Whose husband will he be in heaven?

[tidbit]

My mother remarried long after my father passed away. Her new husband was a widower. Now my stepfather has passed away and my mom is wondering what happens in heaven when she sees her husband. Will he be with his first wife?

 

[Michelle_Arnold]

Jesus answered a very similar question posed to him by the Sadducees:

The same day Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection; and they asked him a question, saying, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies, having no children, his brother must marry the widow, and raise up children for his brother.’ Now there were seven brothers among us; the first married, and died, and having no children left his wife to his brother. So too the second and third, down to the seventh. After them all, the woman died. In the resurrection, therefore, to which of the seven will she be wife? For they all had her.”

But Jesus answered them, “You are wrong, because you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven” (Matt. 22:23-30).

Because the purposes of marriage are the common sanctification of the spouses and enabling a husband and wife to raise children for heaven and because those purposes will have been fulfilled in the next life, marriage is an institution for this life only. That doesn’t mean that spouses will not know each other in heaven; indeed, they may have a special relationship of which we can only now speculate. But it seems reasonable that their relationship will not be exclusive to such an extent that subsequent spouses to whom one or the other was married would be entirely excluded. My guess is that your mother need not worry about being cut off from a relationship with your stepfather, anymore than your stepfather would have needed to worry about being excluded when your parents are reunited.