Is There Marriage in Heaven?
November 9, 2025. Luke 20:27-40. Richard Senum
After three years of teaching and healing and saving people’s lives -Jesus is in Jerusalem. The cross and our salvation are only a few days away. As Jesus enters the city – Luke tells us at 19: 37 – 38; how his followers responded in that joyous procession;
“…the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: 38 “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”
But – Luke also tells us that the religious leaders took offense to the joyful singing - so they say to Jesus – in v 39; “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!” They don’t get it and they probably don’t want to get it. If they di they might have to accept Jesus as the Messiah.
The response of the religious authorities aligns with their dislike – maybe even their hatred of Jesus. Y’see – during the previous three years – not only did he violate their definition of the Sabbath laws - he was also a threat to their power and prestige.
They believed that if the people started to follow Jesus instead of them - their position within the Jewish community would be greatly reduced or even eliminated. They also believed that if the people following Jesus rebelled against Roman authorities - then their power – their prestige – their wealth and even their life could be lost.
Over the course of history – individuals or organizations faced with a lose of it’s power and control – will sometime act violently or illegally or unethically to maintain their power. It seems that in such situations what is good and right and moral and true are quickly abandoned in favour of the pursuit of - or maintenance of their power by whatever means necessary – very Machiavellian.
So - Even before Jesus arrived in Jerusalem - the religious authorities understood that he was a potential threat to their way of life and their power over the people. And they had already started plotting to kill him.
In Matthew 12 – It is the Sabbath and Matthew tells us at v:1 what the disciples were doing that upset the Pharisees. “His disciples were hungry, so they began breaking off some heads of grain and eating them.” To the hardened heart of the Pharisees this is working on the Sabbath. And they say to Jesus; “Look, your disciples are breaking the law by harvesting grain on the Sabbath.” I don’t know about you but pulling a few grains of wheat of the stalk can hardly be considered harvesting or work.
Then shortly after this - Jesus goes into a Synagogue where there is a man with a shriveled hand. Believing that Jesus will heal the man - the local Pharisees ask; “Does the law permit a person to work by healing on the Sabbath?” There is deceit in their question as Matthew points out the real intention to their question: “(They were hoping he would say yes, so they could bring charges against him.)”
So Jesus heals the man and tells them; “Yes, the law permits a person to do good on the Sabbath.” To support this -Jesus point out that they would certainly rescue one of their sheep if it fell into a well on the Sabbath. And humans are more important than animals.
In these two incidents the religious leaders accuse Jesus and his disciple of violating their over restrictive definitions of the fourth commandment – to keep the Sabbath day holy and not do any work. But they took the idea of work way beyond common sense.
Then at 12:8 Jesus says something that probably made them very hostile towards him. Jesus says: “For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” They would take that statement to means that Jesus is LORD of the Sabbath. In this short verse Jesus is saying that he is God. And to the Pharisees and any Jew of that time - if someone said they are God – that is a blaspheme against God and according to Leviticus 24:16 they are to be stoned to death: “…anyone who blasphemes the name of the Lord is to be put to death. The entire assembly must stone them.” When Jesus said; “For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” this it would have sent all kinds of warning bells through the religious community. Not only in the town where he was - but through out all of Israel.
It is after these two Sabbath Law incidents - and when Jesus equates himself with God - that the religious authorities begin to plot - how to kill Jesus. In Matthew 12: 14 we read: “But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus.”
They see with their own eyes that the man is healed and yet they complain about it because by their rules it is prohibited work on the Sabbath. They would certainly know that no human has ever healed and saved people the way Jesus did. Only the God who created us can do that. To the people then and to us today – we would consider such healings as a miracle.
Therefore, by the time Jesus arrives in Jerusalem the religious leaders dislike him – and some hated him. I have to wonder – how could they who witnessed his miracles be so blind to the gift of life that he offers. Think about the people today who still refuse to see Jesus’s gift of life.
In order to kill Jesus they have to accuse him of some violation of the religious laws so the people will be on their side – then they can arrest him and then arrange to have him killed.
