Daily Bread 2011 Mark 12
Daily Bread 2011 – Friday February 25th, 2011 Mark 12
Marriage at the Resurrection
18 Then the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him with a question. 19 “Teacher,” they said, “Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. 20 Now there were seven brothers. The first one married and died without leaving any children. 21 The second one married the widow, but he also died, leaving no child. It was the same with the third. 22 In fact, none of the seven left any children. Last of all, the woman died too. 23 At the resurrection whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?”24 Jesus replied, “Are you not in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God? 25 When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. 26 Now about the dead rising—have you not read in the Book of Moses, in the account of the burning bush, how God said to him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? 27 He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken!”
What Does This Mean?
The Pharisees and Sadducees take one last shot at trying to undermine Jesus’ ministry by trapping him into theological positions that are untenable. In this case, the Sadducees, who didn’t believe in the resurrection (and hence the supernatural), tried to give Jesus a trick question regarding a person’s offspring if the husband died and the wife went on to marry several times. In Jewish culture it was important to keep one’s family name going because of the promise of heavenly inheritance based on one’s family tree.
The covenant given to Abraham in Genesis 12 and 15 was to bless his descendants and make them as numerous as the stars in the skies. Therefore if a man died it would be important to keep this genealogical blessing going. But despite their seeming airtight logic, they forgot one thing. Heaven will not be like earth, and our existence in heaven will be fundamentally different than our existence here on earth.
Marriage is an earthly relationship meant to be a blessing for us and as a means of having children (being fruitful and multiplying the original commandment). There is not a lot of description about what exactly what heaven is like or what we will be doing, but one thing is for sure, it will not be like earth.
What Does This Mean For Us?
There are many blessings God affords us in our earthly lives including the blessing of our family and children. If one is not married, family is still very important and it can be a huge source of blessing in your life. I know this because for 37 and a half years, I was not married.
But though these are important sources of much love and joy, no eye has conceived what the Lord has in store for us on the day we will meet him face to face and go to heaven. All we are told is it will be worth all the suffering, pain and discouragement that our earthly life affords. As Paul says in Romans 8:18, “The suffering of this present world is not worthy to be compared to the glory that will be revealed to us in Christ Jesus.”
Jesus thank you that your kingdom was not of this world and everything you did showed us what heaven would be like, where God rules and reigns. Make us aware of how we can participate in your kingdom coming on earth as is it in heaven knowing that still the greatest treasure remains for those who put their ultimate hope in You. Amen.
Marriage at the Resurrection
18 Then the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him with a question. 19 “Teacher,” they said, “Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. 20 Now there were seven brothers. The first one married and died without leaving any children. 21 The second one married the widow, but he also died, leaving no child. It was the same with the third. 22 In fact, none of the seven left any children. Last of all, the woman died too. 23 At the resurrection whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?”24 Jesus replied, “Are you not in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God? 25 When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. 26 Now about the dead rising—have you not read in the Book of Moses, in the account of the burning bush, how God said to him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? 27 He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken!”
What Does This Mean?
The Pharisees and Sadducees take one last shot at trying to undermine Jesus’ ministry by trapping him into theological positions that are untenable. In this case, the Sadducees, who didn’t believe in the resurrection (and hence the supernatural), tried to give Jesus a trick question regarding a person’s offspring if the husband died and the wife went on to marry several times. In Jewish culture it was important to keep one’s family name going because of the promise of heavenly inheritance based on one’s family tree.
The covenant given to Abraham in Genesis 12 and 15 was to bless his descendants and make them as numerous as the stars in the skies. Therefore if a man died it would be important to keep this genealogical blessing going. But despite their seeming airtight logic, they forgot one thing. Heaven will not be like earth, and our existence in heaven will be fundamentally different than our existence here on earth.
Marriage is an earthly relationship meant to be a blessing for us and as a means of having children (being fruitful and multiplying the original commandment). There is not a lot of description about what exactly what heaven is like or what we will be doing, but one thing is for sure, it will not be like earth.
What Does This Mean For Us?
There are many blessings God affords us in our earthly lives including the blessing of our family and children. If one is not married, family is still very important and it can be a huge source of blessing in your life. I know this because for 37 and a half years, I was not married.
But though these are important sources of much love and joy, no eye has conceived what the Lord has in store for us on the day we will meet him face to face and go to heaven. All we are told is it will be worth all the suffering, pain and discouragement that our earthly life affords. As Paul says in Romans 8:18, “The suffering of this present world is not worthy to be compared to the glory that will be revealed to us in Christ Jesus.”
Jesus thank you that your kingdom was not of this world and everything you did showed us what heaven would be like, where God rules and reigns. Make us aware of how we can participate in your kingdom coming on earth as is it in heaven knowing that still the greatest treasure remains for those who put their ultimate hope in You. Amen.
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