Mark: A Walk With Our Savior (Day 40)

Read Mark 10:1-12
JESUS TEACHES ABOUT MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE
 
   The Pharisees were trying to trap Jesus with their question. If He supported divorce, He would be upholding the Pharisees’ procedures, and they doubted that He would do that. If Jesus spoke against divorce, however, some members of the crowd would dislike His position; some may have even used the law to their advantage to divorce their wives. More important, He might incur the wrath of Herod, who had already killed John the Baptist for speaking out against divorce and adultery. This is what the Pharisees wanted. 
 
   The Pharisees saw divorce as a legal issue rather than a spiritual one. Jesus used this test as an opportunity to review God’s intended purpose for marriage and to expose the Pharisees’ selfish motives. They were not thinking about what God intended for marriage but had settled for marriages of convenience. In addition, they were quoting Moses unfairly and out of context. Jesus showed these legal experts how superficial their knowledge really was. 
 
   God allowed divorce as a concession to people’s sinfulness. Divorce was not approved, but it was instituted to protect the injured party in a bad situation. Unfortunately, the Pharisees used Deuteronomy 24:1 as a proof text for divorce. Jesus explained that this was not God’s intent; instead, God wants married people to consider their marriage permanent. Don’t enter marriage with the option of getting out. Your marriage is more likely to be happy if from the outset you are committed to permanence. Don’t be hard-hearted like these Pharisees, but be hardheaded in your determination, with God’s help, to stay together. 
 
   Women were often treated as property. Marriage and divorce were regarded as transactions similar to buying and selling land. But Jesus condemned this attitude, clarifying God’s original intention: that marriage bring oneness (Genesis 2). Jesus held up God’s ideal for marriage and told His followers to live by that ideal.