Saturday, June 1, 2013

Mark 10:1-12

Passage

Jesus left Capernaum and went beyond the Jordan.  Another crowd gathered, and Jesus taught.  The Pharisees came up to Jesus and ask if a person who is divorced can marry again.  Jesus asks the Pharisees what Moses taught them.  They reply that Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and send the woman away.  Jesus tells the Pharisees that this is true only because the human heart is so hard.  From the beginning, God made man and woman with the intention that a man would eventually leave his parents, find a woman, and start a new family.  They literally go from being two individuals to one “family unit” because God joins them together.  Jesus then cautions the Pharisees against separating what God has put together.    When the disciples were with Jesus privately, Jesus told them that whoever divorces a wife and marries another is guilty of adultery.  The same sentence is bestowed upon a woman who divorces her husband and marries another.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

The Pharisees come to Jesus with a question.  Some people argue that they were trying to trap Him in contradicting the Law – which in a round-about way He does by calling out the hardness of the people’s hearts.  Other’s claim the Pharisees were trying to set Jesus up to be at odds with Herod, who had a divorce.  But personally, I believe that the Pharisees were genuinely interested to hear what Jesus had to say.  Like now, divorce was a big topic in the days of Jesus.  Divorce was easy to accomplish.  Divorces were happening for just about any kind of reason.  I think the Pharisees were genuinely curious to hear Jesus’ take on one of the bigger social problems of the day.  I think this is validated by the fact that divorce is almost always one of the biggest social problems of any day in any culture.

Why do you think divorce is always a “current” topic of discussion?  What does this tell us about humanity?

Second Thought:

Jesus is clear that divorce is not in God’s original plan.  God did not create us with divorce in mind.  God created us with unity in mind.  Divorce happens when one or both partners give up the joint quest for unity and decide to care more about themselves than the other.  Divorce happens when one or both partners lose sight of their promise to love as God loved and instead they choose to love their own desires.  Divorce happens because we human beings are sinful.  It happens.  It is a part of life.  People can get through it and as with all consequences of sin it can be forgiven with repentance.  But that does not mean that it ever was part of God’s design.  It is necessary because we are evil in heart and sinful in nature.  {I should note that in the parallel passage of this story in Matthew, Jesus gives the exclusion that divorce is permissible if there is adultery.  In such a case, the spouse who is free from adulterous behavior will not be accountable for the divorce.}

How many people do you know who are touched by divorce – either in their marriage or one of their parents?  Why do you think it is important for us as Christians to be able to speak about divorce as Jesus does here – frankly and honestly but with an eye for repentance instead of judgment?

Third Thought:

Jesus does tell us that those who remarry after divorce commit adultery.  There are no exceptions that Jesus lists.  Now, this doesn’t imply that a person who does this cannot be saved.  Sin is sin and all sin for which there is repentance can be forgiven.  But the reality is that remarriage is adultery, and it must therefore be confessed as such and brought before the Lord.

Having said that, the reality is that it happens.  If a Christian is in a second marriage – is it better to teach them it is adultery or tell them to get a divorce so now they have a second divorce on their record with God?  I believe we as Christians need to encourage people to stay in the marriages that they are in and live out Christ’s love within those marriages.  I never teach that divorce is any kind of answer.  Marriage was a part of God’s design, divorce is not.  I believe in the case of a remarriage the proper thing to do is to teach repentance about the initial divorce and encourage faithfulness in the already established new marriage while also teaching that God expects repentance for the act of adultery.  It is a very messy situation theologically speaking.  But it is not messy because of God; it is messy because we as human beings make it messy.  As Jesus says here, it is messy because of the hardness of the human heart.

How does it make you feel to hear that a person who is remarried after a divorce is committing adultery in God’s eyes?  How does this whole topic have potential for hurt feelings and separation from God?  How does this really point to our need to rely upon Christ and seek His redemption of all of our sinfulness?


Passage for Tomorrow: Mark 10:13-16

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