“Is it lawful…?” Mark 10:1-12
How do you handle a scriptural position that clearly goes against commonly held views and expert recommendations? Jesus finds himself in such a spot, for divorce was as easy and common for both the Jew and the Gentile of his day as it is in ours.
To make matters worse, the Pharisees have set him up, trying to ensnare him in his words no matter how he might answer. Any response he makes will offend someone somewhere.
Jesus, however, does not answer them directly. Instead he asks a question, “What did Moses command?” The Pharisees take a step back, for Moses never commanded divorce, even in the worst situations. They admit that Moses only permitted a man to divorce his wife by following a simple procedure. A better word for it might be that Moses “tolerated” such an action.
Jesus takes them back to the original plan, to what God intended from the beginning: a man and woman so joined in love and commitment to each other that they became “one flesh.” This new relationship supercedes even the closest relationship that came before it, one’s bond with parents. Marriage is a sacred union, designed and nurtured by God and no man or woman should dare to break it.
So why did Moses allow an “escape clause”? Jesus says it was for one reason – the hardness of their hearts. Hearts that are so filled with self-interest, pride and ambition that there is no longer any room to make way for those formerly close by. Yet even in this, as with any sin, God stands ready with his grace. But beware thinking that you’ll proceed on such a course since you’ll always be able to ask God’s forgiveness later. “Are we to continue in sin that grace might increase? May it never be!” (Romans 6:1-2).
Copyright 2020 David J. Cooley