Is Their Marriage in Heaven?
Is there marriage in heaven? What about people who have had more than one spouse? Will both or all of them be in heaven? These are the questions the Sadducees were throwing at Jesus today. Of course, they didn't really want to know the answer, they were just trying to trip him up. They were trying to put him a situation where he would have no answer and look foolish.
First, a little background. The Sadducees were the intellectual, the sophisticated religious leaders. They stuck more to what they could see and prove. As such, they didn't believe in miracles, or extraordinary things happening, despite the rich history of God's doing many miracles for the Israelites. You might say they liked to be in control, and if they couldn't prove it, they didn't believe it.
There are those today, who hold a similar view. Prove it to me they say! And even when logic is given for the existence of God and Jesus, they scoff at it, and come up with a reason to disprove or ignore the evidence. But today Jesus confounds the Sadducees by pointing out that in heaven issues of marriage will not be as relevant. He says those who rise from the dead will be like angels. So the natural question is what will heaven be like? Will i recognize my family?
And of course, since the teaching on what heaven will be like is limited, we can only say a few things for sure. In heaven there will be no pain or suffering. In heaven we will be one with God and be like God. In heaven we will worship day and night before the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ. In heaven we will join the communion of saints consisting of all those who have gone before us in faith.
So is there marriage in heaven? There is no evidence for it in scripture, and Jesus seems to affirm this in what he says today. But on the flipside, we will be with all those who believe, including our family members. That is why it is so important for faith to be in the home, with parents as the primary faith mentors for their children.
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[a] 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’[b]? 27 He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken!”
First, a little background. The Sadducees were the intellectual, the sophisticated religious leaders. They stuck more to what they could see and prove. As such, they didn't believe in miracles, or extraordinary things happening, despite the rich history of God's doing many miracles for the Israelites. You might say they liked to be in control, and if they couldn't prove it, they didn't believe it.
There are those today, who hold a similar view. Prove it to me they say! And even when logic is given for the existence of God and Jesus, they scoff at it, and come up with a reason to disprove or ignore the evidence. But today Jesus confounds the Sadducees by pointing out that in heaven issues of marriage will not be as relevant. He says those who rise from the dead will be like angels. So the natural question is what will heaven be like? Will i recognize my family?
And of course, since the teaching on what heaven will be like is limited, we can only say a few things for sure. In heaven there will be no pain or suffering. In heaven we will be one with God and be like God. In heaven we will worship day and night before the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ. In heaven we will join the communion of saints consisting of all those who have gone before us in faith.
So is there marriage in heaven? There is no evidence for it in scripture, and Jesus seems to affirm this in what he says today. But on the flipside, we will be with all those who believe, including our family members. That is why it is so important for faith to be in the home, with parents as the primary faith mentors for their children.
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[a] 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’[b]? 27 He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken!”
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