Daily Scripture
Note to readers: During Lent Resurrection joins 300 or more other congregations in Kansas City and others in Hong Kong and Ghana in reading the entire gospel of Mark. To support that goal, some daily GPS readings are longer than usual. Have an extra cup of coffee, or maybe use your lunch break—take the time to read the whole gospel with us.
To watch a video that covers Mark 10:1-16, click here.
Mark 10:1-12
1 Jesus left that place and went beyond the Jordan and into the region of Judea. Crowds gathered around him again and, as usual, he taught them. 2 Some Pharisees came and, trying to test him, they asked, “Does the Law allow a man to divorce his wife?”
3 Jesus answered, “What did Moses command you?”
4 They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a divorce certificate and to divorce his wife.”
5 Jesus said to them, “He wrote this commandment for you because of your unyielding hearts. 6 At the beginning of creation, God made them male and female [Genesis 1:27]. 7 Because of this, a man should leave his father and mother and be joined together with his wife, 8 and the two will be one flesh [Genesis 2:24]. So they are no longer two but one flesh. 9 Therefore, humans must not pull apart what God has put together.”
10 Inside the house, the disciples asked him again about this. 11 He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; 12 and if a wife divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”
Reflection Questions
“Into the region of Judea” meant Jesus was getting closer to Jerusalem. There he met more of his opponents. They tried to draw him into a rabbinic debate over how to apply Deuteronomy 24:1. Some rabbis said Deuteronomy allowed divorce for any offense—even burning breakfast! It was in the Bible, they said—it must be what God wanted. Jesus valued the whole Bible, not just a verse here or there. He taught a higher, more loving ideal rooted in the creation stories of Genesis 1 and 2.
- The Roman world around Israel scoffed at the idea that sex meant anything more than physical release. Jesus’ statement of the creation story’s ideal went against many people’s ideas, within Israel as well as beyond it. Later the apostle Paul taught Jesus’ ideal (cf. 1 Corinthians 6:12-20). In what ways does the idea of honoring God with your body run counter to much cultural thinking today about sex? What helps you “avoid sexual immorality”?
- Some people say Mark 10:11-12 forbids any remarriage after divorce. But Matthew enlarged on Mark, adding that Jesus stated a “faithfulness” exception (cf. Matthew 19:9). Paul saw desertion as another valid reason for divorce (cf. 1 Corinthians 7:15). Jesus' outreach to an oft-married woman (cf. John 4:16-26) showed that God’s grace applies to broken marriages. Why must we know that God never wants anyone stuck in a cruelly hurtful marriage? Given that, what is the value of making and seeking to keep marriage vows with integrity?
Prayer
Lord Jesus, you were on earth because of what the psalmist called your “steadfast love.” You lived out, in ways harder than I’ll ever have to, the ideal of faithfulness. Help me live that way too. Amen.
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A loaded question about divorce - Leawood - Church of the Resurrection
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