Not a Checkmark

Posted by Patti Terrell on Aug 12, 2009 in Daily Bread | 2 comments

In life on this earth I think God gave us marriage as a picture we can understand of the intimacy that can exist between 2 people. I believe He gave us this so we can better understand the relationship He desires with each of us—a relationship for which He created us.

In Jewish culture of the time, marriage was for the purpose of having a heritage—descendents to carry on your name; I think it became more about THAT than about intimacy of relationship because of the law, which is where the question from the Sadducees arose.

Jesus, I think, put the whole question in perspective by stating that marriage is for “this age” or our lifetime on Earth and that the question they were asking was about another “age,” eternity with God. This reminds me that Jesus was GOING to Jerusalem to bring about the possibility of our eternity with God through His death on the cross, and that He had this conversation on the way, trying to bring those listening back around to the idea of intimacy of relationship with Himself and the Father that marriage was to be and not the earthly, lawful (or pleasure-seeking) mindset of leaving descendents to carry on a name.

I think Jesus is challenging the Sadducees and us to think beyond life on this Earth. He challenges us to be among those “considered worthy” (kataxioo—deemed entirely creditable) “to attain,” (tugchano—to bring to pass as a mark to be reached) that “age” (eternity with God) which we know comes only by grace through faith in Jesus alone. Jesus was very focused in His message at this time in His ministry.