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.
They said, "Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away." "It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law," When they were in the house again, the disciples asked Jesus about this. "He answered, "Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery." |
Mark has spent some time guiding us through episodes of Christ's ministry that show us the meaning of discipleship. Although we are still looking at the matter of what it means to be a follower of Jesus, with the start of chapter 10 there is a change, a detail that we should notice. Jesus leaves Galilee. He is now making his final journey to Jerusalem. At the edge of Judea he crosses the Jordan to go to Jericho (10:46) and is in Peraea, an area corresponding to the Old Testament Gilead. Travellers from Galilee would cross Jordan to Peraea to avoid going through Samaria.
The Outline of 10:1-31
In these verses Jesus encounters 3 groups of people: Pharisees, little children and the rich young man. A good title for the chapter might be Sex, Power and Wealth! The issues that are raised are successively marriage and divorce, social status and materialism. The relevance of these is that they are three things that undermine discipleship. They lead the way to 10:26,27 where the disciples ask, 'who then can be saved?' and Jesus responds that it can only happen by God's grace.
In a way, the point of these stories is that God's standards are too high. Jesus still hasn't revealed how God will save us (that waits for resurrection when it will become clear) but first we have to understand clearly that we cannot save ourselves.
First Things First -Stickability
'As was his custom, he taught them,' (verse 1). All along Jesus has attracted people in his ministry but he has encountered consistent opposition. It has been depressing seeing how unfruitful his ministry was - the vast majority of people totally misunderstood the message of his ministry (see ch.3), 'Repent and believe the Good News.' (1:15). Yet Jesus kept on sowing the seed no matter what. And there's a lesson here for us too. Jesus sets an example and sets the standard. Discipleship begins with steadfast and continual effort and purpose. JC Ryle says,
"We are not to relax our exertions, because we see no fruit of our toil.. .It is not 'the good and successful servant,' but the 'good and faithful servant,' to whom Jesus will say,' enter thou into the joy of the Lord.'" (Matt 25:21). We too should aim to make our aim that of faithful ministry."
Background:
Pharisees: We so often skim over a word like Pharisee that we forget to ask who and what they were.
They arose in the inter-testamental period in Israel's history. In the early 2nd century BC we find the group of Jews who were later to they become known as Pharisees ('the separated ones,') called h"sidim ('God's loyal ones'), and we still see Hassidic Jews today. The Illustrated Bible Dictionary states that the religious doctrine of the Pharisees insisted on three things:
• the holiness and unity of God
• the special place of Israel, and
• the absolute authority of the Torah.
Above all, "the stress in the Pharisee's religion," says the Dictionary, "was ethical, not theological...The majority [of Pharisees] aimed at controlling the religion of the state,"
Setting Traps
In verse 2 we find the Pharisees testing Jesus in order to trap him. They try to do so by legalistic means. They attempt to push him into a political corner by asking a 'loaded' question. We've seen the Pharisees do this before (e.g. 3:2) and their underlying motive is to discredit and get rid of him.
Just as divorce is a touchy subject today, so it was a touchy subject then. The Pharisees may well have picked this subject to trap Jesus because of his habit of keeping 'odd' company that might suggest he held unorthodox liberal views. Shortly before the time of Christ, there were two schools of thought in the traditions of Judaism; the conservative Shammai School interpreted divorce as being for unfaithfulness only, while the liberal Hillel School extended it to anything displeasing to the husband, such as bad cooking, nagging, hogging the TV to watch a soap when the news is on another channel!
The method that Jesus uses to address such a controversy is to turn to Scripture, and that is something we should learn to do too. His answer is two-fold, highlighting the Old Testament:
I: Moses - where he exposes Human Failing and Hardness of Heart (Deut.24:l-4)
II: Creation - where he presents the Ideal of Marriage (Genesis 1&2)
The Law
Jesus doesn't just refer the Pharisees to Scripture. He does something else. He clarifies it, and interprets it. He reveals that God's Law makes a concession to humanity and he reveals the reason for the concession - the hardness of the human heart. Ray Stedman explains:
"When you determine that you are going to handle something yourself, and not pay any attention to what God reveals about it, you are hardening your heart. This is what was going on in the marriages in Israel."
2 Aspects:
• In one respect it was an act of grace to allow for human frailty.
In the Old Testament (Deut. 24:l-4) Moses did not command divorce but 'regulated an existing practice' with a concession. The Mosaic divorce made public what had been going on in private in the marriage, perhaps revealing the husband's wrong-headed moral attitude towards his wife. The law released women from such ungodly men. Perhaps the woman was unfaithful and the concession allowed the husband escape from such an ungodly woman.
