Mark 10:1-12

Intro:

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Thank Kat Huber (Led 5 Block Parties, a mission team, summer bible study at Green Park Terrace, helped organize kids curriculum for the summer, and even met with me on tuesdays to talk through the upcoming sermon content)

So thank her today, and please pray for her as she transitions back to college in the next few weeks to be a teacher.

This Morning:

This morning we are in a straightforward passage, but it must be handled with both clarity and care.

Truth & Grace

Within this passage Jesus is posed with questions on divorce and marriage.

Divorce affects many people in the room.

This week I had the privilege to sit down with 2 older ladies at Green Park Terrace this week (3 divorces + 4 husbands) and have a beautiful discussion about this passage.

Transition: If we could have that discussion with all those ladies have been through, and reflect on the beauty of Gods word, and work in their life. I believe God can do the same in this room this morning.

This is how I have been praying about this all week…

 teach it clearly, but also shepherd gently.

Our Structure: Walk through the passage and bring out the truth of each verse, and apply it to our lives.

Read/Pray

Mark 10:1–12 ESV

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. 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, 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.” And in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. And 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.”

Big Idea: Marriage is a covenant instituted by God, Marriage was not created to end in divorce.

I. The Trap: A Loaded Question (vv. 1–2)

Mark 10:1–2 ESV

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. And Pharisees came up and in order to test him asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?”

A Couple Notes:

When they ask a questions its not out curiosity….. its to test Jesus

2)  John the Baptist was killed for calling out Herod’s unlawful marriage. (in this same region)… Therefore, they may be trying to bait Jesus into the same fate.

3) They do not ask if divorce is morally correct… but rather “Is it lawful?”

What is allowed? (Hack a shaq)

There were two competing rabbinic views:

Hillel (liberal): You could divorce for almost any reason… even burnt dinner, unclean kitchen… whatever the Male wanted to divorce them for.

Shammai (conservative): Only for sexual immorality.

They want Jesus to take a side. But He does something better…. He goes above and beyond the question.

In some ways he is subverting = undermining the current understanding of divorce

more accurately he is helping them properly understand Gods design for marriage.

He is able to think higher.

Psalm 131:1–2 ESV

O Lord, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me. But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me.

When things get hard, or we don't have an answer we dont look to ourselves but this is why we look to Jesus?

Transition:

So how does Jesus respond to their trap

II. The Turn: What Did Moses Say? (vv. 3–5)

Mark 10:3–5 ESV

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.

He Starts with a question? “What did Moses say?”

Again for the pharisees They don't care about what Jesus says.. but they will listen to the OT Prophet and author of the Law Moses.

They reference Deuteronomy 24:1–4, which permitted a man to give a certificate of divorce.

But Jesus reframes it: Moses didn’t command it rather he permitted it. Why (Because of your hardness of heart)

In other words, divorce was never part of the plan it was a concession because of sin.

Infact, one could argue moses did this to care for the woman….she deserved a certificate so she could remarry…

Moses regulated it to protect the vulnerable, especially women, who could be cast aside without protection.

What is happening in Deuteronomy is not about God permitting divorce.. but rather through Moses giving guidance on how to deal with sin, and the reality that in a broken world their are marriages that will end in divorce… and even then God does not leave us.

Heres the point:

The Drum beat of this sermon: Divorce is not Gods design…

Jesus is saying: You’re asking about the legal loopholes.

Transition: I want to teach you about the heart of God.

III. The Truth: God’s Design for Marriage (vv. 6–9)

Mark 10:6–9 ESV

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, 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.”

“From the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female… and the two shall become one flesh…’”

So that is what Moses said… but what do I say?

Jesus is going to appeal to scripture rather than historical rabinical  Genesis 1 & 2.

So what is God’s design for marriage?

Male and female — rooted in creation, not convenience.

Leaving and cleaving — a new, primary relationship.

One flesh — a deep spiritual, physical, emotional union.

What God has joined together — it’s His doing, not just ours.

Hear this: Marriage is not a contract to cancel—it’s a covenant to keep.

A Covanent is an agreement between two parties, with God in the picture.

IV. The Clarification: Jesus’ Words to His Disciples (vv. 10–12)

Mark 10:10–12 ESV

And in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. And 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.”

“Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery…”

The disciples want clarification… Jesus offers it maybe even one might say puts it more bluntly.

He equates unjust divorce with adultery, regardless of gender.

Jesus wants the disciples to stop seeking the answer for a way out of marriage but rather pursue faithfullness.

Not jut leave a marriage when it becomes inconvenient to your desires. .

He reaffirms what He just taught publicly, but now more directly and personally.

This is a hard word, but it’s full of love… God wants to protect what He joined.

V. The Heart: What’s Really Going On Here

Why is this story here? Why now? (Weve already mentioned how their aim is to trap jesus but why does he take the bait)

Jesus is on the road to the cross, teaching about costly discipleship and self-denial.

2) He talks about marriage, because it is one of the clearest reflections of His covenant love.

Think of the recent themes in Mark 9+10:

A. Arguing about who’s greatest? (Marriage isn’t a power grab)

B. Receive children? (Divorce often harms them)

C. Don’t cause others to stumble? (Divorce can wreck lives)

D. Cut off sin? (Don’t just escape marriage—deal with sin in it)

E. Be at peace with one another? (Divorce is the breaking of peace)

God wants marriages to be life long unions… we know this is not always the case and its complex, and messy but can we atleast admit this is Gods aim.

In Closing (Truth and Grace)

Truths:

God’s design for marriage is good, holy, and hard.

2) But the same Jesus who taught this is the one who died for people like you and me

3) If you’ve been wounded by divorce, or you’ve walked through one yourself, there is grace.

4) Jesus doesn’t just uphold God’s standard for marriage, he will go die for those who sadly had to live through the mess of divorce.

Applications:

If you're married, fight for your marriage.

2. If you're single, prepare your heart.

3. And if you're hurting… Jesus is here for you, and we are here to walk with you as well.

Prayer Prompt:

Pray for people who are single.

Pray for people who are married.

Pray for people who have been through divorce.