Research in 2007 discovered that most people think about their eternal destiny. One out of five wonder about it daily. Thirteen percent think about it weekly, 12 percent think about it monthly, and nine percent consider their final resting place once a year. Less than half—44 percent—say that they never think about eternity at all.
Of course, if heaven is mere fantasy, there’s no need to give it a second thought. Few people concern themselves with unicorns, talking dogs, or time travel. Those are the stuff of fiction. So why worry about some mythical place in the sky?
But, if heaven is for real, it demands serious attention.
The Sadducees were part of the Jewish aristocratic party who didn’t believe in the supernatural. They dismissed angels, miracles, and the resurrection. One day, these high-society elites approached Jesus with a question,
“Teacher,” they said, “Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and have children for his brother. Now there were seven brothers. The first one married and died without leaving any children. The second one married the widow, but he also died, leaving no child. It was the same with the third. In fact, none of the seven left any children. Last of all, the woman died too. At the resurrection whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?” (Mark 12:19-23)
The question was motivated by Deuteronomy 25:5-10 and the Jewish law of yibbum which demanded a man marry the wife of his deceased brother in order to keep the family line intact. The Sadducees posed an unlikely situation: If a woman is widowed seven times and is subsequently married to seven brothers, whose wife will she be at the resurrection? It wasn’t a legitimate question but a ridiculous one designed to prove the absurdity of the afterlife. As atheist Christopher Hitchens suggested, “Heaven is nothing more than a ridiculous theme park.”
But Jesus was smarter than any scientific rationalism. He replied, “Are you not in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God?” (12:24). They were wrong in their conclusion about heaven for three reasons.
First, they misunderstood the Scriptures. Jesus offered an Old Testament text to prove His point. When God met Moses, “God said to him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’. He is not the God of the dead, but of the living” (12:26-27). Notice the present tense. God did not say He was the God of Abraham and the rest. He is, even though they were long gone. He is the God of those who were and still are alive. Jesus was simply affirming what the Bible teaches in more than a few places. Psalm 16:10-11, John 11:25-26, John 14:2-3, 2 Corinthians 5:1-5, and Revelation 21:3, among many verses, each attest to the reality of people’s conscious, continuous existence in the presence of God.
Second, they misunderstood the power of God. Jesus doesn’t elaborate on this point, but the implication goes like this: “Do you believe in God?”
The doubters answer, “Of course we do!”
“Well, what can God not do?”
They respond, “What a silly question! God can do anything!”
“Then why do you have such difficulty believing that God can raise the dead? Your rejection of the resurrection is a rejection of God Himself.” Paul would later argue, “Why should any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?” (Acts 26:8). The possibility of an afterlife is only disputed by removing God from the picture.
If God doesn’t exist, then life after death is humanly, rationally, scientifically impossible. On the other hand, to believe in God is to believe in His unlimited power.
Third, they misunderstood the nature of heaven. People have difficulty making sense of heaven because all they have are earthly experiences to try and imagine it. On earth, everything is material, time is limited, things have a shelf life, and our deepest relationships are with other people. But in heaven, there exists a spiritual dimension, life is eternal, death is impossible, and our deepest relationship is with the living God. C. S. Lewis wrote, “Heaven is that greater glory of which nature is only the first sketch.” Perhaps this is why Jesus refers to it as “paradise”—because nothing on earth is like it.
This is what prompted Jesus’ additional comment, “When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven” (12:25). Though He answered about marriage, He was really highlighting the nature of heaven itself. In heaven, people will become “like the angels” who are spiritual beings, unable to die, and in perfect and perpetual communion with God. Marriage on earth is for companionship, but in heaven, we will have Jesus as our perfect friend.
Marriage on earth is to complete people, but in heaven everyone will be made perfect. Marriage on earth is to populate the Kingdom, but in heaven the Kingdom will be complete. And marriage on earth is to mirror God’s covenant love, but in heaven people will fully experience this love. So, in heaven, marriage is no longer necessary!
In fact, in heaven, there will be only one wedding—the marriage supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19)—where those who have placed their faith in Jesus are called “the bride of Christ” and celebrate their covenant union with the bridegroom and Savior, Jesus!
Ecclesiastes 3:11 declares that God has “set eternity in the hearts of men.” He has made us for life with Him forever. In the end, it doesn’t matter much if you get heaven right if you don’t get right with the God of heaven. The Scriptures have revealed the truth and the power of God that raised Jesus from the dead will raise to eternal life all those who trust in Jesus.
In 1971, Led Zeppelin performed a song titled “Stairway to Heaven” and, eight years later, the band AC/DC wrote a song titled “Highway to Hell.” Someone compared the titles and observed, “The fact that there’s a highway to hell and only a stairway to heaven says a lot about the anticipated traffic to each.”
Don’t miss the invitation to your wedding. Jesus has invited you to eternal life. Don’t dismiss life after death. Because heaven is for real.
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See also the "Is Heaven for Real?" sermon from the "King Jesus" sermon series about the Gospel of Mark.