27 Then came to him certain of the Sadducees, which deny that there is any resurrection; and they asked him, 28 Saying, Master, Moses wrote unto us, If any man’s brother die, having a wife, and he die without children, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother. 29 There were therefore seven brethren: and the first took a wife, and died without children. 30 And the second took her to wife, and he died childless. 31 And the third took her; and in like manner the seven also: and they left no children, and died. 32 Last of all the woman died also. 33 Therefore in the resurrection whose wife of them is she? for seven had her to wife.
34 And Jesus answering said unto them, The children of this world marry, and are given in marriage: 35 But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage: 36 Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection. 37 Now that the dead are raised, even Moses shewed at the bush, when he calleth the Lord the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. 38 For he is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto him. (Luke 20:27-38 KJV)
Sadducees Ask About the Resurrection
This discourse with the Sadducees is recorded just as it is here, except that Christ’s description of the future state is a little more detailed in Luke.
In every age, there have been corrupt-minded people trying to undermine the core truths of revealed religion. Just as there are deists today who call themselves free-thinkers but are really false-thinkers, there were Sadducees in Jesus’ time who mocked the doctrine of the resurrection and the life to come, even though those truths were clearly revealed in the Old Testament and part of Jewish belief. The Sadducees denied the resurrection, any afterlife, any world of spirits, or any state of reward and punishment for actions done in the body. Remove this belief, and religion collapses.
It is common for people who want to undermine divine truth to confuse it with complicated arguments. That’s what the Sadducees did. To discredit belief in the resurrection, they posed a hypothetical situation about a woman who had seven husbands and asked whose wife she would be in the resurrection—thinking the question unanswerable. But the question misses the point, since that earthly relationship ends with death and does not resume afterward.
There is a significant difference between life on earth and life in heaven. There is a great disconnect between this world and the next. We do ourselves and Christ’s truth a disservice when we use earthly experiences to imagine the spiritual world.
The people of this world marry and are given in marriage (Luke 20:34). Much of life is centered around building families and enjoying relationships. Marriage was instituted to provide companionship and to regulate natural desires in this earthly life where we carry physical bodies. People die, and marriage helps continue the human race and introduce future generations of God’s people (Malachi 2:15).
The world to come is different—it’s called “that world” for a reason (Luke 20:35). There is this visible world and a future invisible world. Each of us should compare them and set our hopes and priorities on the world that truly matters.
Those who will inhabit that world are those considered worthy to obtain it—those who are united to Christ, who paid the price for them, and who have been prepared by the Holy Spirit. They are not worthy by their own works but by Christ’s merit. They are made fit for that world through God’s grace. They will take part in the resurrection of the righteous—not the resurrection of condemnation (John 5:29), which leads to eternal death.
The future state of these people is beyond our ability to fully express or understand (1 Corinthians 2:9). Jesus reveals several truths about it:
They neither marry nor are given in marriage. Their joy is complete in the presence of God and needs no enhancement from earthly relationships. The love of that world is pure and far surpasses the most wholesome loves of this world. With spiritual bodies and perfect holiness, there’s no need for marriage as a safeguard against sin. Nothing impure enters that new Jerusalem.
They cannot die anymore, which is why they don’t marry. In this dying world, marriage helps replenish the human race. But in that world, there are no burials, so there’s no need for weddings. The absence of death adds to the joy of heaven, whereas death tarnishes the best pleasures of this life.
They are equal to the angels (Luke 20:36). Not just like the angels, but on equal footing with them—sharing their joy, their service, and their sight of God. Though once strangers by nature, the saints will be welcomed as citizens of heaven, having received this privilege through Christ’s sacrifice. They will dwell and interact with the holy angels who love them and with whom they are now spiritually united.
They are children of God, as the angels are called sons of God. Believers now have the nature of sons, but adoption will be fully realized when the body is raised (Romans 8:23). “Now we are children of God” (1 John 3:2), but the fullness of that reality awaits heaven.
They are children of the resurrection. They are suited for the life to come, born again for that world, trained for it here, and ready to inherit it there. God only acknowledges as his children those who are children of the resurrection—those born from above, who belong to the spiritual realm and are ready for it.
It is a sure truth that there is life after death, and this was revealed even in the earliest days of the Old Testament (Luke 20:37-38). Moses showed this when he called the Lord “the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” These patriarchs had been dead for many years, and their bodies had long since turned to dust. Yet God said, not “I was” but “I am the God of Abraham.” That would be impossible if they were utterly gone, without soul or spirit.
It would be absurd for the eternal and living God to remain in covenant with those who had ceased to exist. So they must have been alive in another world. “God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.” Luke adds, “For all live to him”—meaning all true believers live to God, even after death. Their souls return to him (Ecclesiastes 12:7), and their bodies will live again through his power, for he “calls things that are not as though they were” and “gives life to the dead” (Romans 4:17).
There is more still. When God called himself the God of these patriarchs, he meant he was their joy and portion—their exceeding great reward (Genesis 15:1). But that full reward wasn’t given in this life. Their history shows that. So there must be a future life where God will fulfill what he promised: to be their God. He has more than enough to make every soul that lives to him perfectly happy—more than enough for all, and more than enough for each.