S163P10 – The mind of Christ: leaving this world behind
Mt. 22:29-33
Jesus answered and said to the [Sadducees], “You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven. But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.” And when the multitudes heard this, they were astonished at His teaching.
The way that this world works and that our lives work can seem to us here like the way things always will work. That is how it is to those who think that this life is the only life. We exist in a certain way and live in certain ways which are specific to this world and this order of things. This fallen world requires things which would not be required in a perfect world and will not be required in our eternity to come. The problem is that we grow accustomed to the way things are here, particularly the relationships we have here, and we can be fooled into thinking that these things will exist perpetually. That is one thing Christ is addressing in this passage.
Those who lose their spouses here might look forward to seeing their spouses at the resurrection as they see them now. This is no different than parents who lose their children or children who lose their parents and cannot wait to see them on that day. The truth is that those who are saved will be united at the resurrection, but the relationships which connected them might not exist. For example, Jesus tells us that husband and wife here will not be husband and wife there. If we read the scriptures, we see that the only marriage to exist at that point will be the marriage of Christ to his bride. That type of relationship, which is beautiful here, will not be needed there.
If we have the mind of Christ, we will recognize that the life to come will be much different than the life we live here, and we will be okay with that. We will not mourn the loss of relationships which will not exist then. The only Father will be God, and we will be his children. The groom will be Christ, and we will be his bride. Many aspects of this life which we might love and enjoy will serve no purpose then, and that is fine. Those who wait in anticipation for the life that God has ahead for us will gladly relinquish all their favorite things about this life. Father, help us to value the temporary blessings of this life and gladly trade them for the eternal perfection that awaits.