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Luke 20:27–36
“The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage, 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” (vv. 34–35).
During the final week of Jesus’ earthly ministry, Jewish leaders, including many of the scribes, chief priests, and elders, asked Him questions in the hope of getting Him to give an answer that would implicate Him before the Roman authorities or the common people. These men could not trap Jesus (Luke 20:1–26). Others, however, stepped forward to oppose Him. As we see in Luke 20:27–40, some Sadducees came to Jesus with a question of their own.
Many parties in first-century Judaism disagreed with each other on key matters. Perhaps the two most significant of these parties in the New Testament are the Pharisees and the Sadducees. The Pharisees followed many oral traditions that they considered binding on God’s people. They also affirmed the resurrection of the body. Many scribes and elders in ancient Israel were Pharisees. Other leaders might be Sadducees, who also supplied the priests and temple authorities. The Sadducees did not share the Pharisees’ belief in the resurrection (v. 27), and the groups had other significant doctrinal differences as well. Still, they joined forces in opposition to Jesus. John Calvin points out that people who might otherwise vehemently disagree with one another will join together to oppose Christ and His church. We should not be surprised when people with very different beliefs and practices unite against our Lord.
Posing a scenario wherein a woman marries seven different brothers in succession, having no child with any man, the Sadducees asked which brother would have her as his wife in the resurrection (vv. 27–33). The question is based on levirate marriage laws in which the brother of a man who died childless was to take the widow as his wife and father a child. The child would be counted as the heir of the dead man to keep his name and inheritance alive in Israel (Deut. 25:5–10).
If resurrected life is identical to preresurrected life, this seems to be an insoluble problem. There was no precedent for a wife to have more than one husband. Surely God would not resurrect people, they implied, because He would be creating a conundrum that even He could not solve. In reality, it is no problem at all, for the Sadducees were wrong to believe that life in the age to come is no different from life in the present age. The question is irrelevant because there will be no marriage in the age to come; we will be like angels inasmuch as we will not marry or be married (Luke 20:34–36).
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
It can be hard to imagine that there will be no marriage in the age to come, especially for those who have had long and happy marriages. We must remember, however, that the blessings of the world to come are so great that we can barely imagine them (1 Cor. 2:9). The absence of marriage in the world to come will not be a loss, for the gain we will enjoy by having perfect fellowship with the Lord will be far better than what we can now conceive of.
For further study
- Isaiah 25:6–9
- Matthew 22:23–33
The bible in a year
- Isaiah 34–36
- Philippians 2
- Isaiah 37–40
- Philippians 3–4