February 7
Mark 10: On Marriage and Divorce
Genesis 40; Mark 10; Job 6; Romans 10
The Pharisees and scribes try to trap Jesus with the question:
“Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” (2)
Jesus responds by asking what Moses commanded them. He already knows what Moses said. He’s uncovering what they heard Moses say. Their answer: you can just send your wife away with a certificate, and that is that. Now, before we consider Jesus’ answer, I invite you to pause and go read Deuteronomy 24:1-4 for yourself. What is Moses’ overriding point? (I’ll wait.)
Jesus’ reply: this command was given the way that it was because of their hardness of heart (5), demonstrated by their practice of as easy divorce as ours today. This was an accommodation for their sinfulness, not a timeless change to God’s law. Moses was actually trying to prevent rampant adultery from spiraling from a prior sin.
When the Romans conquered Britannia, one reported back that “...they do not cultivate the land but share their wives with family members...” It seems that wherever laws about marriage were lax in the ancient world, such practices were common, and Moses “inherited” such a people out of Egypt. Thus he is abolishing the practice. And if we were able to institute an entirely Christian nation today, would not our new laws have to accommodate - at least for a time - some of the debauched practices that came before?
But what is the standard for marriage? According to Jesus, it’s Genesis 1 and 2.
First, marriage is between a male and a female (6). By those terms Jesus means what everyone else has meant up until about 10 minutes ago - the two genders that God created “from creation.”
Secondly, marriage has two parts. First, there is an exclusive covenant relationship (7). Each person’s relationship to everyone else in the world now changes. There is relational exclusivity. Secondly, that relationship is enacted in exclusive, faithful sexual union (8).
Now, envisioned marriage in creation. So when anyone enters into marriage, they’re entering into God’s invention and design. Therefore, modern evangelical church: let no one break it apart (9).
To do so is adultery, whether you initiated the divorce or were the one cast off (11-12) - if you enter into another union with another person. A mere paper at the courthouse or legislature cannot break or change God’s covenant. The problem is when a new union is created.
Now, at that time men initiated most divorces. Today it’s usually women. Either way, our generation has devolved back to the pagan norms the Bible meant to correct. We are awash in adultery. May God again grant us repentance and a new love for the standard from Genesis.