In Luke 20 – we read about some of the interactions between Jesus and the religious leaders after he arrived in Jerusalem. They are going to try and trick him into saying something wrong,
But how do you trap the God who created all languages and rhetoric?
In the first encounter – Jesus is teaching people about the Good News in the temple and the religious leaders demand (they don’t ask – they demand.) at 20: 2: “Tell us by what authority you are doing these things,” they said. “Who gave you this authority?” The authority – of course - is God – but hey will never get that. It seems to me – that the God of the Temple is claiming his absolute divine right to it.
To the religious leaders - authority in religious matters had to be by education and training and holding a certificate. Religious authority did not belong to itinerate preachers like Jesus and John the Baptist.
Then Jesus asks them a question at v:4; Tell me: 4 John’s baptism—was it from heaven, or of human origin?” What can they say. They did not believe John’s baptism was from God – but the people did. If they say it was human then they will be stoned. Luke tells us what they were thinking in v: 6; ‘…if we say of human origin,’ all the people will stone us, because they are persuaded that John was a prophet.” Since they are afraid to give an answer either way they say at v.7; “We don’t know where it was from.” They tried to trick him but failed and so he does not answer their question.
I wonder - If they had believed that Joh’s baptism was from heaven then it follows that all of John’s baptisms’ were from God including Jesus’s baptism.
Just before today’s gospel verses Luke tells us about another interaction between the religious leaders and Jesus where they again try and trick him into saying something that would make the people turn against him.
So the religious leaders send some spies pretending to be honest men. This time they plan to trap Jesus into saying something against Roman. That would bring him into conflict with the Romans authorities and they would then execute him. Saving the religious leaders a lot of trouble. Luke records their question at 20: 21-22; “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach what is right, and that you do not show partiality but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. 22 Is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”
How are these allegedly honest men – or any human ever – going to trick God. So Jesus says to them; “Show me a denarius. Whose image and inscription are on it? They say it is the image of Ceasar . And Jesus responds with what I think is one of the best phrases or an explanation’s of how we should divide and separate our heavenly interests from our worldly interests. He says at 20: 25; “Then give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”
They could not argue against Jesus’s answer. And Luke confirms their inability to trap him in front of the people at 20: 26; “They were unable to trap him in what he had said there in public. And astonished by his answer, they became silent. They must have been getting very frustrated because they could not trap him with any of their questions.
Finally – the Sadducees tried to confront him with a question.
A little about the Sadducees.
They were an aristocratic group who controlled the temple system. They worked with rather than against the Roman rulers. Because of their friendly association with the Romans they were not like by the general Jewish population. Unlike the Pharisees – they did not believe in a resurrection of the dead – they did not believe in angels or demons – and they did not believe in a final judgement. And of course - they did not believe that Jesus was God. They took their authority rom the Pentateuch – the first five books of the Bible - and little from the rest of the Old Testament.
They ask Jesus a question about marriage and the resurrection. This is an odd question from them because they did not believe in a resurrection. I have to wonder if they received the question from some other religious group. Or more likely they were mocking Jesus because he says there is a resurrection. Their question suggests that it is absurd to think of a resurrection - where a woman would have to marry one of the brothers -when they are all entitled to marry her.
So here again is their question to Jesus, as Luke tells us in 20: 29 – 33, “Now there were seven brothers. The first one married a woman and died childless. 30 The second 31 and then the third married her, and in the same way the seven died, leaving no children. 32 Finally, the woman died too. 33 Now then, at the resurrection whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?”
Now the short answer is that there is no marriage in heaven. But in Jesus’s answer there is whole lot more for the Jews then and every Christian since then to consider.
The first part of Jesus ‘s answer is at v. 34 where he says; “The people of this age marry and are given in marriage.
Marriage is ordained by God. In Genesis 2:24 God says about Adam and Eve; “That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.”Marriage isn’t just because we like it. But also - where a man and a woman find someone they love and want to share life with. God knows that it is good for a man and a woman to be married so they can have and raise children to fill the earth. That was great advise to Noah and his family but I think the earth is pretty full up now.
