“Nor can they die anymore, for they are equal to the angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.”
— Luke 20:36 (NKJV)
In Luke 20:36, Jesus continues unfolding the nature of “that age”—the age to come—by revealing a reality that stands in stark contrast to life as we know it. Those who attain the resurrection, He says, can no longer die. They exist beyond mortality, beyond decay, beyond the fragility that defines “this age.” They are described not merely as survivors of death, but as sons of the resurrection—participants in a new order of life grounded in God Himself.
What is striking is not only what Jesus says, but how He says it. There is no argument, no defense, no attempt to persuade the skeptical Sadducees who deny the resurrection altogether. Jesus speaks with calm finality, as though stating an already settled truth. His words carry an implicit demand: they must either be trusted or rejected. There is no middle ground.
This posture mirrors His discourse in John 6, where He declares truths that many find intolerable. When His teachings cause disciples to turn away, He does not soften them. Instead, He asks the Twelve whether they too will leave. Peter’s response—“Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life”—reveals the heart of true belief. Faith, in this sense, is not rooted in full comprehension or emotional resonance, but in surrender. There is nowhere else to go. No alternative refuge. No plan B.
Taken together, Luke 20 and John 6 present a consistent theme: Jesus’ words are not merely informative; they are life-giving. To believe Him is not simply to agree intellectually, but to entrust oneself fully to His authority—even where understanding fails or comfort disappears. God, in His grace, often brings His people to this point by stripping away lesser supports until His word alone remains.
From Resurrection Faith to Legacy Stewardship
When viewed through this lens, legacy stewardship planning takes on a radically different character. It is no longer driven primarily by preservation, control, or fear of loss—hallmarks of life lived under the shadow of death. Instead, it flows from confidence in resurrection life and trust in the eternal purposes of God.
If those who belong to Christ “can no longer die,” then death is no longer the defining boundary of our stewardship. Legacy is not about clinging to what we cannot keep, but about faithfully ordering what has been entrusted to us in light of what cannot be lost. Stewardship, therefore, becomes an act of surrender rather than self-protection.
Legacy stewardship planning, informed by Luke 20:36, begins with the acknowledgment that our ultimate future is secure. Because eternal life is settled by Christ’s word, we are freed from the illusion that our legacy must guarantee our significance or preserve our identity beyond the grave. Our identity is already established as sons of the resurrection.
This freedom reshapes how we think about time, resources, influence, and inheritance. Planning is no longer an attempt to outmaneuver death, but a conscious alignment with resurrection hope. We steward not to extend our control, but to bear faithful witness—entrusting outcomes, like our lives, into God’s hands.
Quiet Surrender as the Foundation of Legacy
Just as faith matures when every other refuge falls away, legacy stewardship matures when planning is rooted in surrender to Jesus’ words as eternal life. It accepts mystery where clarity is unavailable. It releases anxiety where certainty is impossible. And it acknowledges that the most enduring legacy is not what we manage to preserve, but what God chooses to redeem and carry forward.
In this way, legacy stewardship planning becomes an extension of discipleship. It is the quiet, yielded confession that says: There is nowhere else to go. No structure, strategy, or safeguard can replace trust in Christ. Our plans, like our lives, find their meaning not in permanence here, but in participation in “that age” where death no longer reigns.
