Matthew 22:23-33
23 The same day Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection, and they asked him a question, 24 saying, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies having no children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother.’ 25 Now there were seven brothers among us. The first married and died, and having no offspring left his wife to his brother. 26 So too the second and third, down to the seventh. 27 After them all, the woman died. 28 In the resurrection, therefore, of the seven, whose wife will she be? For they all had her.” 29 But Jesus answered them, “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God. 30 For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 31 And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God: 32 ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not God of the dead, but of the living.” 33 And when the crowd heard it, they were astonished at his teaching.
The Sadducees tried to trap Jesus with a hypothetical question about awoman who married seven times. The answer Jesus gives is interesting for what it tells us about marriage, for he declares that there will not be marriage in heaven: "For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage" (verse 30). In hearing this part of me is disappointed, for I like marriage. But I think God likes marriage too (He invented it). Unfortunately Jesus doesn't elaborate on this statement, but from it we get the sense that marriage is something good for our life here on earth, but it will be replaced in heaven. Not because heaven will not be as good as what we experience here, but because it will be even better in heaven. I don't know exactly what that will be, but I have to trust God's care in matters like this.
Lord, thank you for the earthly gift of marriage.
23 The same day Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection, and they asked him a question, 24 saying, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies having no children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother.’ 25 Now there were seven brothers among us. The first married and died, and having no offspring left his wife to his brother. 26 So too the second and third, down to the seventh. 27 After them all, the woman died. 28 In the resurrection, therefore, of the seven, whose wife will she be? For they all had her.” 29 But Jesus answered them, “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God. 30 For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 31 And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God: 32 ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not God of the dead, but of the living.” 33 And when the crowd heard it, they were astonished at his teaching.
The Sadducees tried to trap Jesus with a hypothetical question about awoman who married seven times. The answer Jesus gives is interesting for what it tells us about marriage, for he declares that there will not be marriage in heaven: "For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage" (verse 30). In hearing this part of me is disappointed, for I like marriage. But I think God likes marriage too (He invented it). Unfortunately Jesus doesn't elaborate on this statement, but from it we get the sense that marriage is something good for our life here on earth, but it will be replaced in heaven. Not because heaven will not be as good as what we experience here, but because it will be even better in heaven. I don't know exactly what that will be, but I have to trust God's care in matters like this.
Lord, thank you for the earthly gift of marriage.