Luke 20:34-40 - An end to marriage

2:34-36

In Matthew’s account (Matt 22:23-33) Jesus opens His answer by declaring that the Sadducees know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God. Here in Luke we go straight into the theological explanation. Marriage is for this age, but in the age to come there will be no more marriage. Note first that Jesus says “those considered worthy of taking part in the age to come”. This is the question that the Sadducees (and everyone else) should have been focusing on. Would they be part of the age to come? This is particularly poignant for the Sadducees did not believe in an afterlife, in an age to come. They were entirely focused on this age. So their question actually betrayed their own lack of vision.

Then Jesus explains that the age to come will be vastly different from this age, and we will be vastly different. There will be no more marriage, we will never die again, and we will be God’s children. When a husband or wife dies people often talk about “seeing them again”. Well if we and they are believers we will see each other again, but we will not be married! Now this might upset some people, but if we are upset it is because we are thinking like the Sadducees, in an earth-bound manner. It will not be that we have lost anything, but everything will be infinitely greater. Marriage is only for this age, not for the age to come (except in the sense of the church being the bride of Christ). Will you love your husband or wife? Of course, but we have no conception of how different, how wonderful things will be in the age to come, and how wonderful we will be in the age to come. When Christ returns and the fulfilment of all things is achieved the question of marriage will look rather silly!

20:37-40

Jesus then attacks the Sadducees rejection of the resurrection directly. He does so be quoting from Moses. The reason for choosing Moses is that the Sadducees majored on the first five books of the Old Testament, so Jesus is quoting from the books that even the Sadducees accepted as God’s word. Jesus reminds them that Moses spoke of “the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob”. God is the God of the living, not the dead, so Abraham, Isaac and Jacob must be alive. So Jesus is saying the the resurrection is implicit throughout the Bible.

The teachers of the Law, who were Pharisees were delighted at this. Even though they feared and hated Jesus, they also hated the Sadducees. So this is a matter of “my enemy’s enemy being my friend”.

Earlier the teachers of the Law had been silenced, now the Sadducees were also silenced. Everyone was silenced. On the last day, the day of judgement, everyone will be silent before God. No one will be able to object.