One day some Sadducees, who do not believe in a physical resurrection, went to Jesus and they asked, “Teacher, Moses wrote to us if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife, but leaves no child, the man must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother” (Mark 12:19, ESV). Wait, did Moses really say that? Yes, he did. The Sadducees are referring to what Moses said in Deuteronomy 25:5, “If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the dead man shall not be married outside the family to a stranger. Her husband’s brother shall go in to her and take her as his wife and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her.” The point to this was simply to preserve the family line.
Then the Saduccees, in an attempt to trick Jesus, ask’s Jesus a question. It goes like this, “There were seven brothers; the first took a wife, and when he died he left no offspring. And the second took her, and he died, leaving no offspring. And the third likewise. And the seven left no offspring. Last of all the woman also died. In the resurrection, when they rise again, whose wife will she be? For the seven had her as a wife” (Mark 12:20-23, ESV). Good question, right? This woman, has been passed down from brother to brother in an attempt for each brother to perform their duty, according to Deuteronomy 25:5. In heaven, whose wife will she be?
Here is Jesus’ reply, “Is this not the reason you are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God? (Mark 12:24, ESV)” I bet that hurt. The Sadducees spent their life studying the Scriptures, and Jesus, in his opening statement, calls them out for being wrong on two accounts. They do not know the Scriptures and they do not know “the power of God”. But, what does that mean?
First, Jesus addresses marriage at the resurrection by saying, “For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven” (Mark 12:25, ESV). In other words, the Sadducees assume there is going to be marriage in heaven, but they have assumed wrong. There is no marriage in heaven; the institution of marriage as we know it today will not continue in the Kingdom of God. Instead, relationships in heaven will be like the angels, who don’t marry. Now, I know this may sound discouraging, if you are deeply in love with your spouse. But don’t be. For, the relationships we will have in the heaven will be far greater than what we enjoy on this earth. What I mean by that is this: you will know your loved one(s) in heaven, and not only will you know them, but you enjoy a much closer relationship with them than you ever did on this earth. The joy and love you will have in heaven concerning relationships will be far greater, not less, than what you experienced here on earth.
Secondly, Jesus addresses the resurrection, saying, “And as for the dead being raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are quite wrong.” When God presents Himself to Moses in Exodus 3:6, He does not address himself as the God of the dead but as the God of the living. When Jesus quotes Exodus 3:6, he is acknowledging to the Sadducees, who deny the physical resurrection, that Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, are all still very much alive and are enjoying the blessings of God. Thus, Jesus confirms there is a resurrection of the dead, and that our relationships in heaven will be far greater than what we have ever experienced on this side of heaven.