Jesus teaching on Marriage
Gospel of Mark: Jesus a life to serve • Sermon • Submitted
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· 14 viewsMarriage, Divorce, Remarriage, yes we can talk about it
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A Serious Problem
A Serious Problem
We cannot hide the fact that divorce is a serious problem in this world today. Jesus does not shy away from addressing the issue in our passage today. Remarriage even has biblical implications too that Jesus addresses.
It is believed that 46% of marriages end in divorce, 60% of 2nd marriages, 70% of 3 or more. Of the 46% one survey shows that there is little difference between secular marriages and Christian marriages.
Divorce impacts more than the couple, it impacts the children of divorce,in a book by Judith Wallerstein (Second Chance) she documents that 1/2 of the children of divorce enter adulthood worried, underachieving, self-deprecating and oftentimes angry, and it does not matter if man or woman.
Divorce is a treacherous act (Mal2:16)
16 “For I hate divorce,” says the Lord, the God of Israel, “and him who covers his garment with wrong,” says the Lord of hosts. “So take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously.”
Divorce was never God’s intention (Gen2:24-25)
Divorce was never God’s intention (Gen2:24-25)
24 For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh. 25 And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.
Remarriage after divorce is oftentimes unlawful in God’s eyes (Mk10:11-12)
While there are social and psychological effects of marriage, there are spiritual effects too and that should be a concern to us also.
In our passage this morning we will see this discussion about marriage, divorce and remarriage was occasioned by a test raised by the Pharisee’s. And you know Jesus never misses an opportunity to teach and that is exactly what He is going to do.
Jesus and His teaching methods. He employed several ways to teach, depending on the situation
From parables and proverbs
To signs and wonders
To lengthy exhortations and instructions
To using a paradox which is what we see here in chapter 10
par·a·dox (noun) a seemingly absurd or self-contradictory statement or proposition that when investigated or explained may prove to be well founded or true. / a statement or proposition that, despite sound (or apparently sound) reasoning from acceptable premises, leads to a conclusion that seems senseless, logically unacceptable, or self-contradictory
In layman’s terms a paradox is a statement that turns conventional thinking on it’s head. And Jesus does that in answering the Pharisee’s question
noun
a seemingly absurd or self-contradictory statement or proposition that when investigated or explained may prove to be well founded or true.
How we will break down our passage this morning
The setting and the question (Mk10:1-2)
Jesus response, teaching (Mk10:3-9)
Jesus private teaching (Mk10:10-12)
Summary, conclusion
Like usual we need to look at the passage in context then we will break it down.
1 Getting up, He went from there to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan; crowds gathered around Him again, and, according to His custom, He once more began to teach them. 2 Some Pharisees came up to Jesus, testing Him, and began to question Him whether it was lawful for a man to divorce a wife.
3 And He answered and said to them, “What did Moses command you?” 4 They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away.”
5 But Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. 6 “But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female.
7 “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother, 8 and the two shall become one flesh; so they are no longer two, but one flesh.
9 “What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.” 10 In the house the disciples began questioning Him about this again.
11 And He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her; 12 and if she herself divorces her husband and marries another man, she is committing adultery.”
What do you see, what do you notice, what sticks out to you?
The setting and the question
The setting and the question
The journey continues as does the conflict. From looking at the severity of sin (Mk9:38-50) a private time back to a public time and a time of testing, testing that turns into teaching.
Jesus continues the journey south heading towards Jerusalem. He had left Galilee and and come into the region of Judea, beyond the Jordan river. He has not entered Jerusalem but with each passage we look at He is getting closer to the cross.
Why did the Pharisee’s come to Jesus (v.2)?
