It’s a trap!

Mark 12:18-27

¹⁸ Then the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him with a question. ¹⁹ “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. ²⁰ Now there were seven brothers. The first one married and died without leaving any children. ²¹ The second one married the widow, but he also died, leaving no child. It was the same with the third. ²² In fact, none of the seven left any children. Last of all, the woman died too. ²³ At the resurrection whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?”

²⁴ Jesus replied, “Are you not in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God? ²⁵ When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. ²⁶ Now about the dead rising—have you not read in the Book of Moses, in the account of the burning bush, how God said to him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? ²⁷ He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken!”

The Pharisees had a go at trapping Jesus (see yesterday’s passage) – now it’s the Sadducees’ turn. Good luck trying to trap Jesus!

But one good thing came out of this ridiculous, nefarious scenario – a glimpse into eternity. 

First, there is a resurrection – we will rise from the dead. And friends of Jesus will rise to life with him. What hope and peace we have that eternity is waiting for us, cheering us on to stay the course and keep the faith (see Hebrews 12:1).

Second, there’s no marriage in eternity. On the surface, this sounds bad, but in eternity earthly marriage will have done its job – to mould our characters for heaven, to provide a suitable compliment to man (see Gen 2:18), and be a living illustration of the union and intimacy and sacrificial love between Jesus and his church – us! (see Eph 5:31-32)

Third, we’ll be like the angels (in some respects). How cool is that! Those guys have the best jobs – think Gabriel, Michael, the choirmaster who sang for the Shepherds when Jesus was born! I will be busy for Jesus in eternity doing the coolest stuff!

Fourth, I will get to meet my favourite, and most interesting people! Moses, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob – they are all living! I’ll get to speak to John the Apostle and thank him for writing John 1:11-12. I’ll talk about engineering with Noah. I’ll play bass with David. I’ll chat with Enoch and ask how he did “it” and what was “it” like (see Gen 5:23-24). I will worship God face to face – instead of only partially like through a mirror (see 1 Cor 13:12). And I will embrace Jesus – and with tears thank Him for loving me and dying for me. 

Jesus, what a day that will be! Thank you – with all my heart – for the eternal hope we have when we belong to You.

Amen

Written by B van Noppen