Mark 10: 1-12

The Pharisees came to Jesus asking a question to test him.  The question was, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” The Pharisees were a sect of the Jews who often confronted Jesus and his teaching.  They were testing him with this question about divorce to:

1.   Put him in the same situation as John the Baptist who had been imprisoned and killed partly because of his view of divorce and remarriage.

2.   Set Jesus against the teaching of Moses.

3.   Divide his followers if he took one stance or the other on divorce.

Jewish history of Jesus day tells us that the divorce issue was a sensitive and divisive topic.  It remains so today.  Prior to Jesus day two distinct philosophies had developed from the interpretation of the Mosaic Law.  One school of thought was considered the conservative view and it was espoused and taught by the Rabbi, Shammai.  This view proclaimed that divorce was only permitted when sexual sin occurred.  The opposing and more popular view was that a man could divorce for any and all reasons.  This had been taught by the Rabbi Hillel and had been the majority practice of Jews for a number of years.

Under current practice in Jesus day a Jewish man could give his wife a written certificate of divorce for almost any reason; without any legal proceeding.  Divorce was very easy and very prevalent.  It was very rare that a wife was granted permission to divorce her husband in that time. 

Jesus answer to the Pharisees concerning the question, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” was to ask them “What did Moses command you?”  There reply was that Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and to send her away. 

Their answer and the subsequent differing schools of thought concerning Moses teaching was based on Deuteronomy 24:1-4.  “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 uncleanness in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house, ^2 when she has departed from his house, and goes and becomes another man’s wife, ^3 if the latter husband detests her and writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies who took her as his wife, ^4 then her former husband who divorced her must not take her back to be his wife after 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 is giving you as an inheritance.”  The debate then centered on what uncleanness or indecency meant; and thus the two wide spread views.  The conservative view was that uncleanness had to involve unfaithfulness while the opposing view was that it could be anything from burning dinner to the husband finding someone he liked better. 

Jesus told them that it was because of their hardness of heart that Moses had allowed this command but that was not God’s plan for marriage.  Jesus then takes the high road in answering their question by centering on what a good marriage is and not what a good divorce is.  He goes to the book of Genesis.  Here is the complete text from which he quotes.

Genesis 2:21-25 “So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. ²² And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. ²³ Then the man said, ‘This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.’ Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. ²⁵ And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.”

Marriage was an institution created by God in the very beginning.  It was to be one man and one woman united until death.  This was God’s plan for marriage and continues to be God’s plan for marriage.  Jesus would emphasize this with the statement in verse nine, “Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”

God’s plan never included a provision for divorce.  Even in the case of unfaithfulness the law did not provide for divorce.  The guilty parties were to be killed. “The man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, he who commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress, shall surely be put to death.”  (Leviticus 20:10)  However because of the hardness of their hearts and the total disregard of what God wanted in marriage, the Mosaic Law made concessions that allowed for divorce.  The death penalty for adultery was also altered as history developed; think about the examples of David and Solomon.

In Ezra 10 we have just studied where the children of Israel were instructed to separate from their foreign wives.  This was not something condemned by God so divorce in itself is not wrong.  The KJV translates Malachi 2:16 saying that God hates divorce.  I hate divorce.  Divorce hardly ever involves just one or two people and is a burden on many innocent victims.  But the fact that God allows divorce means that divorce is not a sin; if it were a sin God could not allow it. Divorce can, and usually is caused by sin, and divorce can lead to sin; but divorce itself is not a sin. 

In Matthew 19:9 a statement is added to this discourse that Mark does not include, “And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.”  Again divorce is not a sin but can lead to sin.  It is when one who divorces, remarries that sin occurs and that is the sin of adultery.  Jesus in Matthew though gives an exception to this in that when a divorce occurs because of sexual immorality by one party in the union, then the innocent party is free to remarry.  If divorce was a sin, Jesus would not permit this.  

“In the house His disciples also asked Him again about the same matter. ^11 So He said to them,  “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her. ^12 And if a woman divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”

We live in a sex craved world today and I suspect throughout history this has been a recurring problem.  In our society today we have so abused the institution of marriage that more and more people are just living together in sinful relationships instead of accepting God’s plan of marriage.   “Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.”  (Hebrews 13:4) I think this is one of the key statements about marriage in Scripture. The sexual relationship is for a husband and wife and any other arrangement is sin. That may sound outdated and not in step with the culture of our time, but it is still what the Bible says.  God will judge fornicators and adulterers. 

Fornication includes any sexual act not involving married individuals while adultery is sexual activity involving married persons with someone other than their married spouse. 

Our society has become somewhat flippant about adultery.  It is almost an acceptable sin.  “He ran around on his wife” or “she cheated on her husband” are almost joking matters to some.  Some admire the actors and public figures that will go from one bed to another or one marriage to another.  We truly have degraded God’s great institution of marriage.  Again, one reason more and more people are just living together or “shacking-up” is because of the way we have abused the institution of marriage.  They ask “what is the purpose?” or a reply I hear often; “it’s just a piece of paper.”  Fornication and adultery are sins, and God will judge those who commit them. 

History tells us that the time of Jesus earthly ministry was also a time in which divorce was easy and prevalent.  The sanctity of marriage was also not held in honor, the same as today.  Thus Jesus answer would be appropriate today as it was to the Pharisees who were testing him with the question in our text today.  Look at what marriage is supposed to be.  Look at the very beginning on who created the institution of marriage and what he expected that special union to be.  Today we need to point out good marriages and recognize the qualities of a good marriage.  We need to teach the importance of a good marriage and how to obtain that special, God developed, union.

But we cannot ignore the divorce issue; or the improper act of couples living together as married, when they are not so in God’s eyes.  As a church leader these are often some of the most trying issues. 

The church today is influenced by divorce and remarriage issues and Midway is certainly no exception.  Since I have been in leadership with you, it has always been our policy to take every situation of divorce and remarriage on an individual basis.  We try to not make blanket conclusions that will cover all situations, because just as soon as you do, along will come an exception to the rule.  But it is a very serious issue and souls are at stake, so it is not a subject that can be ignored or treated lightly. 

Of course the basis for any decision that we must make is the Bible.  When we are listening to the details a couple or individual provide us with their marital history we compare those with what God tells us.  I have included some of the key passages in the bulletin this morning and there are several articles and books written on the subject that we can direct you to if this is something that you would like to know more about.  Do not take chances with this issue; make sure that you are living in accordance to God’s word. 

We have a generation today, who have no concept of what marriage and the male and female relationship is meant to be.  We as a church must try and reestablish in our society what marriage really is.  We must, by example, by direct teaching, and by standing up against the enemies of God defined marriage, try and reshape our society in what God would have us to be.  It seems impossible, but with God all things are possible.  It is way past time to take a stand.

Our stand begins with emphasizing the special institution of marriage and that it was meant to be a special union between one man and one woman for life.  What God has joined together, man should not take apart.