Jesus Teaches About Divorce-Mark 10:1-12

The past 2 Sunday’s we hit the fast forward button in our journey through the Gospel of Mark, to look at Jesus Triumphal Entry and then His Resurrection. This morning we move back to where we were in the chronology of Mark. We left off at the end of chapter 9 with Jesus and His disciples in Capernaum. As you may recall, for much of Jesus public ministry, Jesus was in Galilee and specifically had set up His home base in Capernaum. As we see Him leaving Capernaum in verse 1 of chapter 10, this is likely the last time He sets foot there again until after His resurrection.

From this point forward, Jesus heads south, setting His face for Jerusalem and His providential date with the cross. As had been his pattern during most of His public ministry, He didn’t take the most direct path. He still had many seeds yet to plant before departing this earth, still much ministry yet to unfold, still some miracles, still some teaching, still many who were still in need of A Touch of the Master’s Hand. For much of the past month or two, Jesus spent most of His time teaching His disciples and very little time teaching the crowds and doing the miraculous. In today’s passage from Mark as well as the same account in Matthew 19, we see Him again teaching the crowds and in Matthew 19 an indication He was also healing many.

With that as an introduction this morning, would you please stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word? Next Slide

Mark 10:1–12 ESV

1 And he left there and went to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan, and crowds gathered to him again. And again, as was his custom, he taught them. 2 And Pharisees came up and in order to test him asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” 3 He answered them, “What did Moses command you?” 4 They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and to send her away.” 5 And Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. 6 But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ 7 ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, 8 and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. 9 What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” 10 And in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. 11 And he said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her, 12 and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”

May the Lord add His blessing to the reading of His Word, please be seated.

There are many Sunday’s that I am bouncing off the wall excited to dive into a passage of Scripture. Truthfully, that has been the case most Sunday morning’s as we have been going through the Gospel of Mark. Admittedly, this is not one of those Sundays. This morning’s passage is a more difficult passage, it is likely that there will be some that are listening, that are less than thrilled with the topic of divorce, but I would be remiss in my duties as a pastor, if I ignored a passage of Scripture laid out before me. God has given me a very clear directive, I am to be faithful to preach His Holy Word. To teach the truth’s of Scripture to the best of my ability, to rightly divide the Word of God. That is what I will seek to do this morning. At the same time, I seek to teach God’s Word in a way that is relevant to the needs of the culture in which God has placed me. For far too many preachers in this day and age, that means they avoid teaching and preaching certain passages and/or topics, so as not to offend anyone.

You know, the church has always struggled with “How to stay relevant in a constantly changing society?”. How far can we go in changing what we do as a church to reach people with the life transforming power of the Gospel? Churches adjust programming, change formats, design new ministries, make changes to the physical building of the church, invest in new technology, in new buildings, make changes in songs and musical styles, as well as a whole host of other things, all seeking to attract the unchurched. The Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 9:22-23;

1 Corinthians 9:22–23 ESV

22 To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. 23 I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.

Based on what I am seeing in what Paul wrote in this passage, he would stop at nothing to reach people for Christ, that is nothing short of compromising the message of the Gospel. That is something Paul was never willing to do. You see, Paul understood that to many, even most, the Gospel was a stumbling block. Which meant that if he faithfully taught the Word of God, there would be many that would be offended. Therefore, since some of the message was already offensive, he determined that in his own life, he would do what he could to not be offensive in how he presented the Gospel. That is the challenge for modern day pastor as well.

With that being said, let’s move in to this morning’s passage.

We see in verse 2 that some Pharisees “came up in order to test” Jesus. In other words, the question they were putting forth to Jesus, was not one they were truly looking for clarification on, rather it was one they were hoping to use to trap Him into saying something that would put him at odds with other individuals. To understand what is happening here more fully, let me lay some historical groundwork for our current passage.

At this time in history, the Nation of Israel, very similar to today’s church, had allowed the culture surrounding them to mold them into something other that that which God had called them to be. You may recall from our brief series on worship at the beginning of this year, we looked at Romans 12:2. In Romans 12:2 we read “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” or as J.B. Philipps put it in his translation “Do not let the world squeeze you into its mould, but instead let yourself be transformed by the renewing of your mind”. The Nation of Israel was now a part of the Roman Empire, and as much as they hated being ruled by the Romans, they had adapted well to many of the customs of the Roman Empire. Their stance on divorce was one of the areas they had gratefully adapted to. To the Jew, there were: Next Slide

Two Jewish Schools of Thought on Divorce. 1. Shimmai. 2. .