• In another respect Moses' law exposed the spiritually shameful things going on under cover of the respectability of marriage.
Ray Stedman reminds us that, "The Law is given to reveal sin..... .Moses' [concession on divorce was to make public] what the husband's attitude was, and so a divorce was to be permitted (because the marriage simply did not match God's intended pattern)."
This is a modern problem too, where ungodly men and women do not know how to fulfil their roles. Men think they should be macho instead of masculine and women think they should be sexy instead of feminine. It becomes easier to resolve problems within the relationship by disposing of it and so we have embraced the phenomenon of serial monogamy. Marriages fail because of hardness of heart.
We should note that this Mosaic concession was not just abused in the time of Jesus but it is still abused. According to a media report, Jews in the UK still give certificates of divorce to their wives - or not! Wives can get divorced legally under UK secular law but not 'spiritually' (under Old Testament law) and their menfolk use the granting of the divorce certificate as a means of extortion. They only release the women in exchange for payment of a 'ransom'.
By the time of Jesus, the special nature of marriage had become lost as the Jews abused the right of divorce, using it to pander to their own whims and to subjugate their wives to the extent that they became nothing more than property. And so Jesus takes his questioners back a step to God's intention for marriage at the Creation by quoting from the book of Genesis.
God's Ideal
JC Ryle: ''The main part of the passage is meant to show us 'the dignity and importance of the relation of marriage.'"
Ray Stedman, commenting on verses 6-9 in a sad indictment of modern society: "They (these verses) are quoted at every wedding - and yet they are singularly disregarded afterward."
Let's explore this under three headings : A) What God has done, B) The Desires of God, and C) The Warning of God.
i) What God has Done: v6
"God made them male and female." This infers that they are distinct and that there are differences. Ray Stedman identifies differences in terms of biology and psychology. In terms of biology the differences should be obvious to us all! Psychologically we can illustrate the difference in the example of a couple looking for a new car. The man's reaction to the car might well be, 'How fast does it go?' whilst the woman's reaction is along the lines of, ' what colour is it?' Spiritually however, the sexes are the same, says Ray, "And therein lies there equality before God." They become one.
ii) The Desires of God: v7
"For this reason..." Such a statement in Scripture should warn us to ensure we understand as well as possible that we understand the reason and thus the consequences that flow from it. SO just what does God want? I've bulleted here a number of points that help clarify the issues.
• Mutual interdependence and commitment:
God made the sexes different so that they could be joined and become one! Like the triune God they can enjoy social interaction within their unity. One is 'incomplete' without the other. Of course we must be careful here because God calls single people too, but in a way they are married or at least betrothed - to Christ!
• It's a life journey:
That man and woman leave home shows that this relationship is of a higher order than blood relationship (mother and father, or children). Becoming one does not happen immediately says Ray Stedman but, "It takes a whole lifetime of marriage to accomplish this. Marriage is the process of two people becoming one." It's about sticking together and working through problems, rather than avoiding them.
• Exclusion:
God's ideal excludes gay marriage, polygamous marriage and serial monogamy. Talking of societies, JC Ryle says, "It is a fact clearly ascertained, that polygamy and permission to obtain divorce on slight grounds, have a direct tendency to promote immorality."
• Completion: "no longer two, but one." What this infers is that if there is one body then there is one head! There are different roles and responsibilities within marriage but the husband will always have the final responsibility to decide. That is not an authority that permits men to rule their wives as tyrants. Christ is to be their role model and they should serve the interests of their wives as Christ served the church. If, as Adam says in Genesis, a wife is 'flesh of my flesh, bone of my bone' then they should be afforded every comfort husbands expect for themselves.
iii) The Warning of God: v 9-12:
Again, Jesus draws out a lesson from Scripture, "Therefore what God has joined, let man not separate. " Marriage is in accordance with God's will and God's will should not be superseded by man's will because we are answerable to God. Furthermore, adultery or sexual infidelity destroy God's work in building unity in marriage. Once more, the root of the matter is disobedience to God's will.
"Every couple, when they move into their first flat or home, ought to put up a sign, "Caution: God at work!" because that is what he is doing." Ray Stedman (again!)
When Jesus talks of 'one flesh' and adultery then we cannot avoid the reference to sexual union. It is a union of joy and commitment, deeply personal and it is an intimate sharing. "Sex is the visible picture of what a marriage ought to be. This is why God reserves sex for marriage," says a commentator. Sexual adultery breaks the work of God by defiling the bond of trust of giving and receiving.
In verses 11 and 12 Jesus makes the same statement about adultery but reverses the positions of the man and the woman. By doing so, Jesus demonstrates that marriage is a union of equals, where both is responsible. This was a shocking statement in its time for in that society women would never initiate divorce. The initiative of divorce in Jewish culture is always the man's but Jesus lifts it higher than that and places both partners on an equal footing.
