Do you hope for
eternal life?
Even in Jesus’
time, not all Jews believed in life after death, so it is interesting that the
Second Book of Maccabees, written well before Christ, contains a story which
suggests a clear belief in the resurrection of the body. When the Hellenist king Antiochus Epiphanes
tries to force them to eat pork, one after another, seven brothers state their
clear preference to die rather than to transgress
the laws of their ancestors, confident
in the hope God gives of being raised by
him. While life after death is not
guaranteed for the unjust – for you,
there will be no resurrection to life, says one of the brothers to his
torturers – this family, at least, is confident in God’s promise, knowing what
they do in this life is only measurable in heaven; their hope is that
connection with the Lord in this world will continue in their connection with
the Lord in eternity, for they are drawn to the perfect love of God. In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus will likewise assure
the unbelieving Sadducees of life after death:
the dead will rise, he says,
citing Moses. And Psalm 17 is also
reassuring: Lord, when your glory appears, my joy will be full. While not explicitly addressing eternal life,
the psalmist expresses his belief that God will hear him, answer him, stand by
him: I
in justice shall behold your face.
Death could not contain
Jesus; we are witnesses to the fulfillment of that promise. We did not witness his resurrection personally,
but we are called to believe in what God can do, for all can be gathered into
the love of God because God wants all he has made brought into perfect union
with him. Our work is to pray for all, like
Jesus, giving them, as Paul tells the Thessalonians, everlasting encouragement and good hope. In this way, the Word of God may speed forward and be glorified, spreading
in the hearts of all people, that they might come to know the love God has for
us all. God draws us to him; we have but
to exercise free will in opening our own hearts to his. May the
Lord direct our hearts to the love of
God, that we too may behold his face!
This post is based
on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.
Image source: www.wordclouds.com
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