The question is tender because love is tender. Husbands and wives who have shared decades of meals, burdens, laughter, and prayers naturally ask whether that covenant continues beyond the grave. Those who have buried a spouse wonder what recognition and closeness will be like in the world to come. Scripture does not leave us to guess, and Jesus Himself answered the heart of the question when critics tried to make the resurrection look foolish. His answer removes confusion without flattening hope. It tells us what will not continue and, even more, points to what will be greater, deeper, and unbreakable in the presence of the Lord (Matthew 22:29–30).
What follows listens carefully to Jesus’ teaching and to the rest of the Bible’s witness. The aim is not to diminish marriage—Scripture calls it honorable—but to set it in its God-given place for this age and to lift our eyes to the joy that marriage pictures but cannot finally contain (Hebrews 13:4; Ephesians 5:31–32). When we see both clearly, we grieve with hope, love wisely now, and look forward without fear to the day when the family of God is gathered and satisfied in the presence of Christ (1 Thessalonians 4:13–18; Revelation 7:9–10).
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Historical and Cultural Background
Jesus’ words about marriage and the resurrection were spoken in a real debate. The Sadducees, a group that denied the resurrection, approached Him with a question meant to mock the idea of life after death. They used the law of levirate marriage—God’s provision that a man marry his deceased brother’s widow to preserve the brother’s name and inheritance—to craft a scenario in which a woman married seven brothers in succession. “At the resurrection, whose wife will she be of the seven?” they asked, hoping the tangle would embarrass those who believed God raises the dead (Deuteronomy 25:5–6; Matthew 22:23–28). Jesus answered that their error came from not knowing the Scriptures or the power of God, and then He said plainly that in the resurrection people “will neither marry nor be given in marriage,” but will be “like the angels in heaven” in that respect (Matthew 22:29–30; Mark 12:24–25).
The words landed in a Jewish world that held different views about the future. The Pharisees affirmed bodily resurrection, the Sadducees denied it, and ordinary people lived between those voices. Jesus did not side-step the dispute. He affirmed the resurrection by appealing to Scripture, reminding His hearers that God called Himself “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob,” and “He is not the God of the dead but of the living,” for those patriarchs live to Him (Exodus 3:6; Matthew 22:31–32). In that same answer He clarified that the age to come will not carry forward every structure of the present age. Marriage, which God instituted at creation for companionship, fruitfulness, and a picture of covenant love, belongs to this life under death’s shadow; the resurrection life stands beyond that shadow and therefore beyond marriage as we know it now (Genesis 1:28; Genesis 2:18–24; Ephesians 5:31–32; Luke 20:34–36).
Hearing the background keeps us from two mistakes. One mistake is to imagine that heavenly life is merely a polished version of earthly routines. The other is to imagine that heavenly life erases personal identity and leaves only a vague crowd. Jesus denies both. He tells us that certain earthly institutions—including marriage—do not continue for resurrected people, and He also shows throughout the Gospels that personal identity and recognition are intact and even heightened in glory (Luke 20:35–36; Matthew 17:1–4).
Biblical Narrative
The Gospel accounts record Jesus’ teaching three times, and together they give a full picture. Matthew and Mark quote Him saying that resurrected people “will neither marry nor be given in marriage,” and Luke adds the reason: those counted worthy to share in that age and the resurrection “can no longer die,” so marriage—which guards and grows family life in a world of birth and death—no longer applies (Matthew 22:30; Mark 12:25; Luke 20:35–36). When Jesus says the risen are “like the angels,” He does not mean we become angels; He means we share their deathless state and therefore do not enter into marriage or the giving in marriage that marks this age’s households (Luke 20:36). His point is not that love diminishes; His point is that the frame changes because death is gone.
Elsewhere Scripture confirms both continuity and change in the resurrection. We will be raised bodily, not as vague spirits, and our bodies will be transformed to be like Christ’s glorious body—incorruptible, powerful, and suited to the new creation (1 Corinthians 15:42–49; Philippians 3:20–21). We will recognize one another. At the transfiguration the disciples recognized Moses and Elijah; in His parable about the rich man and Lazarus, Jesus portrays Abraham named and known; David spoke of going to his infant son and spoke in hope, not in uncertainty (Matthew 17:3–4; Luke 16:22–24; 2 Samuel 12:23). Paul adds that our knowing will be fuller, not thinner: “Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known,” a promise that lifts, not lowers, the expectation of meaningful fellowship in glory (1 Corinthians 13:12).
