The Gospel of Luke: When We Live Forever | Afterlife | Heaven - Video

There came to him some Sadducees, those who deny that there is a resurrection, and they asked him a question, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies, having a wife but no children, the man must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. Now there were seven brothers. The first took a wife, and died without children. And the second and the third took her, and likewise all seven left no children and died. Afterward the woman also died. In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had her as wife.” And Jesus said to them, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage, but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage, for they cannot die anymore, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed, in the passage about the bush, where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all live to him.” Then some of the scribes answered, “Teacher, you have spoken well.” For they no longer dared to ask him any question. Luke: 20: 27-40 This passage slightly lifts the veil on the life and eternity to come. Here we have a conservative Jewish sect, the Sadducees, take their turn at trying to trip up Jesus. They don’t even believe in the resurrection, yet they ask Jesus about it. The type of marriage referenced here was done for 3 reasons - to preserve the name of the family, to preserve the land in that family, and to protect the woman, so she is not widowed. For a man to refuse the preservation and protection this marriage provided would have caused enormous dishonor. So, while this scenario sounds unrealistic, it’s not impossible for someone in this culture. The underlying takeaway from this odd fact pattern is that, in this life, relationships in this life are messy and hard. Jesus shows us how Heaven untangles the messy relationships we get in down here on earth, and in the process reveals that the Sadducees don’t have a strong enough understanding of the afterlife. The relationships we have on this earth are not “fixed,” in the resurrection. They are instead “transformed.” In Heaven, marriages are no longer needed because we are no longer “Son of this age” but are rather “Sons of God.” In heaven, families don't have the kind of name that needs preserving - because they are of the Name above every Name. We shall all be given the family name of Jesus! Thus, we can cease worrying about our possessions too! God owns everything! The need for securing the family will be no more. We will be given a totally new nature, and no longer need to marry to secure our family land. And we will be transformed! We no longer will be able to die, being like the angels! So we will no longer have a need to worry about our lives or death! Our relationships will be completely and totally transformed because everyone will be completely different! So whatever relationship you enjoy the most, that is only a small foretaste of what all our relationships will be like when we reach the resurrection! We will be so deeply known! The Sadducees thought they had Jesus trapped. But Jesus shows them that they are selling themselves short, because Jesus shows us that our understanding of the covenant we are a part of will be completely transformed. The Sadducees come quoting Moses to Jesus to trip them up, and Jesus shows them what Moses says about resurrection - God introduces Himself to Moses as the (present tense) God of those who died! Jesus has not come just to adjust messy relationships. The resurrection transforms them!