Mark 10:1-12

At this point in Mark's story, Jesus left Galilee for the last time, on his journey to Jerusalem and the cross.

On the way, the crowds again gathered around the Lord and, as was his custom, he taught them again (Mark 10:1). In due course, the Pharisees approached him with a question that was quite controversial in those days - the question of divorce. Among the religious leaders there were two schools of thought on this subject.

The discussion revolved around Deuteronomy 24:1 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...

The point of contention was as to what Moses meant by something indecent. The followers of the teacher Shammai held that a wife could not be divorced except for unfaithfulness. The disciples of Hillel, on the other hand, held to a much broader interpretation and permitted divorce for almost any cause (Matthew 19:3). As a result of this more liberal interpretation, the divorce situation among the Jews in Jesus's day was deplorable, falling far short of the divine standards set forth in the Old Testament and taking on characteristics of the customs of the surrounding people. As one student of Jewish life put it...

Jewish society was disgraced by an appalling laxity in the matter of divorce. Family life was imperiled by it and an intolerable wrong was done to womanhood. It made woman the slave of man, putting the wife at the husband's mercy. For,while she could not for any cause divorce him, he might, for no cause at all, divorce her and cast her out upon the world - E. T. Thompson, The Gospel According to Mark (Richard: John Knox Press, 1954), p. 161.

It is difficult to determine the motive of the Pharisees in presenting this issue of the day to Jesus. Certainly they were not sincere in their approach to him because they came tempting (testing) him (Mark 10:2).

Perhaps they desired to set Jesus at odds with a large segment of the Jewish leadership since, whatever side of the question he took, his position would be violently opposed by the representatives of the other side. It may have been that the Pharisees knew only too well where Jesus would stand and they wanted to report that he had no respect for the laws of Moses.

Whatever the true purpose of his questioners, Jesus did not dodge the issue. He began his answer by saying that Moses's law was an improvement over the prevailing practice before Moses's day. That practice permitted a man to divorce his wife without having to specify the cause for the divorce. Then Jesus went on to declare that, in the sight of God, marriage is an inviolable union. It is a part of the divine scheme of things that 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. Therefore, what God has joined together, let man not separate (Mark 10:7-9)

Jesus's statement is the Christian concept of marriage. It is a concept that should be held clearly in mind by all who enter into this sacred union. As someone has phrased it, Marriage is for keeps. A man and a woman enter into a sacred and lasting contract when they solemnly promise to have and to hold each other until death do us part.

Mark's record of this incident and Jesus's answer to the Pharisees end at this point. Later, when he was alone with his disciples, they asked him further about the matter and he said to them: 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 10:11-12). This is a sweeping statement. Are there no grounds for divorce?

Mark was concerned with the Christian ideal of marriage as Jesus stated it to the disciples in the house later on. The Christian ideal is that both parties will remain faithful to their marriage vows, taking divorce out of the question. This is how it should be.

The problem of divorce is as vexing in our day as it was in Jesus's day. It has been said repeatedly that in the United States one out of three, and increasingly, marriages end in divorce. There is certainly need for a quickening of the Christian conscience at this point. Parents may render invaluable service by interpreting to their children the Christian ideal of marriage as a lasting union. Ministers have a responsibility to impress upon those who present themselves for marriage the permanence of the relationship into which they are about to enter.