What Will Heaven be Like? - Matthew 22:23-33

©Copyright September 24, 2017 by Rev. Bruce Goettsche

Over the years many people have expressed their doubts about life beyond the grave. Carl Sagan said, “I would love to believe that when I die I will live again, that some thinking, feeling, remembering part of me will continue. But … I know of nothing to suggest that it is more than wishful thinking.”

Albert Einstein believed in a “God who reveals himself in the orderly harmony of what exists, not in a God who concerns himself with fates and actions of human beings.” He could not imagine an afterlife either. He said he could not “conceive of an individual that survives his physical death; let feeble souls, from fear or absurd egotism, cherish such thought.”

With more wit than despair, Woody Allen said, “I don’t want to achieve immortality through my work. I want to achieve it by not dying.” Bertrand Russell, sounding as cold as Einstein, said, “I believe that when I die I shall rot, and nothing of my ego will survive.”[1]

This morning we look at the group who was known in their day for not believing in life beyond the grave or anything miraculous. They were known as the Sadducees. The Sadducees, like the Pharisees, were prominent leaders. The two groups were very different. The Pharisees believed in the entire Old Testament. The Sadducees believed only in the first five books of the Old Testament known as the Torah. Pharisees believed in life beyond the grave. The Sadducees did not. The Pharisees believed in a supernatural world. The Sadducees did not. Today we would call the Sadducees secularists . . . people who believe that all there is, is what we have right now.

The Pharisees and Teachers of the Law (and their disciples) tried to trip up Jesus. Now the Sadducees are going to take their shot at discrediting Jesus.

23That same day Jesus was approached by some Sadducees—religious leaders who say there is no resurrection from the dead. They posed this question: 24“Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies without children, his brother should marry the widow and have a child who will carry on the brother’s name.’* 25Well, suppose there were seven brothers. The oldest one married and then died without children, so his brother married the widow. 26But the second brother also died, and the third brother married her. This continued with all seven of them. 27Last of all, the woman also died. 28So tell us, whose wife will she be in the resurrection? For all seven were married to her.”

29Jesus replied, “Your mistake is that you don’t know the Scriptures, and you don’t know the power of God. 30For when the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage. In this respect they will be like the angels in heaven.

31“But now, as to whether there will be a resurrection of the dead—haven’t you ever read about this in the Scriptures? Long after Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had died, God said, 32‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ So he is the God of the living, not the dead.”

33When the crowds heard him, they were astounded at his teaching.

What the Sadducees are doing here is trying to make fun of the doctrine of the Resurrection of the dead (or, as we would say, “the notion of Heaven”). They do this by appealing to a law that appeared first in Deuteronomy 25:5. The law said: If your brother was married and died before having children, you were supposed to marry his wife and the first child you fathered would be deemed your brother’s child and heir.

The reason for this Law was primarily to protect family land; to make sure the land always had a legal heir. This was only practiced a couple of times that we know of in the Bible and it seems to have been a practice that faded away over time.

The Sadducees used this Law to (in their mind) show the absurdity of the Resurrection. They said, “Let’s say a woman has no children when her husband dies. She marries the next brother but they have no children either. So, she marries the next and the next etc. until she had married all seven brothers.” The Sadducees asked, “Who will this woman be married to in Heaven?”

There are people today who sincerely ask the same question. Their spouse dies or they get divorced, and then they are remarried. They wonder who they will be married to in Heaven.

The Sadducees were not looking for an explanation. Their question was not sincere. They were trying to show that this teaching of life beyond the grave is fraught with problems. The goal was to make Jesus look foolish. But . . . it didn’t work!

Their question is valuable to us because the response of Jesus gives us a glimpse of what the future holds.

Jesus replied, “Your mistake is that you don’t know the Scriptures, and you don’t know the power of God. 30For when the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage. In this respect they will be like the angels in heaven.

What Jesus Teaches us about Life Beyond the Grave

There are not many passages that give us a hint about our heavenly existence. As a result, we tend to think of Heaven as “earth without the problems”. That is the way it is often depicted in the media. That may not be far from the truth, but the concept of the “earth without the problems” is like nothing we can conceive. I believe the reason we are not given more details to start with is that there are not words to describe what Heaven is like.

