By: Dale Weckbacher
Mark 10:2
And
Pharisees came up and in order to test him asked, “Is it lawful for a
man to divorce his wife?”
(ESV)
One of the main problems with the study of a book of the
Bible from beginning to end is encountering a sensitive topic like the topic of
Mark
10:1-12. Divorce is a sensitive
subject that impacts many people in the world.
The divisiveness that occurs when two individuals vowing to be together
till death separate through divorce leaves emotional scars on the man and woman
divorcing, their children, friends, and family.
However, while the topic of this text is divorce, what is really happening
is the testing of Jesus once again by the Pharisees.
As often happens in the ministry of Jesus, he moves to a new
area and is immediately confronted by a crowd.
However this time the crowd is not people seeking ministry, but
Pharisees seeking to entrap Jesus so they can accuse him of heresy. The entrapping question is whether it is
lawful for a man to divorce his wife.
While God intends marriage to continue till the death of one of the
spouses, the fact that the Levitical law makes provision for it three times (Leviticus
21:7; 21:14; 22:13) indicates it was an issue even during the time of Moses. Rather than answering the question of the
Pharisees with a simple yes or no, Jesus encourages them to search the scriptures
for what Moses had to say about divorce.
The Pharisees who possessed superior knowledge regarding scripture had
no choice but to answer with Moses allowing a man to write his wife a
certificate of divorce (Deuteronomy
24:1-4). Jesus replies to their answer
by stating that the reason Moses allowed men to divorce their wives was due to
the hardness of their hearts. With this
statement, Jesus is letting the Pharisees know that he knows the real reason
behind their inquiry regarding divorce, hard
hearts failing to recognize the Messiah.
Jesus continues by telling His testers that God made male
and female persons with the purpose of a man growing-up, leaving his father and
mother, and marrying a wife (Mark
10:6-7). So sacred and dynamic is
this union in the eyes of God that God views these two individuals becoming one
flesh in a union that man should not separate (Mark
10:8-9). A summary of Jesus’
teaching in Mark is that God does not condone divorce but out of grace, He makes
provision for it in the Levitical law (Leviticus
21:7; 21:14; 22:13) due to the hardness of the hearts of fallen
humanity. The private discourse by Jesus
with the disciples provides even greater emphasis on how seriously God views
marriage and the consequences of divorce.
Divorce continues to be an issue in modern culture just as
it was in the time of Moses. While the
Levitical law makes provision for divorce, is there a
similar provision for divorced individuals in the Church. In 1
Corinthians 7:10-16, Scripture once again reminds us of God not desiring
that a married couple separate in divorce except for an instance where a
non-believing spouse leaves a believing spouse.
There is also an exception allowing divorce in cases of adultery (Matthew
5:32; 19:9). However, these two
examples are not due to the hardness of the heart of a believer, but choices by
an unbelieving or unfaithful spouse not to honor the sacred vow of marriage. This illustrates the grace of God in not
holding an innocent person to a marriage with a non-believer or unfaithful
spouse.
However, what about divorced couples, divorcing due to other
reasons? Does God’s grace still apply in
these instances? Romans
8:1 reminds those believing and placing their faith in Christ that they are
not under condemnation. Just as God
extended grace to those seeking a divorce in the Old Testament due to the
hardness of their heart, God extends grace to divorced believers and does not
place them under condemnation. This is
because God did not send Jesus into the world to condemn the world but to save
it (John
3:17).
However, our culture, including the culture within the
Church can be ruthless and judgmental. Matthew
7:1-5 tells believers not to judge others because when we do, we invite
judgment upon ourselves for mistakes and sins in our lives. This includes judging divorced people. Instead, the community of believers should
pray for one another because prayer has great power in the lives of both
ourselves and those we pray for (James
5:16). Instead of judging and condemning
divorced people, let us lift them up in prayer as they must deal with the
consequences of divorce, including any self-condemnation.
The Pharisees have once again failed in their attempt to trap
Jesus into making some statement that goes against the doctrines of
scripture. Instead, Jesus provides
clarification on the issue of divorce, reminding us of the sacredness of
marriage, and dire consequences of divorce.
However, divorced people are not second-class citizens in the Church for
like all of us, they have sin in their lives but also have the mercy and grace
of God. I urge everyone reading this to
pray for divorced people, including yourself if that applies, for divorced
people are loved by God.
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