Then Jesus says at v. 35 “But those who are considered worthy of taking part in the age to come and in the resurrection from the dead…”
Worthy? Sometime I ask people what it takes or what do they have to do to get into heaven. Most answer with something like – be good to others to help where you can. Admirable and that may help if you get there. But that is not the primary reason that give access past those pearly gates. The primary reason is faith in Jesus and he tells us in John 6:29; Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”
Paul says we are saved by faith alone – that is – faith in the finished work of Jesus on the cross. Because we are saved through faith in Christ Jesus we then do good work that glorifies God. This is what Paul says in Ephesians 2: 8-10;
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
So let’s not think for a moment that we gain access to heave because we are good – whatever that means. And we know we are not good. Paul taking from Isaiah says in Romans 3: 10-12:
As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.”
No one does good – not any of you or me and certainly not those who say they are good. But thank God because we have something that most people in the world do not have – We have faith in the LORD Jesus Christ – right!
And what is the gift for those who are worthy?
No more pain – suffering – tears – or worry. To be children of God with the Lamb at the center of the throne. To not face the second death and to be like the angels.
I’m think I’m like a lot of Christians because in some ways we can’t wait to be in heaven with Jesus. But while we are on this side of heaven we can enjoy the beauty and wonder of God’s creation – also encourage others to come to Jesus.
So no one can trick Jesus. Not the Pharisees – not the guys who pretended to be honest men and not the Sadducees.
If you can’t get something the right way – but you still really - really want it. Then you will do whatever it takes. And you don’t care if it is illegal or unethical or immoral – if you have to kill someone to get what you want – you might just do that. And that was the parable of the Tenant Farmers in Luke 20: 9-17.
Jesus knows how much the religious leaders disliked and hated him. So in the parable he tells them what they are going to do to the Son – Jesus – of the owner of the vineyard – God. They are going to kill the Son.
In the parable - the owner of a vineyard rented it out to some tenant farmers. When it was time to collect his portion of the harvest, he sent a servant to collect what was owed to him. But each time the owner sent a servant the tenant farmers beat the servant and sent him away empty handed. Finally - the owner sends his son saying; “I will send my son, whom I love; perhaps they will respect him.” This time the tenant farmers decide to kill the son so they can have the vineyard for themselves. We read their action in Luke 20: 14-15; “Let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 15 So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.”
God had sent his servants – the prophets – to the tenant farmers – the Jewish nations and its leaders – to call the people back to him. But in the long history of Israel the prophets were despised and some killed because they spoke the truth. Now Jesus is saying that the same thing is going to happen to him.
The religious leaders know that the parable is about them and Luke tells us what they thought and wanted to do to Jesus at 20: 19; “The teachers of the law and the chief priests looked for a way to arrest him immediately, because they knew he had spoken this parable against them. But they were afraid of the people”.
The religious leaders want to arrest and kill Jesus – but how are they going top accomplish that? Well - they bribe one of Jesus’s willing disciples – Judas – they arrest him and bring him before the Sanhedrin in the night without a full assembly of leaders and call two false witnesses. They explode with anger when he confirms that he is God. That’s blaspheme. So now they can arouse the population against him and convince the Romans to crucify him on a cross.
What an end of life for someone who never did anything wrong. I like how Isaiah describes the one he never knew except by the inspiration of God.
Isaiah 53: 7-10
He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
8 By oppression[a] and judgment he was taken away.
Yet who of his generation protested?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
for the transgression of my people he was punished.[b]
9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
nor was any deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
and though the Lord makes[c] his life an offering for sin.
The hard heart of the religious rulers – the elites of Israel of the day, They saw his miraculous healing from physical pain – from diseases and from emotional stress. How could they not think that he was at least a great prophet.
I my police language - we can say they were going to frame an innocent man with false and fabricated evidence.
If Jesus did the same things today – there would still be those would not believe - because they can’t – their hearts are veiled to the truth. Believe in him.
So thank you LORD for the gift of faith that we might be worthy.
AMEN
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View this sermon presented live here: https://youtu.be/0QE4oyaFXMk
