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.
Mark 10:1 (see also Matt. 19:1)
We now shift from Luke’s
gospel to Matthew and Mark to trace along Jesus' likely next place of ministry
and teaching. For though scholars pose
various theories regarding the last 3 months of Jesus ministry (days following the raising
of Lazarus, and Jesus’ retreat to Ephraim), for our purposes we allow that Jesus
left Ephraim after being a while there with his disciples, then went back into Galilee
before sojourning south again to Jerusalem by way ‘between’ Samaria and Galilee
(Luke 17:11). There he performed miracles and taught along His way (Luke
17:11-18: 14), then moved east 'beyond' or across the Jordan into the region of Perea once
more before making his final trek through Jericho, Bethany, Jerusalem and the
cross.
So here is Jesus now in
‘the region of Judea beyond the Jordan,’ in Perea - a
place he had performed miracles before and the region of John the Baptists’
ministry. It was also a common or likely area comprising the route many sojourners would take in making pilgrimage to
Jerusalem for Passover – in order to avoid going through Samaria.
Once there, Matthew and Mark
both record an interchange between Jesus and the Pharisees regarding the matter
of divorce.
And
Pharisees came up and in order to test him asked, “Is it lawful for a man to
divorce his wife?” He answered them, “What did Moses command you?” They said,
“Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and to send her away.” And
Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this
commandment. But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and
female.’ ‘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. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”
Mark 10:
2-9
The practice in our culture
of divorce is not new. Both before and since Jesus’ time husbands and wives have struggled. Here,
Jesus is being queried by these Pharisees to test His thoughts on the
law, and, once again He exposes their hearts to remind them of God’s plan. Remember,
for the Pharisee, the law of Moses was everything. For Jesus the law was to be kept and honored, of
course, but more important than the law itself was God who gave it - and the sacrifice of Himself (the
one sent from God) who had come to complete it.
The bottom line is that
Jesus taught them that this law given by Moses was only done so due to the hardness of their
hearts. In other words, God does not want divorce, for, when He puts persons
together He makes them as ‘one flesh’ – never to be separated - period. In other
words, what God does, man should not undo.
Once Jesus moves from this scene into a home
(we don't know whose), the disciples ask further about this. Likely they, or many of their friends, were as we are today. Perhaps
they said, “Jesus, what about this?” "Look how well we are doing?" Are we not all guilty at times of wanting to justify ourselves? At
this further questioning Jesus is quite clear – “Whoever divorces
his wife and marries another commits adultery against her, and if she
divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.” (Vv. 11-12)
So there you have it. Not an easy teaching then or now. In our fallen culture divorce happens
daily, and we each know examples of persons who have experienced everything from
selfishness and sin to hurt and 'no fault' - as well as a myriad and range of examples
in between.
So what is our
takeaway? Well, I think this
provides an excellent example of why we need the cross. Why it is that we cannot, and never
will, measure to God’s standard. The Pharisees, who were so often guilty of trying to justify themselves based on
their keeping of the law, were exposed by being told that even this law here was only due to he hardness of their hearts. And the disciples, when quizzing Christ
further, were told that what was at stake was the sin of adultery – no matter what any paper said. When you couple this
with the teaching that adultery, by God’s standard, is not just an act but lust's very thought, you come away with but one thing – the need for
Jesus.
As a pastor I deal with the
heartache of divorce every day. In
my ministry I encourage couples to seek counsel and to work out their
difficulties, to forgive one another, and to work at restoring the one-flesh
ideal set by God. When this
is not possible, or when I am brought into scenarios after the fact, I
encourage they make things right by starting where they are now and accepting God's forgiveness. I next encourage that they move from this forgiveness to holiness and living as He intends – either by living and loving as
one-flesh in the marriage they are in now, or as the single adult they find themselves to be.
The only sin that is
unpardonable is the sin of unbelief.
God’s forgiveness of our failings is not meant as a license to sin - nor to sin again
and again and again. Instead, it is our 'leg up' out of the mire and grip of Satan's hold. It is the joy of having our feet placed on new and solid ground, the
Rock, which is Christ. And from
this precious and marvelous place we may bask in His forgiveness and glory, living
our days for Him.
Pastor Sam
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