Marriage and divorce

Mark 10:1-12

¹ Jesus then left that place and went into the region of Judea and across the Jordan. Again crowds of people came to him, and as was his custom, he taught them.

² Some Pharisees came and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?”

³ “What did Moses command you?” he replied.

⁴ They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away.”

⁵ “It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law,” Jesus replied. ⁶ “But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.’ ⁷ ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, ⁸ and the two will become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. ⁹ Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

¹⁰ When they were in the house again, the disciples asked Jesus about this. ¹¹ He answered, “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. ¹² And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery.”

There are quite a few paths you could go down with this passage.

The Pharisees are out to test Jesus if they can. Jesus, as he often does in the gospels exposes their motives and goes back to first principles, essentially why did God create marriage? It’s primarily about relationship, it’s a gift, God wants to bless through this relationship, it didn’t happen by accident, it’s very intentional. Paul says that marriage is actually a reflection of the relationship between Jesus and the church. God’s spirit lives in believers, there is an incredible connection between Jesus and his followers, “whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit” – 1 Corinthians 6:15. Jesus quoted Genesis, “in the beginning God, made them male and female, … a man leaves his father and mother to be with his wife and the two become one flesh”.

The Old Testament prophets often referred to Israel’s adultery with God, their lack of faithfulness to God, their pursuit of other Gods. Why does this sort of thing happen in marriage? A bit of theme has been coming through in Mark, man’s hardness of heart, basically sin gets in the way and spoils and damages us and our relationships.

The law of Moses made it clear, or should have to Israel, that we cannot keep the law. Jesus pointed out in the beatitudes, Matthew 5, that sin starts in the heart, in our attitudes. God’s bar is lifted higher than humanly possible. This should make us aware of our need for a saviour.

Jesus you are the way, the truth and the life, forgive me for allowing other things to take the place that rightfully belongs to you, thank you that you do forgive us and are faithful even when we are not.
Also thank you for the blessing and the gift of my wife, forgive me for the times I’ve let things get in the way of our marriage.

Written by Dave Moore