“Cum enim a mortuis resurrexerint, neque nubent, neque nubentur, sed sunt sicut angeli in cælis.”
“For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as the angels which are in heaven.”
“When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage. Instead, they will be like the angels in heaven.”
“For when they will rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.”
“For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as angels in heaven.”
2. He sets aside all the force of their objection, by setting the doctrine of the future state in a true light (v. 25); When they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage. It is a folly to ask, Whose wife shall she be of the seven? For the relation between husband and wife, though instituted in the earthly paradise, will not be known in the heavenly one. Turks and infidels expect sensual pleasures in their fools' paradise, but Christians know better things—that flesh and blood shall not inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor 15 50); and expect better things—even a full satisfaction in God's love and likeness (Ps 17 15); they are as the angels of God in heaven, and we know that they have neither wives nor children. It is no wonder if we confound ourselves with endless absurdities, when we measure our ideas of the world of spirits by the affairs of this world of sense.
Verses 18-27 A right knowledge of the Scripture, as the fountain whence all revealed religion now flows, and the foundation on which it is built, is the best preservative against error. Christ put aside the objection of the Sadducees, who were the scoffing infidels of that day, by setting the doctrine of the future state in a true light. The relation between husband and wife, though appointed in the earthly paradise, will not be known in the heavenly one. It is no wonder if we confuse ourselves with foolish errors, when we form our ideas of the world of spirits by the affairs of this world of sense. It is absurd to think that the living God should be the portion and happiness of a man if he is for ever dead; and therefore it is certain that Abraham's soul exists and acts, though now for a time separate from the body. Those that deny the resurrection greatly err, and ought to be told so. Let us seek to pass through this dying world, with a joyful hope of eternal happiness, and of a glorious resurrection.