Living in the Spirit
October 3, 2015

Scripture Reading: Mark 10:2-16

Some Pharisees came, and to test him they 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 dismissal and to divorce her.’ But Jesus said to them, ‘Because of your hardness of heart he wrote this commandment for you. But from the beginning of creation, “God made them male and female.” “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.’

 Then in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. He said to them, ‘Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.’ –Mark 10:2-12

Divorce is so common now we celebrate as an exception those who remain together in marriage for 50+ years. We even publish their pictures in the paper. This scripture has become one to ignore.

One of the unsaid truths of this scripture is that there is no mention of a woman divorcing a man. Jesus did not differentiate status between men and woman. The Hebrew Bible laws they are talking about basically say a man can divorce his wife for any reason like selling an animal that had lost its usefulness to him. There were no divorce rights for women. The Pharisees in hearing Jesus’ response might have been as much surprised by his treating women and men equally as they were about his stating a stronger interpretation of marriage than provided in the law.

I believe there are some good reasons for divorce. I believe that God forgives us when we have failed at the love of another including those we marry. God gives us second changes all the time to get love right. Although we do pay the consequences of our actions when we don’t get love right, we need to take the time to learn from those experiences and work not to make the same mistake again.

Prayer: Lord, help us to love each other as you would have us love and when we do not, help us to understand what part we might have played in failing to love like Jesus. Heal the gaps in our ability to love. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.