Will we be married in Heaven?  That's a tough question.  And many people don't really like the easy answer.  That easy answer, of course is, no we won't be married in Heaven.  And that's because Jesus said, The people of this age marry and are given in marriage. 35 But those who are considered worthy of taking part in that age and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage ...

But is that too easy?  Actually, yes, it's way too easy.  Partly because the quote is taken completely out of context.  And also because it completely ignores the cultural differences between Biblical times and many parts of the world today.  Further, it completely disregards the reason marriage and divorce were even instituted in the first place.

So let's look into this.

Why does marriage in Heaven even come up?

It's because Jesus said that in the next life, we will neither marry nor be given in marriage.

And so we assume it means that in the next life, we won't be married - and therefore we won't have the same relationship with our spouse.  Sure, some Christians will at least say that whatever it is, it will be better.  But there's still that disappointment over not being married.

First, let's consider that some will be better off without their current spouse.  For instance, in the case of domestic violence, where the abusing spouse is non-repentant, that person won't be in Heaven.  Therefore, no marriage is possible anyway.  But what does that mean for the spouse that was abused?  Is that person "stuck" in Heaven alone, without a spouse?  That sounds mean.  Translation - it cannot be right.  We must be missing something.  But what?

Will we be married in Heaven - some Biblical context.

I'm going to use quotes from Mark's Gospel, although the topic is covered in Matthew and Luke as well.  The NIV translation has this issue in a section they subtitle "Marriage at the Resurrection".  And the context in that passage is very important.  However, the section before that is also important.  The prior passage is actually a lead-in to "Marriage at the Resurrection" and gives even more insight into what's going on when Jesus says, in the next life we will neither marry nor be given in marriage.

Believe it or not, we're going to start by looking at the question of whether or not the Jewish people in Jesus' time should pay taxes to the Roman government, to Caesar.  Yeah - maybe a weird starting point, but it matters.

Paying Taxes to Caesar

12:13-17 pp — Mt 22:15-22; Lk 20:20-26

Mk 12:13 Later they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus to catch him in his words. 14 They came to him and said, “Teacher, we know you are a man of integrity. You aren’t swayed by men, because you pay no attention to who they are; but you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not? 15 Should we pay or shouldn’t we?”
But Jesus knew their hypocrisy. “Why are you trying to trap me?” he asked. “Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.” 16 They brought the coin, and he asked them, “Whose portrait is this? And whose inscription?”
“Caesar’s,” they replied.

Mk 12:17 Then Jesus said to them, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.”
And they were amazed at him.

What we see here is that the Pharisees are looking to do two things.  First - to trap Jesus into saying something they can use against Him.  Second - if not a trap, then to have Jesus say something that makes them look good.  It may even be that deep inside, they knew that the answer they wanted was not the "right", as in righteous, answer.

But Jesus knows better.  Jesus straight out asks them why they're trying to trap Him.  In the Seven woes, Jesus goes even further on this kind of thing:

Mt 23:25 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.

That's not something I want to hear from Jesus.  Not on any topic, including this one on marriage in Heaven.

So let's keep going.  Here's what happens next.

Marriage at the Resurrection

12:18-27 pp — Mt 22:23-33; Lk 20:27-38