Defiance/Arrogance/Pridefulness

God Our Savior Is Devoted To Us

10.10.18 [Mark 10:1-16] River of Life (21st Sunday after Pentecost)

Psalms 119:97-104 Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long. 98 Your commands are always with me and make me wiser than my enemies. 99 I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your statutes…103 How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! 104 I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path.

About every month, these words from Psalm 119:97-104 are the backbone to our gathering rite on the word that we begin our worship with. According to this Psalm, the law of God is something that requires our consideration and concentration. The more time we spend with God’s Law, the more it makes us wise and understanding. The law of God gives us direction—helping us distinguish between right and wrong. But what does it mean to love the law of God?

Today’s Gospel gives us insight into that very question. (Mk. 10:2) Some Pharisees, men who were not priests nor professional clergy, but took the law very, very seriously, came to Jesus with a question. (Mk. 10:2) Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife? As Matthew records this same event, he included a pretty important rider (Mt. 19:3) Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?

The question on divorce may seem out of the blue, to you and me. Jesus was never married. To the best of our knowledge none of his disciples were divorced. Mark clues us in as to why they asked this question. (Mk. 10:2) They asked him this particular question to test him.

So what was the test? The matter of divorce was a hot button issue in Jesus’ day. Some rabbis taught that the only acceptable reason for divorce was infidelity. Other rabbis taught that if a husband found anything displeasing about his wife, he merely had to submit the proper paperwork and the whole arrangement was done away with. Some very liberal rabbis would even allow a husband to divorce his wife if she made him a meal that wasn’t to his liking or he found someone prettier. So perhaps the Pharisees were trying to figure out where Jesus the Teacher stood on this matter.

But Mark gives us enough other details to make us think twice. The word he uses for test conveys the idea of trapping. Mark also tells us that there were (Mk. 10:1) crowds of people following Jesus and listening to him as he taught them. Finally, there is the location. Mark tells us that Jesus left that place, which in context is (Mk. 9:33) Capernaum, and went into the region of Judea and across the Jordan. It seems that Jesus is teaching in the land ruled by Herod Antipas.

Divorce was a hot-button issue to Herod Antipas. He had divorced his first wife and married his brother’s wife, Herodias. John the Baptist, who loved God’s law, (Lk. 3:19) rebuked Herod publicly. (Lk. 3:20) Herod responded by locking John up in prison. (Mk. 6:17-29) Eventually, Herod’s second-wife coerced Herod to behead John the Baptist. Rebuking divorce resulted in John’s execution. (Mk. 1:4-11) The crowds knew this, and they loved John the Baptist. To ratchet things up, we also know that the Pharisees & the Herodians were plotting to (Mk. 3:6) kill Jesus.

Now we see what the trap really was. If Jesus said divorce for any and every reason is fine, then he was a coward and a traitor to John the Baptist. The crowds who loved John the Baptist would abandon Jesus. This suited the Pharisees just fine.

However, if he took the same stand as John the Baptist, he was likely to face the fate. Even better, from a Pharisees point of view.

So which is it, Jesus? Herod or John the Baptist? Jesus does not play their game. Rather he asks them (Mk 10:3) What did Moses command you? referring to the 10 commandments.

Instead of answering with the 6th commandment, they point to the exception to the rule in Deuteronomy 24. Which is strange. But it reveals a lot about the Pharisees and the people of that day. They did not think much of marriage. It was a contractual arrangement geared toward producing offspring. This is why, again and again in the Old Testament, it was seen as such a hardship if a wife did not bear children for her husband. The attitude of that day was that if your marriage wasn’t producing what you signed up for than you should just file the proper paperwork and get a new wife. Move on.

In Jesus’ day, divorce was commonplace. So long as you did it the right way, it was no big deal. In our day, it’s not much different is it. The reasons given sound different. Few couples, today, divorce exclusively over infertility. But producing offspring meant increased earning power, strength, & respect. Happiness. Today people get divorced for many reasons. Too many of them boil down to “We weren’t happy together” or “I deserve better than this.”

Now let me be clear here, because I know many of you have gone through a divorce. When a spouse cheats on you, abuses you, or up-and-leaves you—the marriage has already been broken. That’s what the Scriptures say. That’s because the singular core value of marriage is commitment. That’s what Jesus says when he goes back to the created order in Genesis. In marriage, a man and a woman leave their family of origin and (Mk. 10:9) God joins them together. (Mk 10:8) The two become one flesh. When your spouse is no longer committed to you, divorce is publicly announcing what has already occurred privately. It is ratifying what has already been done. It’s not God’s design, but God values marriage too much to let it be a vehicle for further infidelity, abuse, and abandonment.

The Pharisees’ trap misfired. Badly. (Mk. 10:10) But when the disciples had Jesus to themselves, they seemed to be troubled by the matter. (Mk. 10:11) Jesus explained that divorcing your wife so that you can marry another woman—something that was commonly accepted in that day—was adultery, too. Even though it was “done the right way”, it was still detestable in God’s eyes.

So why make the exception about divorce at all? Jesus said (Mk. 10:5) it was because your hearts were hard. That gets to the crux of the matter. Not just about marriage and divorce, but about all of God’s law. So often our approach toward God’s law shows our lack of love. We don’t obey God’s law because we love how it reflects his nature. We obey so that we don’t get in trouble. Holiness isn’t our goal. Rather, we’re looking to get by by the skin of our teeth. We often treat God’s law like it’s the IRS tax code. What’s the bare minimum I have to do?

