“The subjects of this world marry and are given in marriage. But those considered worthy to attain the other world – indeed, be resurrected from death – will neither marry nor are given in marriage. For they cannot die anymore because they are spiritual and are the servants of God – being the subjects of the resurrection. This is because those who die will rise up. Even Moses illustrated this in the verses about the burning bush, where he calls the LORD, ‘The God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.’ So He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. Because all these live for Him.” (Luke 20:34-38)
Then some sadducees – who say there is no resurrection1 – approached him. They asked him, “Teacher, Moses wrote that if a man’s brother – who has a wife and no children – dies, his brother should marry the wife and raise children for his brother. Now there were seven brothers. The first took a wife and died childless. The second and the third married her and similarly, all seven died leaving no children. Then finally the woman died. Therefore, in the resurrection, which one’s wife will she be? For all seven had married her.” (Luke 20:27-33)
Is Jesus clarifying the meaning of resurrection?
Thus we see that Jesus is clarifying the meaning of resurrection - translated from the Greek word ἀνάστασις (anastasis) - which means "a raising up" or "rising from the dead" according to the lexicon.So what is rising up in resurrection? To rise from the dead means the person is rising up from the dead body. The dead body obviously does not rise, because after the time of death the dead body begins to decompose. Without formaldehyde, a dead body will completely decompose within a year or so. It will be eaten and digested by worms. Even the bones will begin to break down and turn into soil after a while - leaving little trace of the dead body.
For many, the body is cremated. Here we know the body won't rise because it is burnt to ashes. The ashes are spread over some water or soil to become part of the environment.
Obviously, what rises at the time of death is not the physical body. It is the personality within - the spirit-person - the one who drives and operates the physical body.
This is clearly being defined by Jesus as he describes the fact that the spirit-person has nothing to do with the physical body. This is why Jesus is saying that the woman would not be married to any of the brothers in the resurrection. Because the marriage took place within the physical universe, between physical bodies.
This is why Jesus said, "The subjects of this world..." He is speaking of those who are wearing temporary physical bodies. The physical body is temporary because every physical body dies within a few decades. Yes, every physical body dies. Yours will, and mine will. Every body dies.
What is 'the other world' Jesus mentions?
"The other world" Jesus is discussing is the spiritual realm. This is the world that exists beyond the physical dimension. It is the dimension where the Supreme Being dwells personally, surrounded by His loving friends and children - all living as spiritual beings.There is no death in the spiritual realm. This is because everyone is in their original spiritual form, and everyone is eternal. Here in this physical world, we are not these physical bodies. We are driving these bodies temporarily. After a few decades, they die, and leave them. But our original spiritual forms do not die. One may occupy numerous physical bodies, and each one will die at some point. But the person - the spirit-person - lives on.
So why will no one marry or be given in marriage in the spiritual realm? Because marriage is an activity of the physical world - based upon self-centered desires mixed with a little love. People in the spiritual realm do not marry each other. Why? Because everyone there has a unique loving relationship with the Supreme Being.
Is the soul eternal?
The soul is spiritual and the spiritual realm has no death. According to Jesus, it thus has no marriage because every spirit-person has a loving service relationship with God.Here in the physical world, we get married for the mutual benefit of the couple. Each person is seeking a combination of their own pleasure and the pleasure of their new partner. So they both see the marriage as a way to mutually get what they want out of life.
The spirit-person citizens of the spiritual realm don't see things in that way. They are simply in love with God and seek to please Him in any way they can. Each has a unique loving service relationship with God. There is thus no need for marriage.
Being "subjects of the resurrection" simply means those in the spiritual realm are above the realm of the physical world. It might be like calling people who graduated from a particular college, "graduates of that college."
What does he mean by 'because those who die will rise up'?
Jesus is stating clearly that the spirit-person leaves the physical body at the time of death. How clearer can Jesus be that we are not these physical bodies? Furthermore, one who is ready to return to the spiritual realm after the death of this physical body will rise up and return to the spiritual realm. This is the full meaning of "resurrection" according to Jesus.The nature of the spiritual realm is that everything revolves around the Supreme Being. Here in the physical world, our consciousness revolves around ourselves. We are focused upon ourselves and the extensions of ourselves - the family of our physical body, the country of our physical body and so on.
In the spiritual realm, everyone is in love with the Supreme Being. They want to please Him. They live for God. Jesus indicates this as he discusses those Prophets who are devoted to God, such as Moses, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
What does Jesus mean by 'all these live for Him'?
"All these" refers to those who resurrect to return to the spiritual realm. This includes the Prophets such as Moses, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob - from the sentence before this. Jesus is telling his audience that these Prophets are still alive. They have each returned to the spiritual realm, where they continue to live for the Supreme Being, as they had done in the physical world.They "live for Him." What does "live for Him" mean?
It means that the Supreme Being is their heart and soul. He is their everything. The Supreme Being is the Perfect Person. He is the person we are each seeking as we search for "the one" - our "soul mate."
A true soul mate is someone who truly loves us. We may search the world over for such true love, but it is the Supreme Being who truly loves us. He loves each of us unconditionally. This is true, pure love - and each of us needs this love.
Yes, God is our real soul mate. He created us each with an innate loving relationship with Him. This is part of who we are. We cannot separate ourselves from this relationship. But we can, unfortunately, forget our relationship with Him.
Indeed, along with this innate relationship, He also gives each of us the freedom to choose if we want to embrace that relationship with Him.
Those who choose not to embrace our relationship with Him - those of us who have rejected Him - are sent to the physical world and forced to take on temporary physical bodies. These physical bodies and minds are designed by God to allow us to forget about Him. They cover up our relationship with God with the illusion that we are these physical bodies and the what the eyes see is all that exists.
These physical bodies essentially give us the freedom to not only forget God: We can also deny He even exists. God has completely hidden Himself from those of us in the physical world so that we can completely forget about Him - should we continue to choose to.
But those who choose to have faith in God's existence are tested for sincerity. They are given the opportunity to return to the spiritual realm as sincerity to love and serve Him increases. This is what Jesus describes as the choice to "live for Him."
