Then Jesus left Capernaum and went down to the region of
Judea and into the area east of the Jordan River. Once again crowds gathered
around him, and as usual he was teaching them. Some Pharisees came and tried to
trap him with this question: "Should a man be allowed to divorce his
wife?" Jesus answered them with a question: "What did Moses say in
the law about divorce?" "Well, he permitted it," they replied.
"He said a man can give his wife a written notice of divorce and send her
away." But Jesus responded, "He wrote this commandment only as a
concession to your hard hearts. But 'God made them male and female' from the
beginning of creation. 'This explains why a man leaves his father and mother
and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.' Since they are no
longer two but one, let no one split apart what God has joined together." Mark 10:1-9
 |
| Presumed Site of the Sermon on the Mount. Near the Sea of Galilee - Israel. |
Let no one split apart what God has joined together….
Jesus was teaching a crowd of people when
the Pharisees came up and began testing Him. Jesus wasn’t bullied, coerced or
intimidated by those Pharisees. He shot a question right back at them. Those
Pharisees knew the religious law backward and forward. They knew what Moses taught
from Deuteronomy 24:1.
Suppose a man marries a woman but she does
not please him. Having discovered something wrong with her, he writes her a
letter of divorce, hands it to her, and sends her away from his house. When she
leaves his house, she is free to marry another man. But if the second husband
also turns against her and divorces her, or if he dies, the first husband may
not marry her again, for she has been defiled. That would be detestable to the
LORD. You must not bring guilt upon the land the LORD your God is giving you as
a special possession. Deuteronomy 24:1-4
Matthew Henry’s commentary suggests that
the reason Moses gave the opportunity of a letter of divorce is so that the
husband who had a hard heart would have a way out of the marriage, other than
murdering his wife. The ultimate domestic violence. That goes against yet another Commandment...You must not murder. Exodus 20:13.
Jesus had already addressed marriage and adultery
in His earlier teaching at the Sermon on the Mount. It was unlikely that the Pharisees
were at that ministry session—but they probably had heard of Jesus' teaching.
You have heard the law that says, 'A man can
divorce his wife by merely giving her a written notice of divorce.' But I say
that a man who divorces his wife, unless she has been unfaithful, causes her to
commit adultery. And anyone who marries a divorced woman also commits adultery.
Matthew 5:31-32
Right
from the Ten Commandments…
You must not commit adultery. Exodus
20:14
No doubt about what the Ten Commandments
instructed. Those Pharisees knew what adultery was…and was not. They knew of
the relationship between divorce and adultery. Jesus also went deeper with this
commandment during His teaching at the Sermon on the Mount.
You have heard the commandment that says,
'You must not commit adultery.' But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman
with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Matthew
5:27-28
Our world has become so free with divorce.
It can be just irreconcilable difference or a feeling of not being happy any
more that leads to the end of that marriage. What became of the promise…until death do us part? Then again some
people didn’t say that phrase in their marriage vows. Jesus had the answer…it
came from the original Ten Commandments. But then there are people and places
that do not recognize those Commandments. Personally, I took my marriage vows
seriously. My husband and I have been married for 46 years next month. There
were times that each of us wanted to throw in the towel…but we stuck it out…worked
on our relationship and stayed true to our commitment to each other and to God.
Where do you stand in regards to Jesus’ teaching about divorce and adultery?
Prayer
~ Lord God, I choose to follow Your Ten Commandments…which are neatly
summarized by Jesus. "'You must love the LORD your God with all your
heart, all your soul, and all your mind.' This is the first and greatest
commandment. A second is equally important: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'
The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments."
Matthew 22:36-40.
Daily
Bible Reading: Psalm 119
© 2018 Text and
photo by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.
All
scripture quoted from the New Living Translation (NLT) unless otherwise noted.
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