Good Morning Friends,
“Then the Sadducees, who say there is no
resurrection, came to him with a question.
‘Teacher,’ they said, ‘Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies
and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and have
children for his brother. Now there were
seven brothers. The first one married
and died without leaving any children.
The second one married the widow, but he also died, leaving no
child. It was the same with the
third. In fact, none of the seven left
any children. Last of all, the woman
died too. At the resurrection whose wife
will she be, since the seven were married to her?’ Jesus replied, ‘Are you not in error because
you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God? When the dead rise, they will neither marry
nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. Now about the dead rising — have you not read
in the book of Moses, in the account of the bush, how God said to him, “I am
the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob”? He is not the God of the dead, but of the
living. You are badly mistaken!’” (Mark
12:18-27)
The Sadducees were trying to make a point –
that life after death doesn’t make any sense.
That’s what they believed.
Although they were religious Jews, they believed that life on earth was
all there was. When death came, that was
the end. There was nothing beyond the
grave for anyone.
The story they used to prove how irrational
the idea of life after death is involved one woman and seven brothers that she
married in succession – being widowed by each husband. The Old Testament Law required a non-married
brother to take his brother’s widow as his wife if she was left a widow without
children. It was the plan that was used
to keep the land in the tribe and family.
After being married to all seven and having children with none of them,
which would be her husband in marriage?
That was the Sadducees question.
The problem was that they were defining
eternity in terms of earth. In fact,
there is no marriage in eternity.
We would never come up with the same kind of
story that the Sadducees came up with because we don’t practice the same kind
of requirement among brothers. But, many
of us still have the Sadducees problem of defining heaven in terms of earth.
I can’t understand what we’re going to be doing
all the time in eternity – just floating on clouds and playing harps and
singing?
Will there be dogs in heaven? How about cats?
Will I know my family and friends in heaven?
How will I recognize other people when they
have a new body?
Do I get to pick what age I want my body to
look like?
All of those, and many other questions are
framed from an earthly perspective and that doesn’t work when talking about
eternity.
It’s okay to say we don’t know what heaven
will be like. It’s okay to say that
because eternity is beyond our comprehension.
It’s okay to say that because the One in charge of creating heaven and
ruling heaven is Someone we know well and who has proved He can be trusted.
His, by Grace,
Steve
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