Luke 20:27-40 27 There came to him some Sadducees, those who deny that there is a resurrection, 28 and they asked him a question, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies, having a wife but no children, the man must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. 29 Now there were seven brothers. The first took a wife, and died without children. 30 And the second 31 and the third took her, and likewise all seven left no children and died. 32 Afterward the woman also died. 33 In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had her as wife.”
34 And Jesus said to them, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage, 35 but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage, 36 for they cannot die anymore, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons7 of the resurrection. 37 But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed, in the passage about the bush, where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. 38 Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all live to him.” 39 Then some of the scribes answered, “Teacher, you have spoken well.” 40 For they no longer dared to ask him any question.
I know the title of this blog post may be a little unappealing to many but bear with me. There’s an obvious point that Jesus was making in the above debate: nobody will marry or be married in the new heavens and the new earth. The not so obvious (though I hope it is obvious to most) is that there will be no need for it. For one thing, marriage was meant to serve the gospel by giving us “sight-learners” in the age of faith and hearing a picture of the glorious and mystical union of Christ and his church (see Ephesians 5). In the coming age, the age of sight, there will be no need for such a picture, as there will be no need for faith. Oh what a union that will be!
Furthermore, marriage was meant to serve us as well since marriage, from the beginning, does give us a physical union with someone. It was not good for man to be alone. There was something missing. He needed a flesh-and-blood helpmeet and companion. But in the new heavens and the new earth there the helping is over, at least in the Genesis sense. And the need for companionship, at least in the earthly sense, is over as well. The union we have with Christ and with one another will transcend any need for union we have otherwise.
And think with me further. Of all the things I know about marriage, it is the greatest growth agent I am aware of. Nothing challenges us or gives us a context to grow in our understanding and practice of the gospel truths more than marriage. No where is there a better place to learn patience, forgiveness, kindness, love, sacrifice, and all the other graces that God wants to dress us up with. And that’s just it, isn’t it? In heaven that dressing will be complete. We will be made like He is when we see Him. We will be perfected once for all. No more indwelling sin. The battle will be over. It will be finished … except for the infinite enjoyment of the glory of God in Christ. Marriage is unnecessary at that point. For those of us who enjoy our marriages and treasure our beloved that can sound disappointing. And I am not saying that we will not know our spouses who died and went before us to the Lord. But I am saying that we will not know them in that way. And I am saying, as good as knowing them in that way was/is, something better than that awaits us. Something better than marriage. For those who have been married for sixty years and can’t conceive life without their wife or husband, is it not astonishing to meditate on how glorious Christ must be and how glorious it will be to enjoy Him in His undiluted glory! It will be better than marriage … even the best of marriages. To him be the glory!
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