dialogue with the sons and then make them fall on the most beautiful.

Since creation, He takes pleasure in walking with man, and from the patriarchs he has been looking for empathy with us. His Love does not abandon.

In the archaic religious mentality the Most High was named after the region or the heights in its borders [es. Baal of Gad, Baal of Saphon, Baal of Peor, etc.].

The God of Israel already from the First Testament binds his heart to man - no longer to a territory: He is the God of Abraham, of Isaac and of Jacob.

The Father of life arouses all understanding, Alliances, and if the ally could be annihilated, the same divine identity would be shattered.

All the Scriptures attest to this: He is a God of the living, not of dust or of the nothingness.

This is why we call our missing loved ones «deceased» or «departed» - not "dead".

[Saturday 33rd wk. in O.T.  November 22, 2025]

And God binding His heart to humanity

(Lk 20:27-40)

The defeat of death is the cruel destiny that has clouded the minds of all civilisations, infusing disorientation and anguished thoughts about the meaning of life, about why each of us exists.

If God creates us and calls us ceaselessly, to enter into dialogue with us, then what is left? Is the goal of all our agitation a pit?

The Sadducees want to ridicule the doctrine of resurrection dear to the Pharisees and - it seems - to Jesus as well.

He, however, held that the Father was far more than a Living One... who finally began to raise corpses!

[This is why we call our departed loved ones 'deceased' - not 'dead'].

In the Semitic mentality, the norm of 'levirate' mirrored a feeble idea of existence after death - relegated to mere continuity of name.

The members of the priestly class did not believe in another life: they preached the religion that served to obtain blessings for existing on this earth in a comfortable manner - and that was enough for them.

In short, they conceived their relationship with God in the dimension of life on earth.

The Sadducees had already built their 'paradise' for themselves in the city and outside.

Their large villas with courtyards and private pools for ablutions were right on the hill opposite the Temple in Jerusalem, on the opposite side of the Mount of Olives (i.e. towards the west).

Their second homes - where they spent the winter - were in Jericho.

Also because of their direct interest in the sacrificial activity they carried out, they still believed that prophetic texts had no dignity as sacred Scripture: only the Law reflected God's will.

And in the Torah it seemed to them that there was no note about the resurrection of the dead.

So they also tried to frame Jesus, with an artfully constructed paradox, to highlight the contradictions of this belief - which only appeared from the 2nd century BC in the book of Daniel and in Maccabees.

They considered it absurd - therefore they intended to discredit the 'Master' [a term they used to designate him in order to ridicule him: v.28].

Indeed, the foothold was there, for the Pharisees believed in the resurrection in the trivial sense. A kind of accentuation, improvement or sublimation of (the same) natural living conditions - and bonds.

Thus not a definitive, boundless, qualitatively indestructible form.

In essence, in the 'world beyond' everyone would fully enjoy the family and clan affections of the previous form of life - and so on.

The 'afterlife' was to be nothing more than a sublimated, ennobled and embellished extension of this way of existing; without disease, suffering, various problems.

[In short, life only advanced; perhaps as it was once conveyed to us by willing catechists... but little attentive to the Word of God].

So precisely the Sadducees - conservatives - who only accepted the Pentateuch - where they maintained that there is no mention of another, further life.

In this way, they had an easy job of exposing the fragility of that popular belief, to which the leaders of Phariseeism were conversely attached.

However, the Master does not apply categories of this world, provisional, to dimensions that go beyond.

Even bonds must be conceived in the relief of divine reality.

In the Latin milieu, even today, the way of understanding the Resurrection is influenced not a little by the representational modes of the pictorial tradition.

Reading the representations to which we are accustomed... we notice that immediately the Risen One puts down the gendarmes and frightens everyone.

He emerges from the tomb with the banner of victory, strong and muscular. He bursts in as if coming back this way to beat his adversaries.

Descriptive and naturalistic claims that do not do credit to the Faith and almost ridicule the Gospels.

Conversely, in Eastern icons, the Resurrection is understood and depicted in a substantial, mysterious way: the Descent to the Underworld.

It is not a triumph of God, who imposes himself on the world. He has no need of it.

Rather, the theological event remains in support of the victory of his children, who receive life directly from the Father.

Here is the redemption of the ordinary woman and man [Adam and Eve] who are drawn from the tombs by the divine - not natural - power of the Risen Christ.

The ultimate world turns the idea of the Sheôl upside down and totally unhinges it, clearing away the darkness - and that great drama of humanity.

One enters God's world; one does not return this way - perhaps to live better: rejuvenated and healthy rather than sick, in a villa with a garden rather than a studio apartment.

Life 'in the age of that' [v.35 Greek text] is not an enhanced mode of existence, but an indescribable and new condition - as of direct communication.