They came to test Him not to be taught by Him. Divorce then, just as it is today is a touchy subject; it was not uncommon or it would not be a subject that we see in the scripture (a good example is Mk6:17-18 about King Herod and divorce)
Schools of thought about divorce
Hillel - divorce for any reason
Shammai - divorce only in case of fornication
Akiba - if a man finds a woman who is fairer in his eyes
Regardless of how Jesus answered the question He was going to offend someone and that is what the Pharisee’s wanted, they wanted to cause division, distension
Jesus taking the lax view, the popular view it would be contrary to His previous statements (Mt5:20; Mt5:31-32)
20 “For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.
Someone who divorces surely cannot have righteousness surpassing that of the Pharisee’s and scribes
31 “It was said, ‘Whoever sends his wife away, let him give her a certificate of divorce’; 32 but I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the reason of unchastity, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
If Jesus took the stricter view, He would be unpopular with the majority and that can, would be used against Jesus. But remember we are speaking about Jesus, He is using a paradox, to turn what they thought upside down. He was not concerned about what they thought, he was concerned about their souls.
If Jesus took the stricter view, He would be unpopular with the majority and that can, would be used against Jesus. But remember we are speaking about Jesus, He is using a paradox, to turn what they thought upside down. He was not concerned about what they thought, he was concerned about their souls.
Jesus response and teaching
Jesus response and teaching
Jesus in His response will not only answer but ask questions, give direction and warnings too.
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What did Moses command (Mk10:3-4) goes with (Deu24:1-4; Mt5:31-32)
Why did Moses write this command (MK10:5; Eph5:17-19)?
What does Jesus use as God’s example (Mk10:6-9; Mt19:8; Eze36:26)
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Some general questions
What did Moses command (Mk10:3-4) goes with (Deu24:1-4; Rom7:1-3) Mt5:31-32)
1 “When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out from his house, 2 and she leaves his house and goes and becomes another man’s wife,
3 and if the latter husband turns against her and writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies who took her to be his wife, 4 then her former husband who sent her away is not allowed to take her again to be his wife, since she has been defiled; for that is an abomination before the Lord, and you shall not bring sin on the land which the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance.
Moses permitted the man to issue a certificate of divorce and dismiss her (send her away).
They interpreted that to mean Moses allowed for a divorce if a certificate was issued. Without a clear definition of “indecency”
It is clear that Moses did not authorize for the remarriage of the spouses to each other for the woman would be defiled if had been with another man. Hence what would be known as committing adultery.
Even though she was permitted the divorce she was not free to marry again for she would be considered an adulteress.
1 Or do you not know, brethren (for I am speaking to those who know the law), that the law has jurisdiction over a person as long as he lives? 2 For the married woman is bound by law to her husband while he is living; but if her husband dies, she is released from the law concerning the husband.
What does Jesus use as God’s example (Mk10:6-9)
3 So then, if while her husband is living she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress though she is joined to another man.
What did Moses command (Mk10:3-4) goes with (Deu24:1-4; Rom7:1-3; Mt5:31-32)
Why did Moses write this command (K10:5; Eph4:17-19))?
Moses wrote the command because of the hardness of their hearts.
Consider is it not a hardened heart when someone wants to divorce their spouse for no scriptural reason?
Or to divorce when the guilty party repents and wants to reconcile and seek forgiveness?
This is a sad state of affairs then, and it was in Paul’s day and it is today too.
17 So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit,
19 and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.
What did Moses command (Mk10:3-4) goes with (Deu24:1-4; Mt5:31-32)
Why did Moses write this command (MK10:5; Eph5:17-19)?
What does Jesus use as God’s example (Mk10:6-9; Mt19:8; Eze36:26)
When we look at Mt19:8 you can see that the issue was a temporary issue of the hardness of heart. So the permission for divorce too was only temporary.
8 He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way.
That was not God’s plan in the beginning, marriage was to be permanent. Maybe better bring in the passage again to be safe
24 For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh. 25 And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.
While the Law of Moses was to be temporary. The Law considered the hardness of mans heart and the issue was dealt with on a temporary basis.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ fulfilled the law of Moses and the prophets and it is the cure to the hardness of one’s heart.
