Mark 12:25

New International Version

When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven.

For Meditation

Sometimes, you do not know what to make of what some people think about you – whether they take you for an unsophisticated person they can run over or an ignorant fool. You know their beliefs and what they stand for on issues, yet they come with expressions and inquiries they know contradict those positions to satisfy their ulterior motives. That was the situation of the Sadducees with Jesus (Mk. 12:18-27). Examine the hypothetical story about marriage and the resurrection they came to Him with, and you will see through their hearts.

For a group of people who did not believe in bodily resurrection after death, how could they ask about the marital situation of the woman in their story at the resurrection (Mk. 12:23)? The death of the woman should have been the end of their story. But they had what they thought was a smoking gun, so they fired it at the Teacher.

The undiscerning has often fallen for such hypocritical inquiries and embroiled themselves in controversy. Not Jesus, who is the All-knowing Son of God. After He rebuked the delegation of Sadducees for their superficial knowledge of the scriptures and deficient appreciation of the power of God (Mk. 12:24), Jesus set the record straight for them.

There is a resurrection (25)!

It is not a matter of if but “when the dead rise,” Jesus said, “they neither marry nor be given in marriage ; they will be like angels in heaven” (25). In one sentence, Jesus affirmed the reality of angels the Sadducees denied, and the certainty of the resurrection. The God who owns time and events says the dead will rise on a predetermined day in time, according to the timeline of His redemption plan. He, the Messiah, “would rise from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen … then, when he comes, those who belong to him” (1 Cor. 15:20-23).

That is our confidence as believers in Christ, the hope of glory we live for (Col. 1:27). This world is not the end of life for us. We have an eternal dwelling prepared for us by our Risen Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ (Jn. 14:1-5). He lived and overcame the challenges of this world that the first Adam could not overcome and so brought sin and death to humanity (Rm. 5:12; 1 Cor. 15:22). His perfect life qualified Him as our substitute on the cross, the judgment of death we deserved (2 Cor. 5:21). After covering all the bases, He declared the end of our strife with God. He had made the ultimate sacrifice for our sins (Jn. 19:20), and paid the price for our redemption (Heb. 9:15; 1 Pt. 1:18-19). As the Hebrews writer declares,

“Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death” (Heb. 2:14-15).

Because Christ lives, we can confidently look in the face of death and declare as Paul does:

Death has been swallowed up in victory.

Where, O death, is your victory?

    Where, O death, is your sting?

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 15:54-57).

That is your word for today, your confidence amidst your trials and tribulations. So, let the Sadducees who come to you with their confusing questions and hypothetical propositions to weaken your faith hear you declare with confidence in our living Christ: “When the dead rise in Him, I will be among the living with Him for eternity.”

Hallelujah!