Mark 12:18-27, Wednesday after Trinity Sunday

How is it that so many people today can be highly educated and still fail to see the truth? How many leaders can know the law by heart and still fail to serve justice? How many politicians can speak about the nation every day and yet forget the people who suffer? The Sadducees in today’s Gospel were intelligent people. They knew the Scriptures. They knew the law. Yet they approached Jesus not to seek truth but to trap Him.

Their question about the woman with seven husbands was not really about marriage. It was about winning an argument. But Jesus who saw through them replied: “You are greatly misled.”

What a frightening possibility: to be powerful and yet misled; to be influential and yet disconnected from truth.

The problem of the Sadducees was not ignorance. It was blindness. They reduced faith to technicalities and lost sight of God’s greater reality. Does this sound familiar…in our senate today?

Many of us today watch political hearings, investigations, accusations, counteraccusations, privilege speeches, press conferences, and social media battles. Sometimes it feels as if public service has become public spectacle. The question we should ask is not: “Who is winning?” The question is: “Who is serving?” The question is not: “Who delivered the most viral speech?” The question is: “Who delivered justice?” The question is not: “Who embarrassed whom?” The question is: “Who helped the Filipino people?” Our Senate has become a stage for contorted egos (egos that are twisted, distorted, bent out of shape by pride, fear, insecurity, ambition, and self-deception) just as the Temple courts, during Jesus’ time, became a stage for the Sadducees’ ego gymnastics. And if Jesus will enter our senate, he will most likely tell the people there with the same challenge he said to the Sadducees: “You are greatly misled.” A wise citizen once said: “When politics becomes entertainment, the people become the casualties.”

Today’s Gospel reminds us that God is the God of the living. What does that mean? It means God is concerned about real lives, not political performances. God is concerned about farmers trying to survive. God is concerned about workers struggling to feed families. God is concerned about young people hoping for a better future. God is concerned about ordinary Filipinos who deserve leaders more interested in service than circus…

There is a story about a lighthouse keeper who received just enough oil to keep the light burning each night. Neighbors came asking for oil for their lamps. Fishermen asked for oil for their boats. He generously gave away his supply until one night the lighthouse went dark. Several ships crashed into the rocks. The lighthouse keeper’s kindness was real, but he forgot his primary responsibility: to keep the light shining. A Senate, a government, a Church, and even ordinary citizens have the same duty: keep the light of truth shining. When truth is sacrificed for popularity, darkness enters. When accountability is replaced by loyalty to personalities, darkness enters. When citizens stop paying attention because they are tired or cynical, darkness enters. Democracy dies not only because of bad leaders. It also dies because good people stop watching. Jesus calls us today . . . Not to cynicism but to vigilance. Not to hatred but to discernment. Not to blind loyalty but to truth. Because our God is not God of the dead, but of the living.” (Mark 12:27) For Christians, politics is not merely about power. It is about people. It is about the common good. It is about protecting the dignity of every human person. The Sadducees were obsessed with winning an argument. Jesus was concerned about revealing the truth. The Senate may debate many things. Political factions may clash. Public controversies may continue.

But the question remains: Are they serving life or serving themselves? Because the God we worship is not the God of dead ambitions, dead consciences, and dead truths. He is the God of the living. And wherever truth, justice, integrity, and genuine service are alive, there God is present. Reflection Question:
Am I more interested in choosing sides, or in seeking truth? How can I help keep the light of truth and accountability burning in my personal life for our nation? Prayer: Lord Jesus, free us from the blindness of the Sadducees. Give wisdom to our leaders, courage to our citizens, and integrity to our institutions. Keep alive within us a love for truth, justice, and the common good. May we never grow tired of defending what is right and serving what gives life. Amen.

*image from Baamboozle