Wednesday

The Question about the Resurrection

Some Sadducees, those who say there is no resurrection, came to him ²⁸ and asked him a question, "Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies, leaving a wife but no children, the man shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother. ²⁹ Now there were seven brothers; the first married, and died childless; ³⁰ then the second ³¹ and the third married her, and so in the same way all seven died childless. ³² Finally the woman also died. ³³ In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had married her."

³⁴ Jesus said to them, "Those who belong to this age marry and are given in marriage; ³⁵ but those who are considered worthy of a place in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. ³⁶ Indeed they cannot die anymore, because they are like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection. ³⁷ And the fact that the dead are raised Moses himself showed, in the story about the bush, where he speaks of the Lord as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. ³⁸ Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive." ³⁹ Then some of the scribes answered, "Teacher, you have spoken well." ⁴⁰ For they no longer dared to ask him another question.             –Luke 20:27-40 (NRSV)

Does heaven really exist?

What will heaven be like?

I’m sure we’ve all asked those questions.  I think they lie behind the popularity of many books written by or about those who’ve had Near Death Experiences, e.g., Heaven Is for Real and Proof of Heaven.  I have these and several more on my shelf.  They make for very interesting reading.

The Bible doesn’t give us too many details about heaven...and if you read carefully, you’ll discover that heaven is more a quality of relationship rather than a physical space.

Jesus gives us the most clues in the passage above.  Certainly love will be the central quality, but many of our earthly social structures won’t make much sense in heaven.

From the books I’ve read, one feels an overwhelming sense of being loved, even when experiencing the painful moments of one’s life in their “life review.”

It seems we will know loved ones, but in their prime physical appearance.

What I find interesting is that Revelation 21-22 talk about God and the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven to reside on a renewed earth... -- P/T