What does Jesus mean by *worthy* in this passage?

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Since none of us are ‘worthy’ in obtaining eternal life, and our souls’ eternal salvation relies on Christ’s death on the cross…what does Jesus mean by ‘worthy’ in the below passage (that I have bolded)? Your replies are appreciated.🙂

Gospel
Lk 20:27-40

Some Sadducees, those who deny that there is a resurrection,
came forward and put this question to Jesus, saying,
“Teacher, Moses wrote for us,
If someone’s brother dies leaving a wife but no child,
his brother must take the wife
and raise up descendants for his brother.
Now there were seven brothers;
the first married a woman but died childless.
Then the second and the third married her,
and likewise all the seven died childless.
Finally the woman also died.
Now at the resurrection whose wife will that woman be?

For all seven had been married to her.”
Jesus said to them,
The children of this age marry and remarry;
but those who are deemed worthy to attain to the coming age
and to the resurrection of the dead
neither marry nor are given in marriage.
They can no longer die,
for they are like angels;
and they are the children of God
because they are the ones who will rise.
That the dead will rise
even Moses made known in the passage about the bush,
when he called ‘Lord’
the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob;
and he is not God of the dead, but of the living,
for to him all are alive.”
Some of the scribes said in reply,
“Teacher, you have answered well.”
And they no longer dared to ask him anything.
 
I assume it is those that have been judged, and are received into heaven.
 
Hi Whatever__,

It does say “deemed” worthy . In other words, those who fulfil lthe conditions God has laid down for our salvation. God’s judgment intervenes here with his promises and his mercy. We cannot merit salvation.

Verbum
 
Thanks for the replies. I realize that we cannot merit salvation…but how exactly are we deemed worthy? Would this mean, basically…accepting of Christ, and striving to follow Him? (…No one comes to the Father except through Me?)
 
Thanks for the replies. I realize that we cannot merit salvation…but how exactly are we deemed worthy? Would this mean, basically…accepting of Christ, and striving to follow Him? (…No one comes to the Father except through Me?)
Don’t forget obedience. Jesus asks us to do a lot of things in His parables, that will cause us to lose our Salvation if we ignore them.
 
Hi Whatever,

We need to be baptized and live our baptism, trying to be Christlike and above all try to be among the “sheep” at the Last Judgement by practicing the works of mercy : “Whatever you did to the least of these, you did to me.”

Verbum
 
This is a 15 minute audio that might help. It’s near the bottom of the page.
Sermon 357 : 32nd Sunday in OT : Resurrection of the Body

wordonfire.org/
 
First, I think we all agree that the bottom line is none of us are really “worthy” and that we can only me made worthy through God’s grace.

But we have this grace through Baptism and the Sacraments so now we have to “become worthy” by the way we live. Verbum wrote well in quoting Jesus from Matthew 25 (by the way Jesus tells us in other places that we will be judge but here he is very explicit on what our judgement will be based). And building on this I would suggest to read all the passages, especially in Matthew, of Jesus’ sayings on the Kingdom of God and what our response to it must be. Also, in Luke and the parable of the Good Samaritan is another teaching of how we must live. And 1 John, 1Cor 13 and 1 Peter are other good sources from scripture.

If you want a good meditation on how we can become worthy I would suggest reading Pope Benedict’s “Jesus of Nazarath” especially the section on the Beatitudes.
 
“deemed worthy” has reference to God’s generosity. Those who, by their humility, prayer and turning away from their sin, touches the “heart” and generosity of God could be deemed worthy for that.
 
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