The school of Rabbi Shimmai, which basically taught that divorce was almost completely unacceptable, except in the most extreme circumstances of sexual sin. For instance, let’s say after the marriage, a Jewish husband found out his new wife was not a virgin, then the husband would be free to divorce her. Now, perhaps you may be wondering, what about in the case of adultery, wouldn’t the husband be free in the case of adultery. Not based on the Old Testament Law, you see in the Old Testament Law, if someone was discovered to have committed adultery, they were put to death, therefore there was no need for a divorce.

Next Slide

Two Jewish Schools of Thought on Divorce. 1. Shimmai. 2. Hillel .

The 2nd school of thought was that of Rabbi Hillel. Rabbi Hillel opened the door for divorce under almost every possible circumstance. Letting her hair down in public, spinning to talk to someone while walking and exposing your ankles, putting too much salt on her husbands food, saying something negative about the husbands parents, being infertile, burning food.

The food burning reminds me of something that Brittany said to our next door neighbor, Lynne one time. Brittany spent the night there and the next morning Lynne slightly burned some of the breakfast. She apologized to Brittany and was going to throw the food out. Brittany responded by saying, “Don’t throw it away, I’ll eat it, my Mom does this all the time!” Alas, Pam and I are still married! I guess you could say, I don’t follow the teaching of Rabbi Hillel!

At any rate these were the two schools of thought in those days. But there was likely something else at play here, not only on how the Pharisees asked the question, but also on when, or I guess more importantly in their eyes, where they asked the question. Again, as I mentioned a few moments ago, they were not asking the question so Jesus would clarify His stance, they already knew His stance. He made His stance clear in Matthew 8, and the parallel account of the passage we are currently in, in Mark is in Matthew 19. In other words months, or even a year of more earlier, Jesus let them know what He believed on this question. This question was asked in an effort to trap Him. We already looked at the first trap they sought to lay for Jesus, to pit Him against one of the schools of thought we just looked at. Of course, they knew if Jesus answered in that the way they thought He would, His answer would likely alienate Him from the vast majority of Jews in their day. You see most followed the teachings of Hillel, because that school of thought enabled them to do what was good in their own eyes. That is, to divorce for any reason they could come up with. Jesus was becoming more and more popular each day, and they were loosing ground to Him, in an effort to change the current course of popularity, they proposed a question they felt would damage Jesus in the eyes of the people.

But the second trap was even more deadly. Next Slide

To Pit Jesus Against Herod Antipas. Mark 6:17-18

If you recall from our time in Mark 6 last year, John the Baptist had called Herod Antipas out because of his current marriage to Herodias. Not only because he had married his brother’s wife, but also, because he divorced his first wife in order to marry her. In the end, Herod Antipas had John the Baptist beheaded.

Take a look at this map.

Map

I mentioned in the introduction that based on what we read in chapter 10:1, after leaving Capernaum, Jesus and the disciples headed south “to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan”. As you can see from this map, initially they headed into Samaria. We see in Luke’s account of this time period, that Jesus sent some disciples ahead to make preparations for their arrival. But because they were on the way to Jerusalem for the Passover Celebration, (a celebration the Samaritan’s were not permitted to be a part of) the Samaritans refused to let them in the city. By the way, this was the time James and John wanted to call “fire down from heaven to consume them”. At any rate, you can see on the map, they made a sharp right turn, which took them across the Jordan river and into the region of Perea. Well guess who ruled in Perea? Herod Antipas. This is exactly where Jesus was when the Pharisees asked Jesus this question. Their hope was that Jesus would answer the question in a way that would not only put Him against the vast majority of Jews, but also against Herod Antipas. That way, not only would He loose His popularity, but maybe His answer would lead Herod to put Jesus to death, just as he had done with John the Baptist.

Jesus didn’t answer in the way they expected, instead:

Next Slide

Jesus Pointed Them To Scripture. Vs. 3; Deut. 24:1-4; Gen. 1:27; 2:24

As much as we are able, Scriptural answers are always the best. You see, when we direct people to Scripture, we are directing them to the ultimate authority. The list of things I can speak authoritatively on is a pretty small list. The list that God can speak authoritatively on is endless. Jesus pointed them to Scripture.

