Month: January 2026

Jesus answered and said to them, “Are you not therefore mistaken, because you do not know the Scriptures nor the power of God? For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.” (Mark 12:24-25)

On the Tuesday before He went to the cross, Jesus debated the religious authorities on the temple mount in Jerusalem. One of the groups to challenge Jesus were the Sadducees, who hoped to trap Jesus with a complicated question meant to make the truth of the resurrection look ridiculous and therefore false.

Jesus responded to the Sadducees by telling them they were twice mistaken. They did not know the Scriptures and they did not know the power of God. Because they didn’t know God’s word, and they didn’t know and trust the power of God, they doubted the truth of God’s promise of a life after this one – the resurrection.

The Sadducees thought that if there was a resurrection, it was just this same life lived forever. With the principle when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, Jesus showed that in the age to come life will be lived on a completely different principle and in a dimension we can’t imagine.

Many people make the same mistake as the Sadducees in thinking about heaven – that it is just a longer and better version of earth. Some Native American thought of heaven as the happy hunting ground. Some Vikings thought of heaven as Valhalla, where they fought as warriors all day, but at day’s end the dead and wounded rose whole again, celebrating all night at a banquet, drinking wine from the skulls of their enemies. These ideas mistake heaven for simply a better earth. Heaven’s life is of a different order all together.

In heaven, God’s people neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. Therefore, we can’t take our present relationships and suppose they will be the same in heaven. On earth, human relationships are largely a matter of time and place – a man can be a son, then an adult, then a husband, then a father, and so on. In heaven, all this changes.

From everything we know, angels don’t have babies. In that respect, we will be just like the angels. We know it won’t be the same as what we know on earth, but we can’t say for sure what it will be like in heaven – other than to know that we won’t be disappointed.

Knowing that the resurrection of the dead is true doesn’t answer all our questions. There are mysteries that remain, but they don’t take away from the basic truth of the resurrection.

Don’t make the same two mistakes the Sadducees did. When we don’t know the Scriptures, we don’t have an anchor for truth and belief. When we don’t know the power of God, we doubt God’s ability to fulfill what He has promised in the Scriptures. (Guzik)

 

 

Jeremiah 5:21    “Hear this, O foolish and senseless people, who have eyes, but see not, who have ears, but hear not.

Proverbs 20:12    The hearing ear and the seeing eye, the Lord has made them both.

Matthew 16:13    Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”

Matthew 13:10-16    Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says: “‘“You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive.” …

 

 

 

Deuteronomy 4:1   “And now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the rules that I am teaching you, and do them, that you may live, and go in and take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers, is giving you.

John 14:6    Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Mark 4:1-41    Again he began to teach beside the sea. And a very large crowd gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea, and the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. And he was teaching them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil. …

Matthew 24:25    See, I have told you beforehand.

Malachi 3:16    Then those who feared the Lord spoke with one another. The Lord paid attention and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the Lord and esteemed his name.

 

Mark 4:23-25    If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear: with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you. For to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”

Deuteronomy 5:1    And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, “Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the rules that I speak in your hearing today, and you shall learn them and be careful to do them.

 

Acts 1:1-26     In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” …

 

Mark 4:24    And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear: with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you.

 

Ezekiel 3:27    But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God.’ He who will hear, let him hear; and he who will refuse to hear, let him refuse, for they are a rebellious house.

Isaiah 6:9-10     And he said, “Go, and say to this people: “‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’ Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”

Psalm 66:18    If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.

1 Corinthians 2:9     But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”—

Acts 17:11     Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.

 

Matthew 13:41-43     The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.

Matthew 13:16-17     But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

Isaiah 66:4    I also will choose harsh treatment for them and bring their fears upon them, because when I called, no one answered, when I spoke, they did not listen; but they did what was evil in my eyes and chose that in which I did not delight.”

Ecclesiastes 5:1-7    Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil. Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few. For a dream comes with much business, and a fool’s voice with many words.

 

Revelation 3:22    He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”

Revelation 2:29     He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

Revelation 2:1-3:22    “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: ‘The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands. “‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. …

Luke 14:35     It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

 

 

Romans 12:2    Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Matthew 13:9-17    He who has ears, let him hear.” Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. …

Revelation 13:9    If anyone has an ear, let him hear:

Isaiah 6:10    Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”

 

Revelation 3:20    Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.

Revelation 3:6    He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

Revelation 2:17    He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.’

Luke 8:8    And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold.” As he said these things, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

1 Peter 3:12    For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

 

Mark 4:23    If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”

Jeremiah 6:10    To whom shall I speak and give warning, that they may hear? Behold, their ears are uncircumcised, they cannot listen; behold, the word of the Lord is to them an object of scorn; they take no pleasure in it.

Matthew 13:43    Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.

Revelation 3:13    He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

Ezekiel 12:2    “Son of man, you dwell in the midst of a rebellious house, who have eyes to see, but see not, who have ears to hear, but hear not, for they are a rebellious house.

Matthew 13:8-9    Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear.”