Jesus says two things to the Sadducees: First, he said they do not know the Scriptures. If the Sadducees had read the rest of the Old Testament they would have read verses like these:

Isaiah said, “Your dead will live; their bodies will rise. You who dwell in the dust, wake up and shout for joy. Your dew is like the dew of the morning; the earth will give birth to her dead” (Isa. 26:19).

Job said, “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another” (Job 19:25–27).

Daniel said, “Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt” (Dan. 12:2).

Jesus said the Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection because they had not studied their Bibles! Of course, the Sadducees thought themselves to be wise guardians of the Word. Jesus says, they are not!

Almost all false teaching is the result of a misuse of Scripture. The news media says Evangelical Christians (like us) believe in reading the Bible “literally.” They do not mean that as a compliment. A more accurate statement is: we interpret history literally. That is, we take the reports of events, including miracles, at face value. We affirm that they really happened.

We also affirm that a large portion of Scripture is poetry and written in various figures of speech. There are parables which are stories with a point. The authors often did not mean for us to read their words with wooden literalism. In other words, when the Bible talks about us being held in the “everlasting arms” we don’t interpret that to mean God has actual physical arms. It is a poetic image describing God’s comfort and care.

When we don’t read the Bible carefully, we make mistakes. We must listen for what the Bible says AND what it does not say. Jesus does not say we will become angels when we die. He says we will be like the angels in the sense that we will not to be reproductive creatures in Heaven (because people will not die and the need to reproduce will be unnecessary). Angels are a different species. Those who talk about Heaven having a new angel because someone died, is a misreading of the Scriptures, no matter how well-meaning they may be.

The Second thing Jesus said to the Sadducees is: they didn’t know the power of God. In other words, they underestimated the Lord. God can bring life with just a word. He can create a new Heaven and a new earth. He can even redeem those who seem hopelessly lost! He has no trouble preparing a place for us in His Eternal Kingdom. The power of God is greater than our minds can conceive. Like His love, it is beyond anything we could ask or imagine.

But what about the question regarding marriage? Jesus told these men they were asking an irrelevant question because the need for marriage will not exist in Heaven.

On this side of the grave marriage is designed to be the most real, intimate, and trusted relationship we have. It is the place (or laboratory) where we learn about love, intimacy, commitment, unselfishness, endurance, forgiveness, kindness and more. God designed marriage so we could bring children into the world with a family unit to give them a sense of security and instruction. That family unit (which is also seen in a different way in the church) is the closest thing we have to understanding the fullness of God.

When we get to Heaven there will no longer be any sin and corruption. Love will be pure. Every relationship will be trustworthy and intimate in the purest sense. Even though marriage will not exist in Heaven, love will still be there.

Final Evidence of Life Beyond the Grave

Jesus has one more thing to say about the life beyond the grave,

“But now, as to whether there will be a resurrection of the dead—haven’t you ever read about this in the Scriptures? Long after Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had died, God said, 32‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ So he is the God of the living, not the dead.”

Why did Jesus turn to Genesis to prove the truth of life beyond the grave? Because the Sadducees only believed in the Torah (the first five books)! In the Torah God said, “I AM the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob” instead of saying, “I WAS the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob”. Jesus says this indicates the relationship with these men (called patriarchs) continues even though they are dead. In other words, they live on. If the Patriarchs continue to exist, then it proves there is life beyond the grave. Today we can also point to Jesus: since He lives, we too, by His grace, will also live.

What Are We To Learn?

First, we learn something again from the example of Jesus. He has been peppered with various questions. Jesus never became flustered. He was never caught off guard. Bruce Barton gives us three principles we should learn in confronting the questions of others:

Don’t be distracted by the question itself. Look for the heart of the issue; the motives and unstated agendas. Sometimes you need to listen for the personal hurt or fear that lies behind the question. For example, when someone says, “Do you think people who commit suicide go to Hell?” It is wise to ask “Are you considering suicide?” The question itself may be a cry for help.

Don’t try to overwhelm the listener with how smart you are. Instead respond with compassion. Listen with your heart and respond the same way. Our goal is not to win a contest; it is to bring a person to the Lord Jesus.

Stay with the clear teaching of Scripture that you understand. Don’t venture into speculation. When you don’t know an answer to a question, say so. Ask the person if you can get back to them after you think about their question.