God was going to replace a heart of stone with a heart of flesh, a heart of love.
26 “Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
Eze29:
God’s grace through faith in Christ Jesus removes that stony heart and replaces it with a heart that is able to abide in God’s original desire for marriage.
Jesus used the original plan God made back in Genesis to help man remember where we came from and who we are. We are God’s greatest creation created for God’s greatest good. Made in God’s image and able to control our lusts all for the glory of God and to let holiness be perfected in us.
10 But to the married I give instructions, not I, but the Lord, that the wife should not leave her husband 11 (but if she does leave, she must remain unmarried, or else be reconciled to her husband), and that the husband should not divorce his wife.
Jesus attributes the institution of marriage to to God (Mk10:7; Gen2:24; Mt19:6)
Therefore since God instituted it any questions about it should be addressed to Him and defined by Him not man nor mans laws
Why you may ask, because the two became flesh, they were joined together by none other than God Himself (Gen2:24)
Let no man separate what God has brought together
6 “So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.”
God’s intention was for marriage to be for life. This was contrary to what the Apostles had heard, had been taught for they grew up under the teachings of the rabbi’s and divorce was a very common thing. So they were left perplexed, or Jesus was accomplishing the paradox very well at this point, to the point they have questions.
Jesus private teaching
Jesus private teaching
There are things that are said that Jesus explained privately to the apostles, the parable are an example and this paradox is another. There are a couple of things we can pick up from these verses.
Just as a reminder again since we have not looked at these verses in awhile.
10 In the house the disciples began questioning Him about this again. 11 And He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her;
12 and if she herself divorces her husband and marries another man, she is committing adultery.”
Where were they for the private teaching (v.10)?
in the privacy of a home the disciples are able to ask Jesus questions since they were not grasping this paradox.
What does it say about a man and adultery (v.11)?
Man divorces and remarries it is adultery
What does it say about a woman and adultery (v.12)
woman divorces and remarries it is adultery (stop, wait, notice anything different here now in v.12?) - women were considered possessions and no where in the Law does it say it is OK for a woman to divorce a husband, so Jesus is elevating women here, but really saying it does not matter if man or a woman, divorce helps to promote adultery.
The exception clause (Mt19:9)
9 “And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”
the exception clause is immorality
The disciples reaction (Mt19:10)
10 The disciples said to Him, “If the relationship of the man with his wife is like this, it is better not to marry.”
The apostles reaction is, well if it going to be like this, then it is better not to marry in the first place.
Jesus speaks about the option of celibacy, gift of celibacy (Mt19:11-12)
11 But He said to them, “Not all men can accept this statement, but only those to whom it has been given. 12 “For there are eunuchs who were born that way from their mother’s womb; and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men; and there are also eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to accept this, let him accept it.”
Celibacy is an option, a viable option, but again that was not God’s intention in the first place was it? God created marriage for it was not good for man to be alone. And to procreated and to enjoy life as husband and wife.
In trying to draw this to a close, this is general information found in the scripture on a very touchy subject and when summarizing it will stay to what we have looked at in the scripture.
Summary and conclusion
Summary and conclusion
May we keep in mind that marriage, divorce, remarriage is something very personal and can be a very emotional topic. Don’t make it a dividing topic, do not build your theology around this one issue, take into consideration the whole counsel of God.
Marriage is institution ordained by God (Mk10:7-8; Gen2:24)
Man must not separate what God has joined together (Mk10:9; Mt19:6)
Only biblical reason for divorce is fornication (MT19:9)
Any other divorce is forbidden by the Lord (1COr7:10-11)
Under the law of love, under Jesus if a couple divorces they should remain unmarried or be reconciled (1Cor7:11)
Marriage, divorce and remarriage, we need to be diligent to share what the scripture says Gen2:24; marriage, the covenant of marriage was to be forever.
(prayer)