Two things on divorce
In reply to the disciples' question, Jesus says that divorce and remarriage, except for unfaithfulness, is a breach of the seventh commandment. "Unfaithfulness dissolves the marriage tie altogether and places the husband and wife once more in the position of unmarried
people..." Also, divorce is sin, and a result of sin. That is the stark fact... but where the law ends, grace begins and sin can be forgiven. Let's leave this section with the wise words of Bishop Ryle:
"It is a mournful fact that few steps in life are taken with so much levity, self-will, and forgetfulness of God as marriage. Few are the young couples who think of inviting Christ to their wedding! ... Happy are they, who in the matter of marriage observe three rules. The first is to marry only in the Lord, and after prayer for God's approval and blessing. The second is not to expect too much from their partners, and to remember that marriage is, after all, the union of two sinners, and not of two angels. The third rule is to strive first and foremost for one another's sanctification. The more holy married people are, the happier they are."
Legalistic attitudes in today's' church
Some Christians are very unforgiving of divorcees, and those who undergo this trauma can find themselves the target of some very unpleasant comments. They may well find themselves cold-shouldered by their fellow believers whatever the reasons for the divorce. And when at last Christians remarry, or even when a believer marries a divorcee, they may be refused a church wedding in the sight of God. The pain and sense of rejection that these people feel is terrible, and following observation from J.C. Ryle commenting on God's toleration of Israel falling below the standard of marriage is most pertinent:
"If God was pleased to suffer some things in Israel 'for the hardness of their hearts,' then we may well endure some things in churches and states which we do not quite like... The state of perfection is yet to come."
Yes, God sets a standard and we Christians should preserve those standards and proclaim them, yet our Lord is, 'a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love' (Jonah 4:2). The reasons that Israelite marriages failed are the same reasons they fail today. If God, in his graciousness, allowed the concession of divorce under the mosaic law in certain circumstances, then surely the church should likewise be gracious and compassionate to today's divorcees. Strict legalism is most unhelpful and shows a pharisaic attitude that is distasteful. In no way am I suggesting that we should introduce an utterly liberal policy but that we should use our discretion in individual cases using the principles of the Old Testament concession.
Let us just remind ourselves that we are being taught in the stories of this chapter that we cannot save ourselves for God's standards are too high. To be disciples of Jesus we are going to have to rely on the grace of a God who paid the price for our failure.
What is it then about marriage that makes it so important and what ties it in with discipleship? Why did Mark chose this story? In opening this up to the big theological picture I offer you the following ideas to ponder:
• Marriage is a picture of Covenant Relationship with God. It is through our experience of marriage, where we commit ourselves to one other person 'for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health' that we learn what it is to be in committed relationship to our heavenly bridegroom, Jesus.
• The Biblical word to 'know' God is the same as to 'know' as between a man and a woman. It is very intimate and shows the kind of closeness that our Lord longs to have with us.
• In Ephesians 5:32 Paul sees marriage as a picture of the union between Christ and his church, and adultery is commonly used in the Bible to imply spiritual unfaithfulness to God and the worship of idols. For example look at Jeremiah chapter 3 and especially verse 8:
"I gave faithless Israel her certificate of divorce and sent her away because of all her adulteries. Yet I saw that her unfaithful sister Judah had no fear; she also went out and committed adultery."
Marriage partners leave home to stake an interest in a marriage. One extremely famous person left his home to stake his claim in an impending marriage (Rev 19:9) - Jesus. A time is coming when he will return to complete the union.
"Yes I am coming soon" Amen, Come Lord Jesus" Rev. (22:20)
Further Notes on OT Marriage
In OT marriage is considered normal and there is no word for bachelor. Monogamy is implicit in that God created only one wife for Adam. The stories of Abraham, Gideon, David and Solomon show that polygamy brings trouble. In normal circumstances the wife comes to the
husband's home. Near East betrothal was and is almost as binding as marriage and the woman was under the same obligation of faithfulness. The Application Bible points out that women were treated often with little more regard than property, and marriage considered like the transactions of buying and selling of land. In Judaism the wife would not divorce the husband and it would seem absurd for a husband to commit adultery against his wife, so in saying this Jesus is putting the woman equal.
Thanks:
I am indebted, as so often, to the wise words of Ray Stedman that I have used liberally in this study. He has left us with a wealth of teaching and his 'Discovery Papers' can be found at http://pbc.org/dp/stedman/ The site is well worth bookmarking and visiting. My thanks to those who look after this precious resource.