Pray:
Lord, You are the God of my worship, the Lord of my life. It is my desire to do Your will. I bless Your name.
Read:
Matthew 22:23-33
Meditate
Consider: Reflect on what you are expecting to experience in an eternity in the presence of God.
Think Further:
The Sadducees' story is presumably fictitious and we don't need to pity the wife for her frequent bereavements or laugh at the suggestion of a heavenly male harem for her. The question came out of their disbelief in the reality of resurrection. Their theology was formed primarily by the first five books of the Bible, and a verse such as Daniel 12:2 wasn't authoritative for them. Jesus counters their disbelief with biblical statements that they said they believed and especially with the assertion that God is the God of the patriarchs (Exod. 3:6). The living God has living worshippers. Even before the resurrection of Jesus, which is the guarantee of bodily resurrection life for all believers (1 Cor. 15:20-22), those who had died in faith were in God's presence. Readers of the Gospel will recall the appearance of Moses and Elijah talking with Jesus (Matt. 17:1-8). Resurrection life is real.
When we begin to think about what that life is like, however, we find our expectations limited by our experience of this life. Someone has suggested that resurrection life is as difficult for us to understand as this life would be for a child in the womb. This is one of the few passages where we are told what not to expect. Although we may look forward to meeting again those who have died in Christ, we should not expect the same intimate and exclusive relationships we experience in marriage now. Sexual relationships are part of earthly life, but there will be no babies born to resurrected people. Angels may not be sexless beings (some interpretations of Gen. 6:1-3) but their enjoyment of life in God's presence is complete and so will ours be.
To know and serve a God and Savior from whom we will not be divided by death, but through death know in a more wonderful way, is the great privilege of every Christian.
Apply:
Read Romans 8:38 and 39. Ask God to make Paul's assertion real to you and give you confidence as you journey through life and death.
Pray:
Father God, I am thankful for Jesus, who died that I might live, who rose from the dead that I might live forever.
