but they who are counted worthy to have part in that world, and the resurrection from among [the] dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage;
The Sadducees came to Jesus with a riddle about a woman married to seven brothers. His answer reaches far past their puzzle. He splits people into two groups: those who belong to this present age, and those who will reach the next one. Three phrases carry the weight — "that age," "the resurrection from the dead," and "worthy."
Their trap only worked if life after death is life as they already knew it. One writer traces their error to a failure of imagination.
C E StuartThe Sadducees of that day, like many a person in later ages, could conceive of nothing different from what they had known. Here marriages take place. So in their thinking, if there was a resurrection, marriages must also be contracted on high. Their conclusion was faulty.
Older translations read "that world" where the ESV reads "that age." The word does not mean the planet. It points to a coming period of time with its own character.
William Kelly"They who shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world and the resurrection from the dead." This would be an extraordinary expression if all rose at the same time. "They that shall be counted worthy to obtain that age" — that last word does not mean the material world. It means a special dispensation or age, which the unworthy do not obtain.
Marriage fits one age and not the other. And some will reach the coming age without dying at all.
F. B. HoleHe contrasted "this world" and "that world," using the word which means "age." Some will "obtain that age" as living people on earth, without passing through death and resurrection. But those who "obtain that age and the resurrection" will enter completely new conditions of life. They will be deathless as the angels, and marriage will not apply to them.
Why does marriage end there? Another writer follows the reason the Lord gives.
C E StuartMarriages do not take place among the saints in heaven. And the Lord gives a reason for that, reported only by Luke: they cannot die any more. Death does not reign there. So marriage, by which the human race is continued on earth, has no place above.
Something no one can lose cannot be an honour.
Frederick W GrantHow could people be "counted worthy" to obtain a general resurrection which no one can lose? Or be the children of God because they are children of a general resurrection?
The word "worthy" does not put the reader back on his own record. One writer ties it to grace received, not merit earned.
Leslie M. GrantMarriage is only for this world. He was not speaking of those who die in their sins and will rise for judgment at the Great White Throne. He spoke only of those counted worthy — by grace through faith — to obtain "that world," the glory of heaven, and the resurrection from among the dead.
The phrase here is not simply "resurrection of the dead." Jesus' first followers noticed that difference too.
H H Snell[The disciples] clearly distinguished between the resurrection of the dead, and the rising from among the dead ones. It implied that some of the dead would rise, while others still remained in their graves. It was a rising from among the dead ones… Notice that this speaks only of those who will be counted worthy to obtain the resurrection from among the dead ones. I call particular attention to this. It at once sets aside the idea of a general resurrection of the saved and lost.
What happened at the empty tomb sets the shape of it.
William KellyThe resurrection of Christ was not merely a resurrection of the dead, but out of the dead. He left them undisturbed in their tombs… And it is the same with the saints in principle. Theirs is to be a resurrection from among the dead. The rest of the dead must rise at another time.
The verse is not left as a debating point. One writer turns it straight on the reader.
C StanleyIs this not a resurrection of great privilege? Will everyone rise together, equal to the angels, the children of God?… Do not rest until you know that this privilege is yours.
- This age — marriage, and the family line it continues, belong to the world we live in now. The Sadducees assumed the next age must copy this one.
- That age — the word is not "planet" but "age": a coming era with its own conditions, which the unworthy do not obtain.
- Worthy — no one is "counted worthy" of what everyone receives anyway. The word marks out a group.
- By grace — that worthiness is grace through faith, not earned merit. No believer need read the verse with dread.
- From among — this resurrection lifts some out from among the dead and leaves the rest. Settle that hope for yourself before you need it.
for neither can they die any more, for they are equal to angels, and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.
The Sadducees denied the resurrection. They put a trick question to Jesus. A woman married seven brothers in turn, so whose wife will she be? His reply does more than dismiss the puzzle. It describes what the risen are like, and why marriage has no place among them.
The Sadducees assumed that any future life must copy this one. One writer points out that only Luke records the reason Jesus gave.
C. E. StuartThe Sadducees of that day could imagine nothing different from what they had known, and so could many people in later ages. Here marriages take place. So in their thinking, if there was a resurrection, there must be marriages in heaven too. Their conclusion was false. Marriages do not take place among the saints in heaven. And the Lord gives a reason for that, reported, as we find, only by Luke: "for they cannot die anymore." Death does not reign there. So marriage, which keeps the human race going on earth, has no place on high.
The comparison with angels is narrow and exact. It is about death. Some object that God alone has immortality, and one writer answers them.
William KellyEven those who misuse the text do not deny that the angels are immortal. Our Lord has certainly stated that this is their condition. The risen saints will be like them in this respect. "They cannot die anymore, because they are equal to angels" (Luke 20:36). So God alone having immortality is perfectly consistent with the immortality of angels.
Another writer sees the likeness reaching to the limits of the body itself:
Frederick W. GrantThey are equal to the angels: above the conditions of the body in this present life.
Being equal to angels does not mean becoming one. The verse gives the raised a second title, and it marks a relationship angels never hold.
W. W. FeredaySuch people will then rise from among the great mass of the dead, and God will make them equal in condition to the angels. Our calling is higher, for we are children and sons, while angels are only servants. Our condition until the Lord's coming is lower, but He will change that then by His mighty power.
Luke has used this form of words before.
William Kelly"Sons of the resurrection." This is a Hebrew way of speaking that we have already met. Compare "sons of the bride-chamber" (Luke 5:34), "sons of peace" (Luke 10:6), and "sons of this age" (Luke 16:8).
Another writer joins the two titles, and notes one thing the likeness to angels involves:
Leslie M. GrantBelievers are like the angels, who are neither male nor female, as we are told about the new creation (Galatians 3:27-28). They are sons of God. That relationship and dignity stands higher than every natural tie. They are sons of the resurrection — brought into a world that human thinking on its own has never reached.
Not everyone rises for the same reason. One writer marks off the resurrection in this verse from the raising of the wicked.
J. N. DarbyThe wicked will rise to be judged. The others will rise because they have been accounted worthy to obtain the resurrection which Jesus has obtained. This passage proves a resurrection which concerns the children of God alone. They are the sons of God, being the sons of the resurrection. To be a son of God, and to have part in this resurrection, is the title and inheritance of the same persons.
The words "accounted worthy" could sound like something earned. One writer says the opposite:
Frederick W. GrantWe must be "accounted worthy" to have part in this resurrection. It is not one that nobody can miss. Grace gives each person his place in it.
The death that follows judgment has no claim on them either.
Walter ScottThe terms "first resurrection" and "second death" are opposites. All who have no part in the one will certainly share in the other. The second death is the lake of fire. Into it the raised wicked dead are cast. But this dreadful death — dying, yet never dead in body — has no claim and no authority over those in the first resurrection. They "cannot die anymore." Their bodies are immortal. They can no more die than can angels (Luke 20:36).
- Deathless — marriage ends because dying ends. A world with no death needs no way to carry on the human race.
- Like angels — the likeness is about condition, not nature. God gives them immortality and lifts them above the limits of the body.
- Sons of God — angels are servants, so this title of relationship is never theirs. It stands higher than every natural tie.
- Sons of the resurrection — a Hebrew way of speaking. They belong to a new world, one human thinking has never reached on its own.
- Counted worthy — grace, not effort, gives a place in this resurrection. Those who have it are past the reach of the second death.