So we make sure we don’t have an engraven images in our homes. But we ignore that fact that we can’t go an hour without checking our phones and yet have no problem going days without meditating on the Word of God. God commands that we don’t take his name in vain. So we swap in goshes and gollies and forget to praise him for the good and perfect gifts he gives us every single day. Train your children in the Lord, we’re told. We settle for attending worship when it’s not too much of an inconvenience. Train your children to be obedient, for this is right. Instead we let the world set the pace. We borrow their excuses for disobedience. She’s just expressing herself. He’s just emotional.

God orders that we love our neighbors as ourselves. No lies. No gossip. No slander. Be kind and compassionate. Speak the truth in love. What do we do? We defend our lies as little and white. Harmless, we decide. We ensconce our gossip and slander in “I just thought you should know what kind of person so and so is” sentiments. Instead of being kind and compassionate, we pat ourselves on the back when we aren’t a jerk to someone’s face even when they really deserved it. Instead of loving our spouses as Christ has loved us, supporting them in their personal struggle against their own sinful flesh, we think it’s loving for us to turn a blind eye and not pick fights.

Time and again we demonstrate how little we really love God’s law. Far too often we treat it as a bitter pill to swallow, rather than something that is sweeter than honey to our lips. Far too often, we justify wrong paths when they are convenient, comfortable, or commonplace. In most marriages, this is enough to file for divorce. But our God is devoted.

Jesus understood the problem with people is that our hearts are hard. We are as defiantly disobedient to God’s Law as Pharaoh was when Moses told him to let the Israelites go. So what can be done? God gives us the answer in Ezekiel 11:19-20 I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them. I will removed from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people and I will be their God.

The only solution to our hard-hearted attitude toward God’s law is God to do some radical surgery—to take away the bad and give us the good. That is what God did in the person and work of his Son, Jesus. Jesus came into this world and loved God’s law. It made him wiser than the teachers and those who were chronologically speaking, his elders. He had a different attitude and approach towards God’s law than anyone else. In all of God’s laws, he looked first for the blessings rather than for the loopholes. He saw in the first three commandments—loving God in all you think, say, and do—a wonderful invitation to be near God. There was nothing that was more important to him than that—even if it meant that the Pharisees would hate him and Herod might try to kill him. Jesus saw in the second table of the law—commandments 4-10—marvelous ways to put his love for his neighbor into practice. Jesus was kind and compassionate. He spent time with notorious sinners and embraced those who were afflicted with leprosy. He made time for women and children—something that his disciples thought was beneath him. Jesus loved people enough to speak the truth in love. He never told a person what they wanted to hear, but always what the clear Word of God said. He rebuked those who were powerful. He rejoiced when sinners were moved to repentance. Jesus was tender-hearted and committed to our salvation. He never deviated from God’s path, even when it was inconvenient, uncomfortable, or isolating.

Jesus did all this because he loved more than the law. He loved lawless sinners. He loved you and me enough to suffer for our selfish and sinful ways. He gave himself up for us all. He suffered for our insufferable desire to do things our own way. He experienced the wretchedness of hell for all the times we chose the path that made us momentarily happy. Jesus did all this because he wanted us to have the beautiful blessing of being in a loving, committed relationship. In Ephesians 5, we are told that Christ loves us as his own bride. That’s why marriage is such a big deal to God. He created it. He instituted it. He has invested himself into it. That kind of commitment and love is incredibly special. There is nothing cheap about it. Grace is priceless. It’s life-affirming. It’s life-changing.

Christ’s love for you gives you that heart of flesh. Christ’s love for your changes how you live your life. A healthy marriage is not formed by getting together a couple of hours each month, shelling out a few bucks, and living the rest of your life like a bachelor. Why would we live like this is the recipe for a healthy spiritual relationship with our God? It’s not that he’s too busy. It’s not that he’s not willing. Let us make what God has joined together our highest priority.

In a healthy marriage, your love for your spouse is unique and your commitment to them is absolute. God’s love for us is special. His faithfulness, ironclad. Shouldn’t we strive to reciprocate that love as best we can? Shouldn’t our love for God mature and grow deeper—not peak at our confirmation day?

In a healthy marriage, communication is paramount. Shouldn’t we spend time in God’s Word? Shouldn’t we meditate on his law day and night and marvel at his wisdom and understanding? Shouldn’t we engage in regular prayer—not just message God when we need something? In a healthy marriage, after spending many years together you can finish each other’s sentences. You know what the other person is thinking in some situation without them even saying a word. The more time we spend in God’s Word, the more we can finish his sentences. Then as we approach difficult circumstance and confusing situations, we don’t have to wonder what God might be thinking. We will already know.

In a healthy marriage, date night is something you put on the calendar and look forward to. You plan for that time. You protect that time. You cherish that time. Shouldn’t that be how we treat Sundays with God?

That’s what Psalm 119 was talking about. Loving the law is impossible if you don’t know the love of the One who developed that law. But once you know him, once you know his love for you and how his Word describes his nature, once his unconditional love generates a new heart within you, you can love his law, too.

Psalms 119:174 I long for your salvation, Lord, and your law gives me delight. 175 Let me live that I may praise you, and may your laws sustain me.