Read Matthew 22:23-33.
It was an old trick. The Sadducees had used it on their theological opponents—the Pharisees—often. The Sadducees were the liberals of their day, denying the supernatural, including the resurrection. That is why a Sadducee was “sad, you see.” They took Moses’ command that when a brother dies, his brother is expected to marry the widow and care for her, and in the hypothetical they present, this happens an absurd seven times. So, they stumped the Pharisees with the question they think will buffalo Jesus, “Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be?”
Our Lord responds by pointing to the root of their problem, “You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God.” He then proceeds to tell them that marriage is an institution of earth, that will be superseded by a higher relationship in eternity. A sexual union with a spouse is supplanted by a spiritual union to Christ—the church is His bride. Jesus says we will be, “like the angels.”
He does not say that we will be angels! I have often heard people say that. You don’t want to be an angel. You will be glorified humanity. Jesus wasn’t saying you would become an angel. He was saying that in their devotion to Christ alone, we will be like holy angels. They do not wed, but focus on serving God and worshipping Him. They are consumed with His glory, and all this will be true of us. You won’t earn wings, but you will get a new body, designed for Heaven.
The Sadducees claimed to believe only the first five books of the Bible. So, Jesus proved their ignorance of the Scriptures by quoting from one of those books, Exodus 3:6, 15. The faithfulness of God’s Word extends to the very tenses of verbs, as God decreed, “I am the God of Abraham...Isaac, and...Jacob.” He is eternally their God, for they are eternally with Him—and so shall all God’s people be.
Note, that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob retained their identity. In many ways, heaven is an extension of this life, but only on a higher plane. I will know my wife and she will know me. I will love my wife, but with perfect love, and so I will love everyone absolutely.
“God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.” Case closed!
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