People wanted to know what Jesus believed about the status of marriage in heaven. Jesus emphasized that what we receive in heaven will be greater than what we take with us to heaven.

Mark 12:18-27

¹⁸ And Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection. And they asked him a question, saying, ¹⁹ “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that 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. ²⁰ There were seven brothers; the first took a wife, and when he died left no offspring. ²¹ And the second took her, and died, leaving no offspring. And the third likewise. ²² And the seven left no offspring. Last of all the woman also died. ²³ In the resurrection, when they rise again, whose wife will she be? For the seven had her as wife.”

²⁴ Jesus said to them, “Is this not the reason you are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God? ²⁵ For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. ²⁶ 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’? ²⁷ He is not God of the dead, but of the living. You are quite wrong.”

The Question (Mark 12:18-23)

• The Sadducees were a wealthy and powerful group of Pharisees who did not believe in the resurrection.
• Referencing a law for widows, they used a preposterous scenario regarding marriage in an attempt to disprove the afterlife.
• Some people do not believe that heaven is able to reconcile the complexity of human relationships.

The Answer (Mark 12:24-27)

• We overlook truth when we neglect either the Word of God or the power of God.
• Marriage, as we currently know it, will not be experienced the same way in heaven.
• Don’t focus on heaven being where you go once you die but where you go once you finally live.

The Application

• Maintain your earthly marriage with a heavenly perspective.
• Heaven is more than merely having a fancy home, an improved body, and a family reunion.
• The basic pleasures of heaven will transcend the greatest pleasures of earth.
• You misunderstand heaven if you view Jesus as the ticket and not the treasure.
• God will not deprive you of any meaningful relationship, experience, or need in heaven.
• The most important marriage in heaven is not between you and your spouse.
• Instead of focusing on if you will be married in heaven, you should resolve the issue if you will be present in heaven.