NOTES for Luk 20:27-44

Luke’s brief account of Christ’s discussions with the Sadducees contains a number of very important things that the Lord reveals to us all. First of all, He says that the resurrection of the dead is a mystery that cannot be comprehended by rational means alone. Then, by recalling that God Himself calls Himself the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of the living, the Lord thereby emphasizes that the very fact of our salvation depends on God’s nature and His will. He said the same thing through Deutero-Isaiah, who insisted that God saves His people for His own sake, not because of human merit. This is important because salvation and resurrection thus appear to us as participation in the divine life, rather than merely the perpetuation of frail human existence. The Lord then reminds His listeners, not by chance, of the mystery of Christ’s divine humanity, which, though veiled, is nevertheless deeply attested by the prophets of the Old Testament. The entire conversation is therefore devoted to theosis, the phenomenon of the utmost importance to patristic theology: the human person’s reunion with the life of the Creator, which infinitely surpasses him.