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In Christ, Mark
In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy
word.
“It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must
give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I tell you that anyone who divorces his
wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery, and
anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.”
Matthew 5:31-32
Jesus then left that place and went into the region of
Judea and across the Jordan. Again crowds of people came to Him, and as was His
custom, He taught them.
Some Pharisees came and tested Him by asking, “Is it
lawful for a man to divorce his wife?”
“What did Moses command you?” He replied.
They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate
of divorce and send her away.”
“It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote
you this law,” Jesus replied. “But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them
male and female.’ ‘For this reason a man will leave his father
and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ So
they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together,
let no one separate.”
When they were in the house again, the disciples asked
Jesus about this. He answered, “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries
another woman commits adultery against her. And if she divorces her husband and
marries another man, she commits adultery.”
Mark 10:1-12
“Anyone who divorces his wife and marries
another woman commits adultery, and the man who marries a divorced woman
commits adultery.”
Luke 16:18
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be
to God.
This may not be of much surprise to you but a lot of
people are getting divorced these days. The numbers bear this out.
According to the CDC/NHCS National Vital Statistics
System, in 2015, there were 2,221,579 marriages but also 800,809 divorces. In
other words, while 3 marriages were happening, one was ending. This with
divorce numbers actually down from the year 2002 when they numbered 955,000.
So nearly a million marriages end every year and those
numbers have held steady for the last 15 years. That’s a lot of brokenness with
countless children caught up in the aftermath of it. These truths beg a few
questions:
Is there anything that can be done to prevent these
breakups, anything that can be done to keep relationships intact?
The answer is “yes” and as it is in so many other social
issues where we seek remedy, the answer and answers are found within the
scriptures, inside God’s holy word.
In regard to divorce, Jesus had something to say on the
matter. You see, divorce isn’t a modern day problem. Not by far. For back in
Old and New Testament times, marriages were ending in divorce, even if the
processes were different. And divorce was obviously prevalent enough that Jesus
took time to teach His followers on it, and as we have seen in this series,
take the norms and move them to another level. Look again at these scriptures
for today from the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke:
“It has been said,
‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I
tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes
her the victim of adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits
adultery.” Matthew 5:31-32
Jesus then left
that place and went into the region of Judea and across the Jordan. Again
crowds of people came to Him, and as was His custom, He taught them.
Some Pharisees
came and tested Him by asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?”
“What did Moses
command you?” He replied.
They said, “Moses
permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away.”
“It was because
your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law,” Jesus replied. “But at
the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.’ ‘For
this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and
the two will become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore
what God has joined together, let no one separate.”
When they were in
the house again, the disciples asked Jesus about this. He answered, “Anyone who
divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. And
if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery.”
Mark 10:1-12
“Anyone
who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and the man
who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.” Luke 16:18
Before Jesus came on the scene, what was required for a
divorce within the Israelite community?
The answer comes from one of the books of the Law in the
Old Testament, the Book of Deuteronomy:
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. (24:1)
Note here there wasn’t any divorce court, no paperwork
filed with a judge who would make a determination on the divorce to include
disposition of belongings and/or establishment of support or visitation if
children were involved. No, the Law provided the husband a lot of latitude if
he wanted to get rid of his wife. All he had to do was come up with some reason
why she was displeasing or indecent and he could render a certificate of
divorce and send her off.
It was easy. Too easy.
Now fast forward to the New Testament and Jesus’
teaching. You’ll recall that He said this:
“Do
not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come
to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until
heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a
pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.”
Matthew 5:17-18
Jesus wanted to make it clear that although He was
bringing new teachings, none of them were given to abolish the Law or the words
of the Prophets. Rather, as we have been seeing through this series, Jesus was
taking what was and improving it, taking the present to another (and better)
level.
Take this matter of divorce. Jesus wasn’t saying that a marriage
could not end in divorce but He sure did tighten up the requirements for it.
Gone was the broad opportunity for interpretation of what was displeasing or
indecent. Jesus spells it out, saying that the only appropriate reason for
divorce was sexual immorality. Period.
God had given this command to His people through Moses at
Mount Sinai:
“You shall not commit adultery.” Exodus 20:14
Jesus was simply taking this marriage-related command from
His Father and applying it. And in doing so, He took away the ease in breaking
marital covenants and vows with the goal of keeping marriages intact instead of
broken. As we move further ahead in the New Testament, we find the Apostle Paul
providing a primer as to how husbands and wives should function within the
framework of their marriage (Ephesians 5:21-33). All couples need to do is
follow this guidance and we would see those divorce statistics mentioned
earlier plummet.
As we look at Mark’s account, we find Jesus even invoking
marriage as being established by God, His Father, asserting that if God had
brought a man and woman together in union, then no one should separate such a
union. Not anyone on the outside and certainly neither of the partners on the
inside of the marriage. Perhaps we need to remember this today as countless
marriages are held within the hallowed, holy sanctuaries of Christian churches
where couples take vows before God and then go off and forget much of what they
professed to do. You see, getting married in church doesn’t somehow immunize
someone from divorce. Couples need to be grounded in the word of God regarding
not just their marriage but their lives and then remain obedient to that Word.
That’s how marriages stay together for the distance and
that’s where we need to get to today.
Want to improve your marriage and prevent divorce from
knocking at your door?
Ground yourself in the scriptures, place Jesus at the
center of your marriage, and ever seek to glorify and magnify Him within the
confines of your relationship.
That’s taking marriage to another level and if you are
married and reading this today, I pray you will commit yourself to do just
that.
Amen
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be
blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com
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