Will I Know My Spouse in Heaven?

If you have your Bibles, please take them and find Luke 20:27.  I want to share a message with you this morning entitled, “Will I Know My Spouse in Heaven?”

 

That is a question that I have been asked often by those who are close to dying or thinking about heaven or have just experienced the death of a spouse. 

 

In short, yes, you will know your spouse or spouses in heaven if he/she/they were followers of Christ.  However, you won’t be married to them.  Follow along as I explain.

 

We are continuing our study in Luke’s Gospel, and we looking at the last week of Jesus’ life on earth before His crucifixion.  This is called Passion Week or Holy Week. 

 

On Sunday, He rode into Jerusalem on donkey colt. On Monday, He came back into Jerusalem and cleansed the temple. 

 

On Tuesday, He came back into Jerusalem and spent a lot of the day teaching in the temple and answering certain questions.  That includes all of Luke 20 and Luke 21.

 

In Luke 20:1-2, He answered a question about authority.  This was from the chief priests and scribes and elders.

 

1 Now it happened on one of those days, as He taught the people in the temple and preached the gospel, that the chief priests and the scribes, together with the elders, confronted Him 2 and spoke to Him, saying, “Tell us, by what authority are You doing these things? Or who is he who gave You this authority?”

 

In Luke 20:19-22, He answered a question about paying taxes.  This question was also from the chief priest and scribes. 

 

19 And the chief priests and the scribes that very hour sought to lay hands on Him, but they feared the people—for they knew He had spoken this parable against them.  20 So they watched Him, and sent spies who pretended to be righteous, that they might seize on His words, in order to deliver Him to the power and the authority of the governor.  21 Then they asked Him, saying, “Teacher, we know that You say and teach rightly, and You do not show personal favoritism, but teach the way of God in truth: 22 Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”

 

Today, Jesus will answer another question.  This time, it comes from the Sadducees.

 

 

1. The Liberal Aristocrats, Luke 20:27

27 Then some of the Sadducees, who deny that there is a resurrection, came to Him and asked Him…

 

An aristocrat is a person considered to be superior through education, ability, or wealth.  The Sadducees were considered to be aristocrats.  One commentator I read this week called them the urban, wealthy, and sophisticated class of Jerusalem. 

 

They wielded great political and religious influence as part of the Jewish religious leadership of the day.  However, they had their own unique attributes. 

 

They were conservative in that they didn’t believe in the oral law or traditions of the Pharisees.  They only held to the Torah or the first five books of the Old Testament.

 

However, they were liberal in that they didn’t believe in the supernatural which included a resurrection or angels or spirits.  We know that from verse 27 and also from Acts 23:8.

 

Acts 23:8, 8 For Sadducees say that there is no resurrection—and no angel or spirit; but the Pharisees confess both.

 

Because of their beliefs, and because they were pro-Rome, they were at odds with the Pharisees again and again.  However, remember that the enemy of my enemy is my friend. 

 

Therefore, like the Pharisees in this instance, they attempted to trap Jesus with His words and discredit His ministry.  They attempted such with a hypothetical scenario in verses 28-33.

 

BTW…Did Jesus believe in a life after physical death?  Did Jesus believe in a resurrection?  See Luke 9:22, 14:14, 18:33.

 

22 saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.”

 

14 And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”

 

33 They will scourge Him and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again.”

 

 

2. A Ludicrous Argument, Luke 20:28-33

28 saying: “Teacher, Moses wrote to us that if a man’s brother dies, having a wife, and he dies without children, his brother should take his wife and raise up offspring for his brother. 29 Now there were seven brothers. And the first took a wife, and died without children. 30 And the second took her as wife, and he died childless. 31 Then the third took her, and in like manner the seven also; and they left no children, and died. 32 Last of all the woman died also. 33 Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife does she become? For all seven had her as wife.”

Beginning in verse 28, the Sadducees posed the proverbial straw man scenario to Jesus in an effort to prove their belief or argument against resurrection.  There example is based loosely on Deuteronomy 25, which is why they attributed it Moses.

 

The story included a married couple who didn’t have children for whatever reason.  Then, tragedy strikes, and the husband dies leaving the wife alone and without anyone to care for her.

