Four of Jesus' main teachings in this chapter come in response to challenges by the religious leaders. Jesus isn't just trying to teach people about the kingdom of God; he is engaging in a public battle with religious leaders in Jerusalem. The time for keeping his identity a secret has now passed, and the conflict is escalating.
The teaching on marriage at the resurrection in verses 18-27 used to bother me. Even though the point of the debate was to argue whether there will be a resurrection, it raises tension for anyone who values close relationships. As a married man, the teaching seems to diminish the importance of my relationship with my wife and imply that it is meaningless in the next life. If following Christ is primarily about relationships (as Jesus and the New Testament clearly teach), how can Jesus himself devalue this one? I also recall Mark 3:31-34 where Jesus says that those who do God's will are his real family.
As with many of Jesus' teachings, I think there is a paradox in this one. Jesus calls us to abandon even our closest relationships for him, but experience with Jesus tells us that those same relationships become stronger, richer, and more significant when Jesus is first in our lives. He demands everything from us, and we struggle to let it go. When we do and embrace him, he takes it, restores it, and makes it all better than it ever would have been before.
What will our relationships be like in heaven? I don't pretend to know. But I am confident that they will be better and more significant in that life than in this one. From our current perspective, we dwell on what we stand to lose, but on the other side that will seem silly. My marriage and relationships with my sons may be different in heaven, but everything about Jesus tells me they will be better and more significant, not less.
The same principle holds true in this life. If Jesus is first, everything that is a distant second becomes better: our marriages, families, careers, finances, you name it.
"Seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things will be added to you as well." - Matthew 6:33
"For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it." - Mark 8:35
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