Another religious sect called the Sadducees that do not believe in resurrection or raising people from the dead asked Jesus about the resurrection to challenge Him. The Sadducees only believed in the first five books of the Old Testament: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. The members were high priests, aristocratic families, and wealthy people. They asked Jesus, "Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. Now there were seven brothers. The first one married and died without leaving any children. The second one married the widow, but he also died, leaving no child. It was the same with the third. In fact, none of the seven left any children. Last of all, the woman died too. At the resurrection whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?"
The reason an unmarried brother marries his sister-in-law if his brother dies is to keep the land in the family or the clan. The land is passed down through the sons of the family. If the husband dies, the inherited land can go to whoever can buy the land from the widow. To prevent this from happening, the unmarried brother must marry his brother's wife. If all the brothers are married, the husband's closest relative can marry the widowed wife. This situation happened with Ruth in the Old Testament. Boaz married Ruth as the kin's man redeemer, so Naomi's family would not lose the land. Now, in the case of the resurrection, all of us who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ will be resurrected from the dead. Jesus explained more about what would be like in Heaven, "When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in Heaven. Now about the dead rising—have you not read in the Book of Moses, in the account of the burning bush, how God said to him, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is not the God of the dead but the living. (Mark 12:18-27).
The hope we have as believers of our Lord Jesus Christ is that our God is the God of the living. It means we will always live with Him even when our earthly bodies die. The moment we die, we will be in Heaven with God. The Bible says that in Heaven, we will never experience death, sadness, sin, pain, and suffering (Revelation 21). God is reminding us today that all the suffering we are going through now is only temporary. There is an eternal hope that awaits us in Heaven.
Ask yourself these questions: What happens when I die on this earth? Do I believe that all the sufferings I am going through right now are temporary? How should I live now knowing I have eternal hope in Christ Jesus?
Write down all the worries you face today and lift them up to God.
Prayer:
Father in Heaven, I am blessed to know that I have eternal hope because You are the God of the living. Even when I die, You will resurrect me from the grave to be with You in Heaven for eternity. Please help me to continue to persevere in my faith and never give up, even when life seems very difficult on this earth. Give me the courage to keep on living for you until the day that you take me home to be with you. In Your name Jesus, I pray. Amen.