 

The custom of the day and part of the Old Testament Law was what was known as levirate marriage.  This term comes from the Latin word “levirate” which means husband’s brother, and the Sadducees correctly referenced Moses commendation of it from Deuteronomy 25:5-6.

 

Deuteronomy 25:5-6, 5 “If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies and has no son, the widow of the dead man shall not be married to a stranger outside the family; her husband’s brother shall go in to her, take her as his wife, and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her. 6 And it shall be that the firstborn son which she bears will succeed to the name of his dead brother, that his name may not be blotted out of Israel.

 

We see this practice in the book of Ruth, and its purpose was to provide for this family’s future, and protect the widow.  The Sadducees could have asked their question of Jesus using just two husbands in an example.  However, in attempt to show their disdain for the resurrection and its absurdity, they used seven husbands. 

 

This was a ludicrous argument, and in their minds, Jesus only had two options in answering.  If He answered that the wife belonged to all of them, He would be condoning adultery.  If He answered otherwise, in their minds, He would be teaching that there was no such thing as the resurrection. 

 

 

3. Life Afterward, Luke 20:34-40

34 Jesus answered and said to them, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage. 35 But those who are counted worthy to attain that age, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; 36 nor can they die anymore, for they are equal to the angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. 37 But even Moses showed in the burning bush passage that the dead are raised, when he called the Lord ‘the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ 38 For He is not the God of the dead but of the living, for all live to Him.”  39 Then some of the scribes answered and said, “Teacher, You have spoken well.” 40 But after that they dared not question Him anymore.

 

As He did with others, He challenged the Sadducees’ understanding of Scripture.  They should have known better, but they didn’t.

 

Beginning in verse 34, Jesus pointed out two of their errors in thinking.  First, Jesus said there would be no marriage(s) in heaven. 

 

Why?  One of the main purposes of marriage is reproduction.  However, in heaven, there is no need for reproduction because life in heaven is eternal life.  Therefore, you will know you spouse and children and others in heaven, but the only marriage in heaven will be between Christ and His Bride, the Church.

 

In verse 36, Jesus said that in heaven, we will be EQUAL to angels.  Notice He didn’t say we will be angels.  He said we will be EQUAL to angels.  How so? 

 

Like angels, we will have glorified bodies.  Like angels, we will not reproduce.  Like angels, we will live eternally, and like angels, we will be fully and completely dedicated to our relationship with God. 

 

In verse 37, Jesus specifically addressed the resurrection of the dead.  Again, Jesus challenged their knowledge of Scripture with a verse from Exodus 3:6.  The Sadducees should have known this since they only believed and were supposed to be experts in the Torah or first five books of the OT.

 

Exodus 3:6, 6 I am the God of your father—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”

 

In verse 38, Jesus added that God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.  What was so special about what He said? 

 

Exodus 3 is about 500 years after Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob died.  Yet, God said, “I AM the God of…”  He used present tense and not past tense to say that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were still alive in heaven because of the resurrection of the dead. 

 

Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:8 that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.  Therefore, once these OT Patriarchs died or any believer dies, he or she is immediately transferred to heaven and in God’s presence.

 

Conclusions/Applications (5)

So what does all this mean? 

 

First, like the Sadducees, we will make mistakes and errors in judgement when we don’t know the Scriptures.  If you don’t know what the Bible says about marriage, you will make unnecessary mistakes in yours. If you don’t know what the Bible says about parenting, you will make unnecessary mistakes with your children.  If you don’t know what the Bible says about money.  You will make unnecessary mistakes managing yours.  Read your Bible.  Be in Sunday School and Church.  Don’t neglect the opportunities the Lord gives you so readily. 

 

Second, there everyone will have eternity either in heaven or in hell.  Your destination depends on whether you answer God’s call to salvation in Christ.

 

Everybody is born once and dies once.  Some are born twice and die once.  Those are followers of Christ.

 

They are born physically and born again spiritually.  Then, they only die physically.

 

However, if you don’t call on Jesus to save you, you will be born once and die twice.  You are born physically, but you will die physically and spiritually.  However, you will die for ever in hell.

 

I beg you and plead with you today to be saved.  Put your faith and trust in Christ.  Call on Jesus to save you!