Slices
Prepare
‘I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple’ (Isaiah 6:1). Use this picture today, to help you focus on God’s great glory.
Bible passage
The resurrection and marriage
27 Some of the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus with a question. 28 ‘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. 29 Now there were seven brothers. The first one married a woman and died childless. 30 The second 31 and then the third married her, and in the same way the seven died, leaving no children. 32 Finally, the woman died too. 33 Now then, at the resurrection whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?’
34 Jesus replied, ‘The people of this age marry and are given in marriage. 35 But those who are considered worthy of taking part in the age to come and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage, 36 and they can no longer die; for they are like the angels. They are God’s children, since they are children of the resurrection. 37 But in the account of the burning bush, even Moses showed that the dead rise, for he calls the Lord “the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob”. 38 He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.’
39 Some of the teachers of the law responded, ‘Well said, teacher!’ 40 And no one dared to ask him any more questions.
Whose son is the Messiah?
41 Then Jesus said to them, ‘Why is it said that the Messiah is the son of David? 42 David himself declares in the Book of Psalms:
‘“The Lord said to my Lord:
‘Sit at my right hand
43 until I make your enemies
a footstool for your feet.’”
44 David calls him “Lord.” How then can he be his son?’
Explore
Understanding what happens when we die is one of mankind’s enduring questions. This passage doesn’t answer it fully, but it should fill us with hope.
Jesus showed the Sadducees that their thinking on this was too small. Heaven will not simply be an extension of this life, with its loss, loneliness and lusts. We won’t need to produce children to continue our species. We won’t need the companionship of one ‘special’ person to keep us happy. And we will have pleasures far greater than sexual intercourse can offer. The apostle Paul tells us that marriage is given to us, at least in part, as a picture of the relationship between Christ and the Church – the worldwide body of believers (Ephesians 5:32). We will neither want nor need another union when that one is complete.
All believers should remember that union with Christ is the ultimate goal – not marriage or any of the other good things we enjoy on earth – and must live with that in mind.
Respond
‘Lord, please help me recognise when I am getting caught up in worldly cares. Show me what it means to live in the light of my eternal future life with you. Amen.’
Deeper Bible study
‘See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!’1
One of the religious groups during the time of Jesus, the Sadducees, did not believe in the resurrection. It was their turn to entrap Jesus as the conflict with him intensified. They crafted an absurd question about the wife of seven men through levirate marriage and hoped to refute the belief in the resurrection held both by Jesus and by the Pharisees.2 The law of levirate marriage states that if a man dies childless his brother will marry his widow and raise their children, in the name of the deceased brother. This is to ensure that the line of descent is kept.3
In their question, the Sadducees gave an example of a man who died childless. Then his brother married the widow but also died childless, and this continued until the seventh brother who married the widow and remained childless. Then the widow died. Whose wife would she be since she had married so many men? The Sadducees thought that they could embarrass Jesus by firing their best theological shot. Jesus refuted them by saying that in the resurrection life, there is no more marriage. There is no need to be bothered about preserving one’s family line.
Jesus’ answer is important. It is an affirmation of what we recite in the Nicene Creed: ‘We look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come’. In our world today, where there are doubts about resurrection and a rising belief in reincarnation, we are reminded that death is not the end for us. What happens beyond death hinges on one’s response to Jesus. We should not worry which man is the husband of the widow. Instead, we should be concerned whether we are children of God.
‘Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God … born of God.’4
1 1 John 3:1 2 Acts 23:8 3 Deut 25:5,6 4 John 1:12,13
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Deuteronomy 21,22; Psalm 35
Pray for Scripture Union
Development Hub team member Maggie Barfield has been both enlightened and challenged while working on the Be More Micah Faith Guide resources about social justice, the environment and racial justice. Please pray for Maggie as she develops the material and seeks to act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with God.
