What does Luke 20:34 reveal about marriage in the afterlife according to Jesus? Canonical Text “Jesus answered, ‘The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage.’ ” (Luke 20:34) Literary Context Luke 20:34 stands in Jesus’ debate with the Sadducees (Luke 20:27-40), a group denying resurrection (Acts 23:8). Verses 34-36 form a single sentence in Greek; v. 34 contrasts “the sons of this age” with those who attain “that age and the resurrection from the dead” (v. 35). Key Terms • “Sons of this age” (hoi huioi tou aiōnos toutou) – humanity in the present fallen order, subject to death. • “Marry and are given in marriage” – idiom for initiating covenant unions and producing offspring (cf. Genesis 1:28). • “That age” – the coming eternal kingdom inaugurated by the bodily resurrection. Immediate Teaching 1. Marriage is characteristic of the present world only. 2. Resurrection life transcends the institutions required for earthly survival and propagation. Comparative Texts Matthew 22:30 and Mark 12:25 parallel Luke and add, “they are like angels in heaven.” Angels do not marry (cf. Hebrews 1:14), confirming that resurrected saints experience a fundamentally different social order. Purpose of Earthly Marriage Scripture assigns marriage three primary purposes: • Procreation (Genesis 1:28). • Companionship (Genesis 2:18). • Typology of Christ and the Church (Ephesians 5:31-32). All three reach fulfillment in the consummated kingdom: the elect are already immortal (Luke 20:36); perfect fellowship replaces remedial loneliness; and the typological “marriage supper of the Lamb” (Revelation 19:7-9) eclipses every shadow. Do People Cease to Love? Jesus denies ongoing marital status, not personal identity or mutual recognition. Moses and Elijah retain individuality at the Transfiguration (Luke 9:30-31). Love, purified of exclusivity and jealousy, is perfected (1 Corinthians 13:10-12). Theological Implications • Resurrection is physical yet qualitatively transformed (1 Corinthians 15:42-54). • Human destiny centers on union with God, not perpetuation of the race. • Earthly institutions, including marriage, serve redemptive-historical goals that culminate in Christ. Refutation of Sadducean Skepticism By limiting marriage to “this age,” Jesus exposes the Sadducees’ false premise: they imagined resurrected life as a mere extension of the present. His answer presupposes bodily resurrection (v. 37-38) and the authority of Exodus 3:6, a text extant in the Dead Sea Scrolls (4QExod) and quoted identically in the earliest papyri of Luke (𝔓75, A.D. 175-225). Philosophical Considerations Earthly marriage addresses temporally limited needs—genetic continuity, social stability, moral formation. Once death is conquered (Luke 20:36), these needs vanish. This aligns with intelligent-design observations: biological reproduction is bound to a world of entropy (Genesis 3:19; Romans 8:20-21). A resurrected, non-entropic order logically dispenses with reproductive mechanisms. Practical Pastoral Applications 1. Grieving spouses can anticipate reunion without marital exclusivity, resting in perfected love (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). 2. Singles may view their status as foretaste of the coming age’s undivided devotion to God (1 Corinthians 7:32-35). 3. Marriages should aim at holiness and gospel witness, knowing the covenant is temporal (Hebrews 13:4). Eschatological Fulfillment The eschaton features one ultimate marriage: Christ and His redeemed people (Revelation 21:2, 9). Earthly unions foreshadow this cosmic reality; therefore, Jesus redirects affections from temporal symbols to eternal substance. Conclusion Luke 20:34 declares that marriage is confined to the present age. In the resurrection, believers neither marry nor are given in marriage, for they will be immortal, like the angels, and wholly satisfied in direct, unmediated communion with their Creator-Redeemer. |
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