Matthew 22:29-30, Yo are mistaken not knowing the Scripture

[Guest]

Matthew 22:23-30

23 The same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him and asked Him, 24 saying: "Teacher, Moses said that if a man dies, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother. 25 Now there were with us seven brothers. The first died after he had married, and having no offspring, left his wife to his brother. 26 Likewise the second also, and the third, even to the seventh. 27 Last of all the woman died also. 28 Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had her."
29 Jesus answered and said to them, "You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God. 30 For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels [fn2] of God in heaven.

I was wondering, which scripture is it that Jesus thought the Sadducees were ignorant of, for I can't think of any old testament passage which indicates marriage would not persist in heaven?

Thanks,
Pete

[Guest]

I think the scriptures Jesus was referring to were those that point to a future resurrection state. This was the main point of their ignorance, since they didnt believe in the resurrection at all. I dont think Jesus meant that there were OT scriptures that talk about there being no marriage in heaven. that was new information he was now revealing, it seems.

TK

[kaufmannphillips]

The reference may be to ignorance of the nature of the scripture: it is a legal device, a hedge against the vicissitudes of this present world. In the present world, the scripture lays out a paradigm for how to deal with the challenge of widowhood; this paradigm involves the legal contract of marriage, which was (then as now) a social and economic contract. But in the world to come, certain facts of this life may have been understood to have changed, so certain elements of the scripture might have been seen as no longer directly relevant (e.g., legal material pertaining to war).

In the resurrection, it may have been felt that people would no longer have spousal relations, so the contract of marriage would be unnecessary. Alternately, it may have been thought that people would be in close enough harmony with G-d's will that they do would not need the legal contract of marriage as a hedge to guard the spousal arrangement that G-d intends. Like other legal contracts, the contract of marriage is not commanded in the scripture, though the scripture addresses how to engage that contract.

The question hinges upon what is construed from being like angels: is it being unspoused (assuming that angels are so oriented); or is it being faithful to G-d? We may compare, on this point, the variant in Luke 20:36. It also hinges upon whether or not spousal relationship is to be understood as indistinguishable from contract of marriage.