God’s Tender intent

Cheap Technology

Precious moments holding your child for the first time

Dropping the phone on the infant’s chest.

Missing the moment by sharing it on social media.

Treasured moments can be cheapened when we expose them to public view, when we subject them to silly arguments.

When it comes to Jesus’ teaching on divorce there is a lot going on here. But before we get into that I want to remind us of the love Jesus beholds us with. We talk of divorce as a failed marriage. And it carries a lot of guilt and shame with it. I would argue deep sorrow and grief is helpful — but guilt and shame they are of the enemy. God can and does redeem all things. I am divorced

Trapping Jesus?

I once had a reporter that tried desperately to get a sound but from me. You might say that Liberal party is really dropping the ball here wouldn’t you? And I said, “you might say that — I may not” In frustration they put their recorder away.

How were the a Pharisees trying to trap Jesus?

Not an innocent question.

History of the John the Baptist, Herod Antipas and Herodias

In Short they wanted to remove Jesus while not getting their hands dirty

Heartless Debates & God’s Intent

Paul, are you pre Trib or Post Trib? Taking a mystery and cheapening it to see which camp I belong to

Does it matter? Will one or the other better help me follow Jesus?

The Pharisees had taken something as painful as divorce and turned it into a heartless debate. A test to see which camp people fell in.

Deuteronomy 24:1 NIV

If a man marries a woman who becomes displeasing to him because he finds something indecent about her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce, gives it to her and sends her from his house,

Two schools of thought on what “displeasing” could mean. Sexual infidelity or anything from failure to obey Torah, to undercooked supper, to aging

Divorce was permitted — but the grounds were in question.

It was permitted for the safety of the woman.

Jesus Springs the trap?

Jesus turns the question back on the Pharisees. What does Moses Command? The answer is nothing. Moses allows divorce because of hardness of heart — human inability to follow God.

The Principle of Concession — God going the extra mile with us. We are wounded and messed up — its only prolonged exposure to God’s heart than can transform us

Quotes from Genesis 1 and 2 — God’s will

Genesis 1:27 (NIV)

So God created mankind in his own image,

in the image of God he created them;

male and female he created them.

Genesis 2:24 (NIV)

That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.

God’s intent. For a man and woman to come together to form a new entity

No room for arguing that women were somehow lesser than man. Equal!

Jesus exposes the hard heart of the pharisees

Jesus’ private Teaching on Divorce

Divorce is the act of dissolving a marriage. It is saying you are no longer my spouse you are free to go do as you wish.

There are legitimate grounds for divorce — to pursue another is not one of them

Herodias’ Marriage to her other Uncle Herod was not a legitimate grounds for divorce. It is adulterous. Ergo Herod is not the king Israel is looking for.

Three friends on my couch. 2 of the three had grounds for divorce. All three fought tooth and nail to save their marriage and it was hell. What they have now is so beautiful. There are other marriages where there was never the option of keeping it — it takes two. Well it really takes three

This teaching on divorce may sound harsh — but the nature of marriage s such that the commitment to love, comfort, honour, protect and be faithful to is one of the ways God reveals his nature to the world. Marriage is a means we can witness the steadfast love of God.

Marriages fail every day — but they can recover through repentance and forgiveness.

Divorce is a concession — to protect the vulnerable party. It is a last resort that concedes to our fallenness — it is something God would spare us from

Belonging in the Kingdom

What is it about children that make the Kingdom belong to them?

They are vulnerable. They are open. They delight in mystery. They wear their hearts on their sleeve. They are in the moment

They don’t get caught up in heartless debates — but they have a desire to be loved and this desire makes them open to God’s kingdom.

Their hearts are in line with God’s tender inent.