Because personal identity endures, the love and history a husband and wife shared will not be erased in the resurrection. Yet Jesus’ words mean that their bond will no longer exist as an exclusive covenant of marriage. Instead, the redeemed will share perfect, unhindered fellowship with Christ and with one another as one family. Scripture calls that future reunion “being with the Lord forever,” and it beckons believers to comfort one another with that hope when death wounds a household (1 Thessalonians 4:17–18). The Bible’s closing vision shows a world where God dwells with His people, wipes away every tear, and makes all things new, a world where the joys of love are not narrowed but enlarged under His immediate presence (Revelation 21:3–5).
Theological Significance
Jesus’ answer forces us to ask why God gave marriage now and why it will not continue then. In Genesis, marriage is God’s gift for companionship and procreation and for forming a one-flesh union that images covenant faithfulness (Genesis 2:18–24). In the New Testament, marriage becomes a living picture of Christ and the church: “a profound mystery,” Paul says, as he quotes the union of husband and wife and then applies it to the Lord and His people (Ephesians 5:31–32). Pictures give way to the reality they point to. When the church stands before the Lord at the marriage supper of the Lamb, the sign will have done its work and the joy it hinted at will be fulfilled without remainder in the union between Christ and His redeemed (Revelation 19:7–9). That is why marriage does not continue for resurrected people; its deepest purpose—bearing witness to covenant love—reaches its goal in the presence of the Bridegroom.
Another reason marriage ceases is that death ceases. Jesus ties His statement to the end of death: “they can no longer die; for they are like the angels” (Luke 20:36). Marriage now safeguards life and trains love in a world where generations must rise because generations fall. In the resurrection there is no need to replenish a people. Life is not fragile; it is immortal by grace. That is also why jealousy, fear, and hurt that sometimes cloud marriages in this age cannot survive there. Sin is gone, death is gone, and every relationship is healed and holy in the light of the Lord (Revelation 21:4; Revelation 22:3–5).
A dispensational reading helps us keep one more distinction clear. Scripture points to a future earthly kingdom in which Christ reigns and nations are shepherded in righteousness. In that coming administration there will be people who pass into the kingdom in mortal bodies, and ordinary family life continues among them with boys and girls playing in the streets and households enjoying the fruit of their labor (Isaiah 65:20–23; Zechariah 8:4–5). At the same time, resurrected saints are deathless and therefore do not marry, just as Jesus said (Luke 20:34–36). The church does not replace Israel; the promises to Israel stand, and God’s plan embraces both resurrected glory and renewed earth under the King’s rule (Romans 11:28–29; Luke 1:32–33). That wide horizon does not blur Jesus’ clear point for the question at hand: for those raised in glory, marriage as an institution does not continue.
Finally, Jesus’ phrase “like the angels” calls for precise comfort. We do not become angels; we remain human, redeemed and glorified, bearing the image of Christ in bodies made new (1 John 3:2; 1 Corinthians 15:49). The likeness is about being beyond death and beyond the need or practice of marriage. Far from lowering our humanity, the resurrection completes it. Love is not thinned; it is purified. Fellowship is not erased; it is enlarged. Joy is not divided; it is deepened as all of God’s people find their center in the Lord Himself (Psalm 16:11; Revelation 21:3).
Spiritual Lessons and Application
First, there is comfort for the grieving that does not collapse into clichés. If your spouse has died in the Lord, you will see them again. You will know them, and you will be with the Lord together. The shape of your relationship will be changed—no longer an exclusive marriage covenant—but nothing good that God forged between you will be wasted. The shared faith, prayers, service, and sanctified memories will be part of who you each are as glorified persons, and all that is broken will be mended under the smile of God (1 Thessalonians 4:16–18; 1 Corinthians 13:12). The tears Jesus promised to wipe away will be wiped away, not by forgetting but by fullness, because sorrow gives way before the face of the One who conquered death (Revelation 21:4; John 11:25–26).