I had an experience when I was in High School. I was in the auditorium and I pulled out my little pocket Bible. There was someone sitting behind me and saw the Bible. They said, “Do you really believe that stuff?” I said, “I did”. They responded, “Do you really believe Noah built and Ark and he and his family were the only survivors from a worldwide flood? And do you think Jonah was really swallowed by a whale?” And he had a couple of other questions.

I was young and a fairly new believer. I thought it was my job to answer every question someone asked me. But, I didn’t have good answers for all his questions. I know now that I should have responded differently. Those questions were meant to be an attack on the credibility of Scripture. Questions like those are often meant to be rhetorical. The one’s asking aren’t expecting or even desiring an explanation.

So, how would I answer this student today? I’d say, “I get the impression you don’t think those things are true?” And I suspect they would say, “No thinking person believes such things.” And I would answer: “And what evidence convinced you that these things were not true?” I would then push for REAL evidence not clichéd statements. If he finally realized that his lack of faith was based on slogans rather than evidence I would tell him that the chief reason I believe these incredible stories is because Jesus believed them. And then I would have the opportunity to tell him why I think Jesus is the most trustworthy and reliable person that ever lived. So, the point is: Sometimes the questions people ask are not the question they are really asking.

Second, we are reminded that we must read the Bible carefully. We say it many times: you can prove almost anything with a verse of the Bible. However, you cannot do that if you consider the context of the verse you quote.

The reason we preach systematically through the Bible is for several reasons,

It provides us context. When we follow a text from start to finish it helps us to interpret it the way it was originally meant to be interpreted.

It leads us to study the WHOLE counsel of God. By going systematically through a book(s) of the Bible we will cover a wide variety of topics and we will do so with the frequency and emphasis that the Bible itself has. There are some TV preachers who basically preach the same topic every week. It may be faith, or healing, or the second coming of Jesus, or the various world views, or even politics. When you are preaching these things every week you give a distorted emphasis to these topics while neglecting others. It results in you becoming unbalanced.

It allows us to talk about difficult subjects without offense. We may talk about sex, or gossip, or marriage or work ethic, or our responsibility as citizens. But when we talk about them it will be because this is where we are in the text . . . not because we have an axe to grind or are targeting certain people.

I encourage you to read through a book of the Bible from start to finish. When you read a daily devotional take the time to read the surrounding verses to make sure the application made in the devotional is accurate. Pay attention to the words. Just as we saw today, Jesus said we would be like angels in the aspect of reproduction. He did NOT say we become angels when we die!

Read carefully. Try not to go beyond what God is actually saying in His Word. If you read carefully and study prayerfully you will be kept from wrong and sometimes devastating conclusions.

Third, we are reminded that this World is not our final destination. That doesn’t mean we should ignore the needs that exist here and now . . . it means the things of this life should not overwhelm us because we know there is a day coming when God will make all things right and new. One of the ways we serve God now is by fighting the effects of sin and corruption in our world. Christians should be heavenly minded and earthly involved. It is a question of balance.

When we remember there is more to life than the here and now,

The loss of loved ones is easier to bear.

Our own approaching death is not as terrifying

We know wrongs will be made right so we can let go of resentment.

We realize that someday we will be free from all the remnants of sin which mitigates the frustration we sometimes feel now in life.

We will live more faithfully because we know we will give an account to God for choices and decisions we make in life.

Serving the Lord is worth the effort even if there does not seem to be any positive results from our sacrifices.

The Christian faith does not anchor its belief on life beyond the grave to wishful thinking or even philosophical discussion. We anchor our belief in the Resurrection to the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus. Because He lives we believe Him when He tells us that WE will live again because of Him.

You are going to meet many skeptics as you travel along in life. They may ridicule you for your faith and your belief in life beyond the grave. They will be people who live hard and somewhat recklessly because this life is all they have. But don’t write them off. If you look deeply you will see they lack joy and they have no lasting hope. Someday, when life is hard or death is near, they may be eager to hear about the One who brings life beyond the grave. Hopefully you will be ready to tell them.

[1] Daniel M. Doriani, Matthew & 2, ed. Richard D. Phillips, Philip Graham Ryken, and Daniel M. Doriani, vol. 2, Reformed Expository Commentary (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2008), 300–301.