Comparable to the immediacy of love: a being-with and for others. Collimating to the Angels' mode of existence (v.36): they do not have a life transmitted by parents, but by God himself.The body decays, falls ill and goes into dissolution: it is a natural cycle.

"Resurrection of the flesh" designates access to an intimate existence of pure relationship, to the very intimacy of God - in our weakness and precariousness, assumed.

Obviously we cannot believe that we are being brought into the Divine Condition if during our earthly course we have not experienced a constant existential death-resurrection vector.

It is the experience of gain in defeat; in particular, the discovery of an unthinkable life, which made us rejoice with Happiness. For Amazement: in the providential transmutation of our weak and obscure sides, from sluggish appearances to strengths.

Becoming evolutionary, perhaps the best of us.

The evangelists use two terms to indicate the difference between these two forms of being: (transliterating from the Greek) Bìos, and Zoè Aiònios.

The Zoë, Life itself of the Eternal, is keenly relational and experienceable - but it has nothing to do with biological existence and our carcass ["equal to the angels" v.36].

What does not die is not the DNA of the body, but the heavenly DNA, which we have received as a gift from the Father.

The divine Gold dwells in us and - if we wish - can surface already, in a full existence, of realisation of one's Vocation, in an atmosphere of Communion.

Life "in the age of the one" is not an enhanced existence compared to this mode of existence, but an indescribable and new condition - as of direct communication.

Comparable to the face-to-face of Friendship: a being-with and for others; readily, everywhere.

Collimating to the Angels' way of existence: they do not have a life transmitted by parents, but precisely by God Himself.

"About the Bush..." - Jesus retorts.

He also muzzles the Sadducees, making them think, treating them as incompetent.

He draws the foundation of the 'doctrine' of the Resurrection [but as He understands it] precisely from the book of Exodus.

Thus he shows that right from the scrolls of the Law there is a presentation of the Eternal One that is incompatible with the destiny of a humanity doomed to extermination.

The Father does not seek dialogue with His children only to have them fall at the most beautiful moment.

Since creation He has delighted in walking with man, and since the patriarchs He has sought empathy with us.

His Love does not abandon.

In the archaic religious mentality, each shrine was named after the deity, specified by its territory or the heights in its borders [e.g. Baal of Gad, Baal of Saphon, Baal of Peor, etc.].

A bad pagan vice that we have unfortunately inherited.

The God of Israel since the First Testament binds his heart to man - no longer to a territory: the 'God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob'.

It was possible for the three Patriarchs to have descendants, not by natural concatenation.

In that mentality, the only possibility of perpetuating life from generation to generation was to be able to pass on one's name to the firstborn male.

This happened instead by intervention from above, while the wives were sterile [infertile matriarchs: Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, long without heirs].

The Father of life gives rise to all understandings, covenants, and if the ally could be annihilated, the divine identity itself would crumble.

All Scripture attests to this: he is a God of the living - not of the dead (of dust, of insubstantiality, of nothingness).

The five Books of Moses were the only ones that the Sadducees recognized in the canon of the Old Testament and there is no mention in them of the Resurrection; so they denied it. The Lord shows the reality of the Resurrection precisely by these five Books and says: “Have you not read what was said to you by God, ‘I am the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob?’” (cf. Mt 22:31-32). God therefore takes these three and in his very name they become the name of God. To understand who this God is it is necessary to see these figures who became the name of God, a name of God, who are immersed in God. In this way we see that anyone who is in the name of God, who is immersed in God, is alive, because God — the Lord says — is not a God of the dead but of the living, and if he is the God of the latter, he is a God of the living.

The living are alive because they are in our memory, in God’s life. And this happens to us in being baptized: we come to be inserted in the name of God, so that we belong to this name and his name becomes our name and we too, with our witness — like the three in the Old Testament — can be witnesses of God, a sign of who this God is, a name of this God.

Consequently, being baptized means being united to God; in a unique, new existence we belong to God, we are immersed in God himself.

[Pope Benedict, Lectio 11 June 2012]

1. We resume today, after a rather long pause, the meditations we have been holding for some time and which we have called reflections on the theology of the body.

In continuing, it is worthwhile, this time, to return to the words of the Gospel, in which Christ refers to the resurrection: words that have a fundamental importance for understanding marriage in the Christian sense and also "the renunciation" of married life "for the sake of the kingdom of heaven".

The complex casuistry of the Old Testament in the field of matrimony not only prompted the Pharisees to come to Christ to put to him the problem of the indissolubility of marriage (cf. Mt 19:3-9 ; Mk 10:2-12 ), but also, another time, the Sadducees, to question him on the law of the so-called Levirate (this law, contained in Deut 25:7-10 , concerns brothers living under the same roof. If one of them died without leaving children, the brother of the deceased had to take the widow of the dead brother as his wife. The child born of this marriage was recognised as the son of the deceased, so that his lineage would not be extinguished and the inheritance would be preserved in the family [cf. Deut 3:9-4:12 ]). This conversation is reported in agreement by the Synoptics (cf. Mt 22:24-30 ; Mk 12:18-27 ; Lk 20:27-40 ). Although all three redactions are almost identical, some slight but, at the same time, significant differences can be noted between them. Since the colloquy is referred to in three versions, those of Matthew, Mark and Luke, a more in-depth analysis is required, as it includes contents that are of essential significance for the theology of the body.