Second, there is guidance for marriage now. Knowing that earthly marriage is temporary does not make it small; it makes it urgent and precious. Husbands and wives are called to love as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her, to forgive as they have been forgiven, to honor vows, and to keep the covenant bed undefiled (Ephesians 5:25–28; Colossians 3:13; Matthew 19:6; Hebrews 13:4). Marriage is discipleship lived at close range. The way we speak, serve, and repent at home is part of the good works laid out for us to walk in, and these choices have lasting fruit even if the institution itself is for this age (Ephesians 2:10; Galatians 5:22–23). Let the picture be sharp and bright while it lasts so that neighbors can see something of Christ’s love in your love.
Third, there is dignity for singleness that is often missed. If there is no marrying or giving in marriage in the resurrection, then married and unmarried alike are traveling toward the same destination: the fullness of joy in Christ with His people (Luke 20:35–36; Psalm 73:25–26). Jesus and Paul both commend singleness for those called to it, not as a life of lack but as a focused devotion to the Lord and to His work, and the church must honor that calling without treating marriage as the only mark of maturity (1 Corinthians 7:32–35; Matthew 19:12). In the family of God, no one is second-class. Every believer is part of the bride for whom Christ died, and every believer already shares the love marriage points toward (Ephesians 5:25–27; John 15:9–12).
Fourth, there is clarity for our questions about recognition. The Bible’s patterns give solid ground to expect that we will know one another. The disciples recognized Moses and Elijah; Abraham and Lazarus are named in Jesus’ teaching; Paul’s promise that we will know fully, even as we are fully known, strengthens our hope rather than weakens it (Matthew 17:3–4; Luke 16:23–26; 1 Corinthians 13:12). That recognition will be free from envy, fear, and the pain of parting. It will be washed in holiness, because God will be all in all and His people will be wholly His (1 Corinthians 15:28; Revelation 21:27). This helps widows and widowers imagine the future without dread. You will not lose what was dear; you will find the Giver who made it dear and receive back a purified fellowship with all the redeemed.
Fifth, there is wisdom for how we speak about heaven with children and teens. We should not promise what Jesus denied, as if the only way heaven could be happy is if everything continues exactly as here. Instead, we can say with confidence that the Lord who gave marriage now has something better then, and that the best things in marriage—security, known-ness, joy, and partnership in God’s work—will not be smaller but larger in His presence (Psalm 84:11; Revelation 21:3). We can also say gently that disappointments and wounds suffered in marriage will not follow God’s people into the new creation. The Lamb who was slain will shepherd His flock, and “God himself will be with them and be their God” (Revelation 7:17; Revelation 21:3).
Finally, there is a call to center our hope where Scripture centers it: on Christ Himself. “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard,” God has prepared for those who love Him, and those preparations are not shadows of earth; they are the solid joys of the age to come (1 Corinthians 2:9; Hebrews 13:14). The Spirit uses this hope to make us steady now. We love our spouses faithfully without clutching them as if they were our savior. We grieve real losses without surrendering to despair. We treasure friendship and family without idolizing them. We seek first His kingdom, confident that in His presence there is fullness of joy and at His right hand are pleasures forevermore (Matthew 6:33; Psalm 16:11).
Conclusion
Jesus’ answer to the Sadducees is simple and searching. In the resurrection people do not marry or are given in marriage; they are like the angels in that they cannot die (Matthew 22:30; Luke 20:35–36). That does not diminish love; it rescues love from every shadow that now dims it. Marriage in this age is a holy gift, and it is a signpost toward a greater union. In the age to come the signpost is no longer needed because the Bridegroom and His people are together, and the joy hinted at in every good marriage is fulfilled without limit in the presence of Christ (Revelation 19:7–9; 1 Thessalonians 4:17).
So take courage. If you are married, love well now, forgive quickly, and let your promise point to Jesus. If you are single, receive your calling with honor and freedom, knowing you already belong to the One marriage points toward. If you are grieving, lean hard on the comfort that you will be with the Lord and with all His people, known and knowing in a fellowship where no goodbye is ever spoken (1 Corinthians 13:12; Revelation 21:4). The God who made marriage also made the world to come. He does not diminish joy; He completes it. His word stands, and His love will not fail (Psalm 33:11; Romans 8:38–39).
“The people of this age marry and are given in marriage. But those who are considered worthy of taking part in the age to come and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage, and they can no longer die; for they are like the angels. They are God’s children, since they are children of the resurrection.”
(Luke 20:34–36)
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