“What did Moses Command?” Notice Jesus asked them “What did Moses command?” yet their answer was to point Jesus to what Moses “allowed” or “permitted”. The Scripture they pointed to was Deuteronomy 24:1-4. In Deuteronomy 24:1-4 we read: Next Slide

English Standard Version Chapter 24

24 “When a man takes a wife and marries her, if then she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, and she departs out of his house, 2 and if she goes and becomes another man’s wife, 3 and the latter man hates her and writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the latter man dies, who took her to be his wife, 4 then her former husband, who sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after she has been defiled, for that is an abomination before the LORD.

By the way, there is only one command in this passage, it is found in verse 4. What is the command? (That if the former wife ever married again, and the marriage ended, whether by divorce of death, the first husband could not remarry her.) What we see in these verses isn’t a command of divorce, it is more of an “if, then” clause. In other words, while divorce violates what God has laid out in Scripture, if you do end up divorcing your wife, these are the commands moving forward. But Scripture is pretty clear, divorce is not something God ever wants, in fact in Malachi, God states that He “hates divorce”. However, it is something He permits.

Next Slide change slide, but do not read

Jesus Teaches About Divorce-Mark 10:1-12

Since the Pharisees don’t answer Jesus question directly, He first chastises them “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment”. Jesus goes on to direct them to God’s heart on the matter. To do that, He goes even further back in Scripture, back to the first 2 chapters of Genesis. He combines principles from Genesis 1:27 with principles from Genesis 2:24 when He says, “6 But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ 7 ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, 8 and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. 9 What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

By the way, on top of a discussion of divorce, these verses can also be used to address a couple of other issues regarding God’s design for marriage. The first one isn’t much of an issue in the United States, but it is in other countries, and that is the issue of polygamy. At the beginning of verse 8 Jesus points out that marriage is commitment between 2 individuals-2. The second issue is growing more and more prevalent in the United States, that is the issue of same sex marriage. Jesus makes it abundantly clear in verse 6 that since “the beginning of creation”, so in other words, long before our government stepped onto the scene! From “the “beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’” So, whether our government, or our media, or pro athletes, or television and movie stars, or musicians, or liberal religious leaders, churches and organizations, or the Supreme Court, or the vast majority of people in this country try to re-define marriage or not, God and God alone makes decisions on what is morally right and wrong and He has made it clear that marriage is between a male and female. Morality is not up for a vote.

Jesus answers the questions of the Pharisees by directing them to the ultimate authority on the matter, God Himself.

As has been the case in many other accounts of the ministry of Jesus that both Mark and Matthew address, Matthew gives a little more detail than does Mark. In Matthew 19:9 Matthew notes that Jesus also said, “And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.”

Growing up in the 60’s and 70’s, and being a music lover, I listened to what I thought was the best music ever, what is now considered “Classic Rock”. Boston, Aerosmith, The Eagles, Journey, Kansas, Pablo Cruise, Foreigner… Often times when I would ride with my dad, or drive with him, I would listen to my favorite station-KBPI-Rocks the Rockies. My dad never liked my favorite station, but since there was very little available as far as Christian Rock at the time, he allowed it. He would often say “I tolerate more than I appreciate.” That is kind of what is taking place here. God was completely against divorce, but He did permit it on certain very limited circumstances.

Again, divorce was never a part of God’s perfect plan, that being said, God understands those whom He created, and with that understanding, He provides an option for divorce on the grounds of sexual immorality. However, adultery does not have to end a marriage. In the Old Testament book of Hosea, the prophet Hosea’s wife was repeatedly unfaithful to him, yet he never divorced her.

The bottom line for the believer is this, marriage is a beautiful picture of the relationship between Jesus and the church. In fact, what is the church referred to in relation to Jesus? (the bride of Christ). Jesus is the bridegroom and the church is the bride.

So, as we close out this morning’s look at Jesus teaching about divorce. Jesus is clear that divorce is not a part of the perfect plan of God. With that in mind, we need to ask ourselves;

What makes a strong marriage, one that will stand firm against the pressures to divorce?

The Apostle Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit put it well in

Ephesians 5:28-33

where he writes; “28 In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30 because we are members of his body. 31 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.33 However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.”

This is the task of the married couple. For the married couple, if their number one individual commitments is their relationship to the Lord Jesus Christ, followed by a commitment of the husband to love his wife, in the same way Jesus loved the church-a sacrificial love where he puts the needs of the wife before his own, giving himself up to meet her needs. And if the wife respects her husband, which-by the way, will likely be the natural outflow for a wife who’s husband loves her like Jesus loves the church, then divorce will never be an issue.

My prayer for the marriages represented by this church, is that we will live out Ephesians 5:28-33.