Next to the other two important colloquies, namely: the one in which Christ refers to the "beginning" (cf. Mt 19:3-9 ; Mk 10:2-12 ), and the other in which he refers to the intimacy of man (to the "heart"), pointing to the desire and concupiscence of the flesh as the source of sin (cf. Mt 5:27-32 ), the colloquy, which we now propose to analyse, constitutes, I would say, the third component of the triptych of Christ's own utterances: a triptych of essential and constitutive words for the theology of the body. In this colloquy, Jesus refers to the resurrection, thus revealing a completely new dimension of the mystery of man.

2.

The revelation of this dimension of the body, stupendous in its content - and yet connected with the Gospel reread in its entirety and to its very depth - emerges in the conversation with the Sadducees, "who affirm that there is no resurrection" (1); they have come to Christ to present him with an argument that - in their opinion - validates the reasonableness of their position. This argument was to contradict "the hypothesis of the resurrection". The reasoning of the Sadducees is as follows: "Master, Moses left us written that if the brother of one dies and leaves his wife childless, the brother shall take his wife to give offspring to his brother" ( Mk 12:19 ). The Sadducees refer here to the so-called law of Levirate (cf. Deut 25:5-10 ), and referring back to the prescription of this ancient law, they present the following "case": "There were seven brothers: the first took a wife and died without leaving any descendants; then the second took her, but died without leaving any descendants; and the third likewise, and none of the seven left any descendants. Finally, after all, the woman also died. In the resurrection, when they rise again, to which of them will the woman belong? For seven had her as their wife" ( Mk 12:20-23 . The Sadducees, turning to Jesus for a purely theoretical "case", at the same time attack the Pharisees' primitive conception of life after the resurrection of bodies; in fact, they insinuate that belief in the resurrection of bodies leads to the admission of polyandry, which is contrary to the law of God.

3.

Christ's answer is one of the key-answers of the Gospel, in which another dimension of the question is revealed - precisely from and in contrast to purely human reasoning - namely that which corresponds to the wisdom and power of God himself. Similarly, for example, the case of the tribute coin with the image of Caesar and the correct relationship between what in the sphere of power is divine and what is human ("Caesar's") (cf. Mt 22:15-22 ). This time Jesus replies as follows: "Are ye not in error, since ye know not the scriptures, nor the power of God? For when they rise from the dead, they will not take wives or husbands, but will be as angels in heaven" ( Mk 12:24-25 ). This is the basic answer to the 'case', i.e. to the problem contained therein. Christ, knowing the conceptions of the Sadducees, and intuiting their authentic intentions, takes up, later, the problem of the possibility of the resurrection, denied by the Sadducees themselves: "Concerning the dead who are to be raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, concerning the bush, how God spoke to him, saying: I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and Jacob? He is not a God of the dead, but of the living" ( Mk 12:26-27 ). As we can see, Christ quotes the same Moses to whom the Sadducees referred, and ends by saying: "You are in great error" ( Mk 12:27 ).

4.

Christ also repeats this concluding statement a second time. In fact, the first time he pronounced it at the beginning of his exposition. He said then: "You deceive yourselves, knowing neither the scriptures nor the power of God": so we read in Matthew ( Mt 22,29 ). And in Mark: "Are ye not deceived, since ye know not the scriptures, neither the power of God?" ( Mark 12,24 ). By contrast, Christ's own reply, in Luke's version ( Lk 20:27-36 ), is devoid of polemical accent, of that "you are in great error". On the other hand, he proclaims the same thing insofar as he introduces some elements into his reply that are not found in either Matthew or Mark. Here is the text: "Jesus replies: the children of this world take a wife and take a husband; but they that are accounted worthy of the other world, and of the resurrection from the dead, take neither wife nor husband: neither can they die any more, for they are equal to the angels, and being children of the resurrection, they are the children of God" ( Lk 20:34-36 ). Concerning the very possibility of the resurrection, Luke - like the two other synoptics - refers to Moses, that is, to the passage in the Book of Exodus 3:2-6, where it is narrated that the great legislator of the Old Covenant had heard from the bush, which "burned in the fire and was not consumed", the following words: "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob" ( Ex 3:6 ). In the same place, when Moses had asked the name of God, he had heard the answer: "I am he who is" ( Ex 3:14 ).

