Matthew 22:30

30 When people come back to life, they don't marry. Rather, they are like the angels in heaven.

Matthew 22:30 Meaning and Commentary

Matthew 22:30

For in the resurrection
At the time of the resurrection, and in that state; when the bodies and souls of men shall be reunited, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage;
neither the men marry wives, nor are the women given in marriage to men, which is done by their parents here, generally speaking, they having the right of disposing of children in marriage: but, as Luke says, "they which shall be accounted worthy"; not through their own works of righteousness, but through the grace of God and righteousness of Christ, "to obtain the world", the world to come, a future state of happiness, "and the resurrection of the dead", that which will be unto everlasting life and glory, "neither marry nor are given in marriage"; shall not enter into any such natural and carnal relation: and this agrees with the notion of the other Jews, who say ^F3; that

``In "the world to come", there is neither eating nor drinking, (hybrw hyrp alw) , "nor fructification, nor increase" (of children), no receiving and giving, (no commerce), nor envy, nor hatred, nor contention.''

But are as the angels of God in heaven;
or, as in Luke, "are equal unto the angels"; and which he explains their immortality: "neither can they die any more"; no more than the angels can: for this must not be extended to everything; not in everything will the saints be like, or equal to the angels; they will not be incorporeal, as the angels are, but then, even their bodies will be spiritual, and in some respects, like spirits; they will not stand in any need of sustenance, by eating and drinking, any more than the angels; nor will there be any such things as marriage, and procreation of children among them, any more than among angels; for they "are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection": they will then appear to be the children of God by adopting grace, through their enjoying the adoption, even the redemption of their bodies; and possessing, in soul and body, the heavenly inheritance they are heirs of: indeed, the souls of the saints before the resurrection, during their separate state, are in some sense like the angels, to which may be applied those words of Maimonides ^F4.

``In the world to come, there is no body, but the souls of the righteous only, without a body, (trvh ykalmk) "as the ministering angels"; and seeing there is no body, there is no eating nor drinking in it, nor any of all the things which the bodies of the children of men stand in need of in this world; nor does anything befall which happens to bodies in this world, as sitting or standing, or sleep or "death", or grief, or laughter, or the like.''

And according to the sense of the Jews, they will be like to the angels after the resurrection: so God is by them introduced speaking {e};

``At the appointed time known by me, to quicken the dead, I will return to thee that body which is holy and renewed, as at the first, to be (Myvwdq Mykalmk) , "as the holy angels".''

This was an usual way of speaking with them, to compare saints in a state of immortality, to angels ^F6. Christ, by making mention of angels, strikes at another notion of the Sadducees, that there were no angels, ( Acts 23:8 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F3 T. Bab. Beracot, fol. 17. 1.
F4 Hilch. Teshuba, c. 8. sect. 2.
F5 Midrash Hanneelam in Zohar in Gen. fol. 66. 4.
F6 Vid. Abot. R. Nathan, c. 1. fol. 1. 3. Caphtor, fol. 18. 2. Philo de Sacrific. Abel & Cain, p. 131.

Matthew 22:30 In-Context

28 Now, when the dead come back to life, whose wife will she be? All seven brothers had been married to her."

29 Jesus answered, "You're mistaken because you don't know the Scriptures or God's power.

30 When people come back to life, they don't marry. Rather, they are like the angels in heaven.

31 Haven't you read what God told you about the dead coming back to life? He said,

32 'I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.' He's not the God of the dead but of the living."