I know. I really shouldn't. And if I weren't trying to make a point through a bit of irreverent humor, I really wouldn't.
When the Pharisees try to trap Jesus with the story of the woman who marries 7 brothers, based on a Judaic law, Jesus response is, "For when the dead rise, they won't be married. They will be like the angels in Heaven."
This is one of those comments that falls in between deconstructionism and accountability. In response to an impossible situation "demanded" by "law," Jesus response is a re-orientation of the earth-bound pharisees, who continually miss the mark, into a Heaven approach. By giving this description of the matrimonial status of the risen, Jesus reminds them that earthly "logic" by which these tricks and games are being laid to ensnare Him, does not hold in the setting of the afterlife. By giving this authoritative response, He not only deflects the trap, but also reminds the Pharisees of their limited vision.
However, in my personal, twice-divorced setting, I find it interesting that marriage is a temporal construct with limited penetrance into the eternal. It seems like the saying, on Earth as it is in Heaven, may be missing a step. What is the purpose of marriage on earth, if it is disavowed in Heaven? And in a reverse sense of accountability, does marriage have relevance temporally, if it has no relevance eternally? Would a deconstructionist play with this logic train, only to derail it as a way of undermining all meaning?
I know, with my past, I am prone to put such a spin on it, but then I remember that my "logic" is meaningless in the grand scheme of things, and I simply need to have faith. My first wife remarried, and has a much happier life now than I could ever have given her. My second wife, well, pretty much has very little use for me in this reality. I'm not sure that the next reality will improve her outlook on me. But, then, that's me thinking like a Pharisee again. It's not about my human understanding. It's about my faith.
"They will be like the angels in Heaven." Just have to read and have faith, faith, faith...
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Interesting. Wife #1 would not be having the life she has now if she had not had the life she had with you. So, in a way you DID give her the happier life. Also, I believe the Augustine notion that God is outside of time. For God everything is both immediately present and eternal. Outside the construct of time, temporal limitations don't apply to any human circumstance, marriage included. Our lives themselves are limited in time and we don't take them with us to heaven either. But death doesn't invalidate life or marriage. I believe that in death we all go back to God (and to all other souls). Marriages are attempts to connect with others that, however happy they may be, fall far short of the oneness that happens after life. The separation between souls is an earth thing, not a heaven thing. I've always seen "on earth as it is in heaven" as a reminder of that. But who knows? You're right: it comes down to faith...AND to responsibility...trying to make things on earth as they are in heaven, even knowing our great limitations.
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