THEY NEITHER MARRY

Nor Give in Marriage

CERTAIN Sadducees once came to Christ with a question concerning martial relations following the resurrection. The real point of their inquiry was in part hidden, or, in current vernacular, camouflaged. Their chief purpose was that of disputing the doctrine of the resurrection itself, the actuality of which the Sadducees as a sect strenuously denied.

They cited a case, presumably hypothetical, of a woman who had been married, and then six times remarried under the levirate law, and seven times widowed, and who eventually had died, childless. The question as submitted was: "Therefore in the resurrection whose wife shall she be of the seven?"

"Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven." (Matt. 22:28-30.)

Three of the evangelists make record of the incident; and the most extended version of our Lord's reply is given by Luke (20:34-38). From this we gather that while marriage and giving in marriage—that is to say the association of eligible parties in wedlock, and the authoritative solemnization of the union by a duly qualified official—are necessary and honorable undertakings among mortals, they to whom the Savior referred shall neither marry nor be given in marriage in the resurrection, but at best shall be made equal to the angels.

The inquisitorial Sadducees must have felt the force of the Master's rebuke in being told that they were in error "not knowing the scriptures nor the power of God," for they prided themselves on their learning and superior qualities of understanding. Nevertheless, the reproof was merited, for had they opened their hearts to the spirit of Scripture, had they considered with honest desire to comprehend the words of the Lord who spoke to them, whose utterances were and are Scripture of the highest and most sacred order, they would have been able to distinguish between ceremonies performed for time only under the regulations of human law, and ordinances administered by the authority of God for both time and eternity.

Sacred rites that pertain both to the period of mortality and to the life beyond must be solemnized on earth. Compliance with the laws and ordinances of the Gospel, or the rejection of these, determines the individual test for which the world was prepared as the abode of men—to "prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them." (Pearl of Great Price, p. 66.)

Thus, in the case of the initiatory ordinance, baptism, it is essential that it be administered to mankind in the flesh; for Scripture nowhere avers that in and after the resurrection men shall be baptized in water for the remission of sins done in mortality. And so is it with respect to marriage.

True, as we have heretofore seen, the merciful economy of God makes possible the vicarious administration of baptism for the disembodied, that is for the dead prior to their resurrection; but the actual baptism is to be solemnized by and upon mortal beings, who, having been already baptized for themselves, may officiate for their dead kindred by complying with the revealed laws and regulations. So also the marital union of the worthy dead, who have lived in lawful and honorable wedlock as regulated by secular law, may be confirmed and superseded by the ordinance of Celestial Marriage, wherein the family relationship is perpetuated by sealing under the authority of the Holy Priesthood, to be of force and effect in and after the resurrection from the dead.

The family relationship was primarily designed to be perpetual; and only as mankind have forfeited or rejected the ministration of the Holy Priesthood has mere temporal union become a necessary yet but partial substitute for the eternal order of marriage. Paul's comprehensive precept "Neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord" (1 Cor. 11:11) has an application beyond the marital state in mortality.

The full measure of progression in eternity is unattainable without the perpetuity of the family organization; and the family unit must be established on earth through the order of Celestial Marriage, which comprises marriage for time as well as for eternity, or, in the case of the dead by the confirmation and extension of earthly wedlock through the vicarious sealing of the parties in Celestial Marriage. Otherwise, that is if the marriage of any couple shall have been by secular authority only, without the authority of the Holy Priesthood, the parties shall find in the resurrection that neither are they married nor can they then be given in marriage.

Following the visitation of the Risen Christ to the Nephites on the Western Continent we read of the marriage institution associated with specific blessings, indicating the authorized administration of the higher and eternal order of matrimony: "And they were married, and given in marriage, and were blessed according to the multitude of the promises which the Lord had made unto them." (Book of Mormon, 4 Nephi 1:11.)

Concerning those who are wedded for this life only, the word of God as revealed in the present age is in strict accord with the Lord's affirmation to the Sadducees:

"Therefore, when they are out of the world, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are appointed angels in heaven, which angels are ministering servants, to minister for those who are worthy of a far more, and an exceeding, and an eternal weight of glory." (D&C 132:16.)