Jaw-dropping Jewels about Jesus
Rarely does Jesus, God the Son, do exactly what we expect of Him. It seems odd that He so frequently surprises us, given that He never changes. Hebrews 13:8 makes this absolute statement: “Jesus the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” Still, though He is blessedly consistent in His goodness, Jesus does unforeseen things. Even when He does what is expected, He does not always do it in the way that we anticipate. Let us join with Jesus on a jaw-dropping journey. (I will be using this opening paragraph for each of the brief messages in this series. The following material will change daily.)
Jesus’ statement about marriage in eternity has troubled some happily married Christians: “For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels which are in heaven” (Mark 12:25). The Sadducees did not believe in the existence of angels (Acts 23:8), an error that Jesus forthrightly corrects here. Another error that He corrects is that resurrection is just a continuation of life here (as we considered yesterday); the Sadducees did not believe in resurrection either, but the popular view of it needed refutation. “Marriage” is a wonderful gift; only after the creation of Adam and Eve did our Lord call His entire creation “very good” (Genesis 1:31). Proverbs 18:22a rejoices, “Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing.” However, because procreation will not be needed to fill heaven (as was needed on earth – Genesis 1:28), marriage will not be a necessity in heaven. Will I love my wife in heaven? Of course I will. We will know each other (see Matthew 17:1-8 – both Elijah and Moses were immediately recognizable) and love each other more deeply than now, for “we shall be changed” (I Corinthians 15:52). The sin nature that challenges any relationship here will be cast aside forever, and we will have better interactions with all of the inhabitants of heaven.