Thus then, speaking of the future resurrection of bodies, Christ refers to the very power of the living God.

[Pope John Paul II, General Audience 11 November 1981]

Within just days of the Solemnity of All Saints and of the Commemoration of the faithful departed, this Sunday’s Liturgy invites us once again to reflect upon the mystery of the resurrection of the dead. The Gospel (cf. Lk 20:27-38) presents Jesus confronted by several Sadducees, who did not believe in the resurrection and considered the relationship with God only in the dimension of earthly life. Therefore, in order to place the resurrection under ridicule and to create difficulty for Jesus, they submit a paradoxical and absurd case: that of a woman who’d had seven husbands, all brothers, who died one after the other. Thus came the malicious question posed to Jesus: in the resurrection, whose wife will the woman be (v. 33)?

Jesus does not fall into the snare and emphasizes the truth of the resurrection, explaining that life after death will be different from that on earth. He makes his interlocutors understand that it is not possible to apply the categories of this world to the realities that transcend and surpass what we see in this life. He says, in fact: “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage; but those who are accounted worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage” (vv. 34-35). With these words, Jesus means to explain that in this world we live a provisional reality, which ends; conversely, in the afterlife, after the resurrection, we will no longer have death as the horizon and will experience all things, even human bonds, in the dimension of God, in a transfigured way. Even marriage, a sign and instrument of God in this world, will shine brightly, transformed in the full light of the glorious communion of saints in Paradise. 

The “sons of heaven and of the resurrection” are not a few privileged ones, but are all men and all women, because the salvation that Jesus brings is for each one of us. And the life of the risen shall be equal to that of angels (cf. v. 36), meaning wholly immersed in the light of God, completely devoted to his praise, in an eternity filled with joy and peace. But pay heed! Resurrection is not only the fact of rising after death, but is a new genre of life which we already experience now; it is the victory over nothing that we can already anticipate. Resurrection is the foundation of the faith and of Christian hope. Were there no reference to Paradise and to eternal life, Christianity would be reduced to ethics, to a philosophy of life. Instead, the message of Christian faith comes from heaven, it is revealed by God and goes beyond this world. Belief in resurrection is essential in order that our every act of Christian love not be ephemeral and an end in itself, but may become a seed destined to blossom in the garden of God, and to produce the fruit of eternal life. 

May the Virgin Mary, Queen of Heaven and Earth, confirm us in the hope of resurrection and help us to make fruitful in good works her Son’s word sown in our hearts.

[Pope Francis, Angelus 6 November 2016]

Little House of God? No more haggling with loan sharks

(Lk 19:45-48)

The teaching of Jesus in the sacred place is presented by Lk as enduring: «He was teaching every day» (v.47). Main topic: the Grace.

So over time we learn conviviality: encouraged to dialogue with our personal, unrepeatable Vocation, which captivates because it really corresponds.

And the intimate conviction is alone, incomparable, precious energy of transformative valence - which leads to not withdrawing from oneself, nor disregarding the reality of sisters and brothers.

Rather it induces to make Exodus, explore new conditions of being, transfigure perception into blissful action.

Hunting the false friends of religiosity, the Lord is not so much oriented to compensate the purity of the Place, nor to mend and revive the enamel of the sober original cult - as Prophets wanted.

He renders a holy service not to ancient God, but to people - by that system [or tangle] made totally unaware of their vocational dignity: only chained, milked, and sheared.

The first Tent of God is therefore humanity itself, its beating heart - not a delimited space:

Upon entering Jerusalem, the Master takes possession of the heavenly House - which is not the Temple, but the People.

He doesn’t teach to enter into habitual and formal armor accepted by the contour, but distant from persons.

Rather, He stimulates us not to restrain our true nature with costume hoods, according to which "it’s never enough".

Our inner world should not be hysterically regarded as a dangerous stranger.

Innate roots and our natural energy have the right to flourish and prevail over common manners or ideas: they are an experimental trace of the Divine.

In them there is a Personal bond, which wins every intimate torment.

We must therefore change our approach. He himself is the essential point of the Eternal’s worship.

In this light of Person in his Person, everyone can embrace proposals that are not of others and intruders; wich will not turn out to be ballasts.

The phantasmagorical ancient culmination is becoming periphery, it’s decaying. And to find ourselves, we have difficulties.

An opportunity not to be missed to proceed in a living and singular way, in tune with an ever new teaching on unprecedented Love, which takes our step.

It’s the burning Appeal of «the Mount», which focusses on ‘passion’: precisely on Desire.

No more a strict call to the "no" of great appearances - but finally Listening to the Voice in the soul, which amazes (v.48).

Authentic sacred of the temple.

No more loan sharks in power.

With what does not correspond, even from a cultural, social and spiritual point of view, we no longer haggle.

[Friday 33rd wk. in O.T.  November 21, 2025]