Non-stop Feature
Human gender is eternal, in the sense that it will never go away.
In the gospels, Jesus makes an intriguing comment. He says that “in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven” (Matthew 22:30, Mark 12:25, Luke 20:35-36). That which marriage mimics, the consummation of Christ and His bride, will take place, and so marriage as a result of gender on earth will pass away. But that does not mean that gender will pass away. Luke 20:35-36 explains the point of comparison more: We will be “equal to the angels” in being “sons of God”, i.e., have the full inheritance. The covenant is consummated. Marriage is no longer needed to point us to the consummation of God with His people.
Careful to Be Certain
How do we know that Jesus is just saying that we do not marry and NOT that we become ungendered?
Theologians, especially those influenced by neo-Platonism and its low view of the body (e.g., Gregory of Nyssa), have not always recognized this. But someone as early as Augustine (The City of God 22:17) astutely points out that Jesus’ expression itself indicates the continuation of gender. “They neither marry” refers to men, while “nor are they given in marriage” refers to women. So, in the resurrection, men won’t marry and women won’t be given in marriage, but men and women, still distinguished, remain present.
As another theologian explains,
Marriage and genital sexual expression are limited to this penultimate age, of course. But sexuality is not. To leave sexuality behind is to undercut the significance of the resurrection. This central Christian doctrine indicates that sexuality is not eradicated en route to eternity. Instead, after the manner of the risen Jesus, humans participate in the transforming event of resurrection as the embodied persons-male or female-they are. Above all, however, to ‘relegate sexuality to the temporal is to undermine the basis for community in eternity. Even though genital sexual expression is left behind, the dynamic of bonding continues to be operative beyond the eschatological culmination, for this dynamic is at work in constituting humans as the community of the new humanity within the new creation in relationship with the triune God.
A Glimpse of What is to Come
Well said. What he means by “after the manner of the risen Jesus” is that we can get clues about gender by looking at the “First-born” of that new age: Jesus Christ (Romans 8:29, Colossians 1:18, Revelation 1:5). Jesus did not rise as an androgenous being. He experienced no loss of gender. Mary recognizes Him as a man, calling him “sir” and easily mistaking Him as the gardener (John 20:15). Even before the Risen One is recognized, He appears as a man and is addressed as one (Luke 24:18 “Are you the only one…” masculine singular). For that matter, so were the sort-of risen Moses and Elijah (Matthew 17:3-4, Mark 9:4-5, Luke 9:30-33 –“the two men who stood with Him”).
If we will rise like Him (1John 3:2), then we will retain our gendered bodies also. So, there will be no husband and wife. But there will be brother and sister. There will be no parenting. But there will certainly be sons and daughters of God (2Corinthians 6:18-7:1).
Since it is going to last so long—that is, forever—what do you think this means about what gender is? What does it say about gender as part of your identity? Does this fact of eternity cause you joy or dismay? If the latter, have you ever thought of your gender as a gift, like the other gifts that make you what you are?
Appreciating this eternity, how should we now live?