Answer
Jesus said, “At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven” (Matthew 22:30). This statement clearly answers the question of whether there will be marriage in heaven. The answer is “no.”
The Sadducees had approached Jesus with a hypothetical situation: suppose a woman had been married multiple times (seven times, in fact). “At the resurrection,” they posed, “whose wife will she be of the seven, since all of them were married to her? (Matthew 22:28). It was a “gotcha” question, because the Sadducees did not even believe in the resurrection (verse 23). Jesus rebuked them for their lack of knowledge of the Scriptures and their discounting of the power of God (verse 29). And He plainly said there will be no marriage in heaven (verse 30). In that regard, people in heaven will be like the angels, who likewise do not marry.
The fact that there will no marriage in heaven does not mean that a husband and wife will no longer know each other in heaven. It also does not mean that a husband and wife could not still have a close relationship in heaven. What it does seem to indicate, though, is that a husband and wife will no longer be married in heaven. Marriage is an earthly bond, and it is broken by physical death (see Romans 7:2 and 1 Timothy 5:14).
Most likely, there will be no marriage in heaven simply because there will be no need for it. When God established marriage, He did so to fill certain needs. First, Adam needed a companion in this world. “The Lord God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him’” (Genesis 2:18). Eve was the solution to the problem of Adam’s potential loneliness, as well as his need for a “helper.” Adam’s marriage to Eve provided a companion to live alongside him and help him face life. In heaven, however, there will be no potential loneliness, nor will there be any need for helpers. We will be surrounded by multitudes of believers and angels (Revelation 7:9), and all our needs will be met, including the need for companionship.
Second, God designed marriage as the foundational building block of society. Within marriage God commanded procreation and the filling of the earth with human beings (Genesis 1:28). In heaven, however, there will be no need for procreation. Heaven will be filled by those redeemed by the Lord Jesus Christ; the command to “be fruitful and multiply” will be lifted, and no babies will be born in heaven. The need for procreation will end in heaven, and the need for marriage will end at the same time.
But won’t we miss the intimacy, companionship, and pleasures of marriage? Not according to 1 Corinthians 2:9: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him” (NLT). Whatever we know as the best, most intense joys in this world, the joys of the next world will be greater still. In this world, we enjoy the sun, but the heavenly city “does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp” (Revelation 21:23; cf. Isaiah 60:19). Just as the glory of God is infinitely greater than the physical sun, relationships in heaven will be infinitely more fulfilling than marriage in this world.
John Piper put it this way: “The pleasures of this world are foretastes and pointers to the inconceivably superior pleasures of the age to come. . . . Marriage ends because all its pleasures are preludes and pointers to something so much better that the human heart cannot imagine (1 Corinthians 2:9). . . . With every taste or every dream, remember: this is only foretaste—only prelude” (“Matrimony No More,” 10/9/17, www.desiringgod.org, accessed 10/30/24).
