The Star Trek Resurrection

Whose wife will she be in the resurrection?   Mark 12:23

One day a group of Sadducees came to Jesus with a question. They began by reminding Jesus of the Old Testament law that says that if a man dies without children, his brother must assume the care of his wife and raise children in his brother’s name. The point of this law was to ensure the continuation of the line of Israel, which was central to the purpose of God.

Then the Sadducees told a story about seven brothers: the first brother dies with no children, so the second brother takes responsibility for his brother’s wife. Then the second brother dies, and the third one steps up, and so on. By the time we get to the seventh brother, he too accepts his fate and dies, and eventually the wife dies too.

Now the Sadducees come to their question: at the resurrection, whose wife will she be?” This is the Star Trek view of the resurrection. Captain Kirk says, “Beam me up, Scotty!” Then Kirk disappears from view, only to rematerialize looking exactly the same but in a different place. That’s how the Sadducees thought about the resurrection, and that’s why they rejected it.

If heaven were simply a continuation of this life in another place, it would be terribly complicated. There are so many anomalies in life that it would be impossible for it to go on in the same way after death. Jesus makes this point clear when he says, “When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage” (Mark 12:25).

In heaven there will be no death and, therefore, no need for procreation. For those who are happily married, this sounds like bad news, because a happy marriage and the gift of children are among the greatest joys in this life.

It’s hard for many to imagine life without their family, but that’s why the Bible says we cannot imagine “what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9). Marriage and family are among God’s greatest gifts in this fallen world, but it’s as if God is saying, “You ain’t seen nothing yet!”

For further reading, see Mark 12