What does this mean?

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What did Christ mean when he said,

“God is God of the living, not God of the dead.”
 
Zundrah said:
What did Christ mean when he said,

“God is God of the living, not God of the dead.”
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Those who die in God’s good grace are not dead.

Death cannot separate us from the love of Jesus.
 
CHESTERTONRULES said:
Those who die in God’s good grace are not dead.

Death cannot separate us from the love of Jesus.
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So it means that we can communicate to those that have perished?

Ah, so it means that people in hell are ignored by God?
Hense, God is not God of the dead?
 
To add a bit to CHESTERTON’s answer:
Here [re Matthew 22] Jesus’ opponents are the Sadducees, members of the powerful priestly party of his time; see the note on Matthew 3:7. Denying the resurrection of the dead, a teaching of relatively late origin in Judaism (cf Daniel 12:2), they appeal to a law of the Pentateuch (Deut 25:5-10) and present a case based on it that would make resurrection from the dead ridiculous (Matthew 22:24-28). Jesus chides them for knowing neither the scriptures nor the power of God (Matthew 22:29). His argument in respect to God’s power contradicts the notion, held even by many proponents as well as by opponents of the teaching, that the life of those raised from the dead would be essentially a continuation of the type of life they had had before death (Matthew 22:30). His argument based on the scriptures (Matthew 22:31-32) is of a sort that was accepted as valid among Jews of the time.
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usccb.org/nab/bible/matthew/matthew22.htm#v23

So, Jesus is explaining that - contrary to the belief of the Sadducees - the dead will indeed rise (just as He, Himself, will do as the forerunner for all who have died in Him).
 
I think he meant that God is a living God. God isn’t just the God of the Old Testament with all the dead prophets such as Moses, but he is the God of Jesus’s times and our times today. We don’t pray to a God that doesn’t exist any more, we pray to a God who takes an interest in his living people today and in thier salvation. Just as Jesus manifested the new loving forgiving healing aspect of God in his times, God is continually being revealed to us in new ways even today.

Jesus answered this way because the Saduccees, who were very hard-core traditionalists, were asking him questions about the resurrection of the dead, and they did not believe in the resurrection of the dead, and were tied to the ways of the old Laws.
 
Zundrah said:
So it means that we can communicate to those that have perished?
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No, that is not the context of the Lord’s words, since He is speaking here specifically of the belief in the resurrection. However, it can rightly be seen as indicating that those who have died are not dead to God and that those who die in union with Christ are also in union with all who are in Him, whether in Heaven or Purgatory. And THUS, we can ask those who have gone before us in Faith to pray for us - just as we pray for those who have died.
 
CHRISTINE77 said:
I think he meant that God is a living God. God isn’t just the God of the Old Testament with all the dead prophets such as Moses, but he is the God of Jesus’s times and our times today. We don’t pray to a God that doesn’t exist any more, we pray to a God who takes an interest in his living people today and in thier salvation. Just as Jesus manifested the new loving forgiving healing aspect of God in his times, God is continually being revealed to us in new ways even today.

Jesus answered this way because the Saduccees, who were very hard-core traditionalists, were asking him questions about the resurrection of the dead, and they did not believe in the resurrection of the dead, and were tied to the ways of the old Laws.
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Okay, I think I get it…
 
FCEGM said:
No, that is not the context of the Lord’s words, since He is speaking here specifically of the belief in the resurrection. However, it can rightly be seen as indicating that those who have died are not dead to God and that those who die in union with Christ are also in union with all who are in Him, whether in Heaven or Purgatory. And THUS, we can ask those who have gone before us in Faith to pray for us - just as we pray for those who have died.
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But this is what freaks me out, just praying to people who have died… I’m sure that God told us not to communicate to the dead?
I still question my own prayers over the rosary…
 
So what was it that the Sadducees were saying? That people will not be raised on the last day?
 
Zundrah said:
…you know what I meant! 😛
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Yes, I do; which is why I posted the link since it addresses your concern.
The first time I did my “hail Mary’s” was about three months ago. I was taught that it was wrong before then, by my ministers
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I’m sure you were taught that.
 
Zundrah said:
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I was taught that it was wrong before then, by my ministers.
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It is never wrong to ask the Saints in Heaven to ask Jesus to intercede for us, just as ask our earthly brethren to pray for us. 😉
 
Jennifer, have you read St. Therese of Lisieux’s autobiography, Story of a Soul? I might be a helpful read for you.
 
Zundrah said:
That link wasn’t live! 😦
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That wasn’t a link, just the indication of a book title. You can find the book at almost any Catholic bookstore and even many secular bookstores will carry it (and, of course, it’s available through Amazon). The edition translated from the original French by John Clarke is the best.
 
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