When Jesus answers the Sadducees by saying, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage,” He does more than respond to a hypothetical question about marriage. He exposes a deeper problem: their entire line of reasoning is confined to “this age.” They are attempting to understand resurrection realities using only temporal categories.
Jesus’ words introduce a crucial distinction. There is this age—the present, temporal order—and there is the age to come—the eternal order. The Sadducees’ error is not merely doctrinal; it is perspectival. They assume that the structures, relationships, and rules of this present age must simply carry over into the next. Jesus corrects that assumption by expanding the horizon of their thinking.
Earlier, in Luke 18, Jesus clarifies this same distinction. He speaks of houses, family relationships, and attachments that belong to “this present time,” and then contrasts them with “the age to come,” which He associates with eternal life. The implication is clear: this age is defined by time and limitation, while the age to come is defined by eternity and fulfillment. Confusing the two leads to distorted conclusions about life, resurrection, and purpose.
Jesus’ response gently but firmly elevates the conversation. The Sadducees are asking resurrection questions without resurrection context. It is like designing an ice cream shop for the bottom of the ocean using the building codes of Orlando, Florida. The concept itself is misplaced because the environment is entirely different. What works in one realm cannot simply be transferred unchanged into another.
This distinction between realms—temporal and eternal—runs throughout Jesus’ ministry. He consistently teaches that there is another kingdom at work, another age already pressing in. He does not merely speak about it; He demonstrates it. Through miracles, authority over death, and victory over sin, He shows that He operates fully in both realms at once. One is physical and passing; the other is spiritual and enduring. One is shaped by sin and death; the other by God and faith.
The challenge Jesus presents is not limited to the Sadducees. Believers today face the same temptation. We can live as though this life is all there is, treating eternity as distant or theoretical. Or we can speak of the future kingdom while disengaging from the present world, waiting passively for this age to end. Jesus offers a third way: to live fully engaged in both the temporal and the eternal.
This is where legacy stewardship finds its meaning. Legacy stewardship is not about preserving what belongs solely to this age, nor is it about neglecting the present in favor of a future escape. It is about stewarding life, relationships, influence, and purpose with an awareness that this age is temporary and the age to come is already present.
Jesus makes this clear when He teaches that the Kingdom of God is not merely future, but present—even now. He speaks of it in the present tense, before the cross and before Pentecost. The age to come has already broken into this age. Eternity has intersected with time.
Because of this, our rewards are not anchored in this world. Jesus teaches that treasures rooted only in this age are vulnerable and temporary, while treasures connected to the eternal kingdom are incorruptible. Yet this does not mean the eternal is detached from the present. On the contrary, the presence of the kingdom now reshapes how we live, choose, and steward today.
Legacy stewardship, then, is living with resurrection awareness. It is recognizing that what we manage in this age—our lives, our faithfulness, our obedience—echoes into the age to come. It is engaging fully in the work of God here and now, while refusing to let this world define our ultimate values or identity.
Jesus models this perfectly. He walks in the world without being ruled by it. He ministers in time while drawing constantly from eternity. Paul captures this same reality when he speaks of knowing Christ and “the power of His resurrection.” That power is not postponed; it is present. It is the victory over sin and death that believers are called to walk in now.
To steward a legacy in light of the resurrection is to live as citizens of another age while still standing firmly in this one. It is to recognize that the kingdom is at hand, that eternity is already pressing in, and that our lives are meant to reflect that reality. Not for temporal achievement or material success, but so that even now we may walk in victory over sin, death, and fear—by the power of His Spirit.
This is the stewardship Jesus calls us to: faithful in this age, anchored in the age to come, and fully alive in the present reality of His kingdom.
By Christopher L. Walker at myfathersestate.com
