HARD-HEARTED
Opening Prayer
Come, Holy Spirit, and soften my heart. I am here before you, ready to listen.
Read MARK 10:1–12
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
Divorce
10 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.
2 Some Pharisees came and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?”
3 “What did Moses command you?” he replied.
4 They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away.”
5 “It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law,” Jesus replied. 6 “But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.’[a] 7 ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife,[b] 8 and the two will become one flesh.’[c] So they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”
10 When they were in the house again, the disciples asked Jesus about this. 11 He answered, “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. 12 And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery.”
Footnotes
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
Do you think statements like: “We live in different times” or “The rules are different today” are valid? Why?The Pharisees’ question was odd. The Old Testament teaching was clear (see Deuteronomy 24:1–4). A man was permitted to divorce his wife, but, if she remarried and was divorced again, he could not marry her for a second time. This was to protect the woman from wife-swapping. Both could marry another person without the accusation of adultery.
These can be hard verses to read if you have been through a divorce. It is important to note that Jesus was speaking with men who saw women as disposable. He was avoiding being dragged into a debate over particular reasons for divorce. He was not issuing pastoral guidance. Human experience testifies to the truth he was emphasizing: God’s will is for marriage to be permanent, and when a marriage breaks down a clean separation is almost impossible. Part of one’s ‘flesh’ tends to remain stuck to the former spouse.
Maybe the Pharisees were trying to lure Jesus into making a controversial statement that could land him in trouble with Herod, like John the Baptist (6:14). Their approach to divorce centered on the question, ‘What can I get away with?’ For Jesus, the issue was not legislation on marriage, but the attitude of the heart (v. 5), and this applies whether you are married, divorced, or single.
Apply
Are there adults or children suffering from divorce that you know? In what ways can you encourage them?
Closing prayer
Father, I lift up before you Christian marriages where partners are struggling with one another. Protect what you have joined together; provide what is needed for healing and reconciliation.
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