“Will we still be married in heaven?” I am often asked that with respect to Jesus’ teaching here in Mark 12:18-27 (and Matthew 22:23-33). People feel that Jesus is saying that in heaven our present relationships won’t matter. On the contrary, the point here is that after the day of resurrection, in the new heavens and the new earth, things will be better than we imagine. This includes better and closer relationships with all, including our present loved ones. The next section about love in Mark 12:28-34 helps to solve this issue. Love is the highest state-of-being and, in heaven, love is made perfect. At present we love some people more and others less. But then we shall love everyone with a perfect love, that is, a love that could not be more or less. So, we won’t love our spouses or even our children more than others because there will not be a lesser love. You will still have these relationships and they will no doubt carry a special significance. We can only conjecture about this. But there will surely only be perfect love in the perfect future state. Think about those you most love now. In the new heavens and the new earth, you will love everyone with an even more perfect love than that. This is precisely what makes heaven ‘heavenly’: love. God is love (1 John 4:8) and to reflect God’s glory is to love as he loves. There is no higher life than the life of love. If you love others, then you have fulfilled the whole law of God! Love is the ‘atmosphere’ of heaven. When we love others, it is like giving them a taste of heaven.
Ask God to give you a greater love for all those you spend time with.
Read Mark 12:18-34
