Mark 12:13-27
“Some Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him and asked him a question, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies, leaving a wife but no child, the man shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother. There were seven brothers; the first married and, when he died, left no children; and the second married the widow and died, leaving no children; and the third likewise; none of the seven left children. Last of all the woman herself died. In the resurrection whose wife will she be? For the seven had married her.”
Jesus said to them, “Is not this the reason you are wrong, that you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God? For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. And as for the dead being raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the story about the bush, how God said to him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is God not of the dead, but of the living; you are quite wrong.”
Mike and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary yesterday. With this milestone approaching, I struggled with Pastor Jeff’s sermon a few months ago when he focused on marriages dissolving at death. I was raised with Disney princesses, after all, and their happily ever afters! So, when I inadvertently signed up for these Scriptures before reading them, I realized that God wanted me to sort through my discomfort. Great, right?! Couldn’t I have had 1 Corinthians 13 with a sweet “greatest of these is love”? Sigh…
One of the first thoughts my studying uncovered was how we, as earth-bound humans, tend to envision heaven as earth experiences, perfected. Native Americans had happy hunting grounds, Vikings had Valhalla, Muslims had total sensual luxury after lifetime deprivation. But we haven’t been promised that. Instead, it’s what “no eye has seen, nor ear heard, heart conceived of”. Why am I assuming my earthly norms when I have no concept of what’s to come? That’s still unsettling, so I kept studying.
Next I learned how marriage isn’t only discussed as traditional spouses, but as a spiritual relationship between God and his people and Christ and the church. That wouldn’t end at death as it’s eternal, so God’s love is the truly immortal happily ever after. That may not answer my questions of what is to come, but I can rest in His love, as can we all.
