The Gospel of Mark – Part 35

Marriage and Divorce – Mark 10:1-12

Mosaic Rockford – Dave Spooner – May 17th, 2020

Intro:

This morning we are moving to Mark 10 as Jesus continues to move toward Jerusalem.  Chapter 10 is the last chapter before the “triumphal entry” in Mark chapter 11.  In chapter 10 we see Jesus being questioned about divorce, we see Him interacting with children, His conversation with a “rich young ruler” and the healing of blind Bartimaeus. The section for this morning is focused on the teaching of Jesus on the subject marriage and divorce. My hope is that from this passage you will gain more insight into God’s original design and desire for marriage, why and when divorce is allowed and when one is free to remarry.  These teachings are foundational in the most important and sacred relationship in humanity and in these teaching, God guides us in this relationship. Chapter 9 left off with Jesus and His disciples in the region of Galilee and the town of Capernaum where Jesus taught them about true greatness, ministry to the faith of children and the seriousness of sin with a series of “it is better” teachings.   

Mark 10:1 ESV

And he left there and went to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan, and crowds gathered to him again. And again, as was his custom, he taught them.

Jesus and His disciples were moving southward through the country with the final destination being Jerusalem (refer to slide).  Crowds and critics were still gathering to Him, and He did take time to minister and interact with them as He continued to focus on training and equipping the 12 for what was to come, and for their ministry after He was gone. While they were in the region of Judea, the Pharisees came out to test Him on what He would say about the issue of marriage and divorce as it related to the law of Moses.  This is where we come to our first point.

Divorce is allowed not desired

Mark 10:2-5 ESV

And Pharisees came up and in order to test him asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” 3 He answered them, “What did Moses command you?” 4 They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and to send her away.” 5 And Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment.

The “test” of Jesus was twofold.  The first was a debate between two “schools of thought” when it came to the meaning of the passage given by Moses (Deut. 24:1-4) that allowed for divorce.  One school interpreted Moses very widely making divorce allowable for most any reason (including a bad meal).  Where the other opinion held to more strict guidelines as to when divorce would be allowed. Another reason why they choose this subject to test Jesus is because He was now in the region that was governed by Herod, who imprisoned and eventually beheaded John the Baptist because of His teaching and direct confrontation with Herod about his marriage which was “unlawful” by the scriptures.  If Jesus gave a similar teaching as John the Baptist, then perhaps Herod would find out and arrest His as well, or if He gave a different teaching than John the Baptist it would create a division in His followers and perhaps slow down or split up the movement and momentum.  The Pharisees used this question at this time not because they wanted His insight on the matter, but to “test” Him with the motivation of casing division or His demise.  Knowing all this, Jesus responded by teaching the reason why this command was given in the first place.  Jesus referred back to what had been already written by God for them – giving authority to and drawing authority from the word of God – by asking them what the text actually says “what did Moses command you?”.  They answered rightly by quoting the text “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and to send her away.” And then instead of answering the question directly, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” Jesus gives them an answer to the qu