Mark 10:1-12
Introduction
In this passage, Jesus comes under attack once again from the Pharisees with a trick question. And Jesus uses this opportunity to give us some teaching about marriage and divorce. Bear this in mind as we examine today’s passage.
Modern Day Context
Before we begin our study of this passage, I would like to highlight the modern-day context in which we are doing this study:
Today, over half of marriages end in divorce. And today, it is very common for young adults to live together (cohabit) rather than get married. The God given institute of marriage is under greater attack more than at any other time in our history. The world has given marriage a whole new meaning that is not found in the scriptures and many churches are going along with it.
Verse 1
In this verse we see that Jesus has continued His journey south with His disciples until He now arrives in Judea. He is now in the area where John the Baptist preached repentance and baptised people. A crowd has gathered around Jesus and He is teaching them. Prior to this He was teaching His disciples exclusively.
Verses 2 to 9
In Verse 2, the Pharisees interrupt Jesus in order to test Him with a question. They were trying to get Jesus into trouble. If Jesus answers ‘no’ then He will get into trouble with Herod Antipas who beheaded John the Baptist for saying that Herod’s divorce was unlawful. If He says ‘yes’ then He will get into trouble with the religious leaders. The Pharisees ask Jesus, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce a wife?” Jesus responds to this question by directing the Pharisees to the Word of God, the only true authority on the matter. In this case Jesus points to the Law of Moses, otherwise known as the Torah.
In Verse 4 the Pharisees answer Jesus’ question by saying that, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away.” However, this is a very misleading account of what Moses said. It sounds like Moses is saying that a man can divorce his wife for any reason he likes. But that’s not what Moses said.
To understand what Moses actually said we need to go to the relevant text in the Torah. See Deuteronomy 24:1-4. The grounds for divorce according to this law in the Torah is indecency or uncleanness in the man’s wife.
The Hebrew word translated as indecency or uncleanness is ‘erva’ and can mean nakedness or shame. The trouble is that this reason for divorce is hard to understand in practice. So, what constitutes indecency? Bear in mind that there is another law covering adultery in which the person found guilty of adultery is executed. So, no need for a divorce in the case of adultery. But don’t worry, Jesus will clarify the matter as we will see.
The man needed to issue a certificate of divorce so that his wife could prove that she was divorced and was free to remarry. Bear in mind that the issue of divorce is always linked to the issue of remarriage.
In Verses 5 to 9, Jesus defines what true marriage is and what it means for those who get married. According to God’s design for marriage, only a single man and a single woman are permitted to marry? There are no other possibilities no matter what the world might think.
According to God’s original design for marriage, a marriage meant to last until death do they part. According to Jesus, divorce was not part of God’s original design for marriage. But as we can see in Verse 5, because of man’s sin, God has since permitted divorce in certain circumstances.
So, when can a man and woman get divorced? To help us answer this question we need to start with Matthew’s account of this same teaching event. In Matthew 19:8-9 we read; He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way. “And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”
So, according to Jesus, the grounds for divorce are sexual immorality. In Matthew 19:9, Jesus defines what Moses meant by indecency or uncleanness. The Greek word translated as sexual immorality is ‘porneia’ which means any form of sexual immorality. So, this includes a whole range of sexual sins including incest and beastiality. Basically, if your husband or wife has been unfaithful then you are free to divorce them.
Furthermore, according to the Bible, there is another ground for divorce. This is when an unbelieving partner abandons a believer. We find this in 1 Corinthians 7:12-15. In this case, the Christian is allowed to divorce them.
Apart from these two reasons, there are no other grounds for Christians to get divorced. However, it should be born in mind that when considering divorce, it is never simple or easy to deal with. We need considerable wisdom when deciding when a couple can get divorced.
Before we move on, I just want to ask the following question: Is it ok for Christians to cohabit instead of marrying? The answer is no. Cohabiting couples are engaged in fornication which is a sin.
Verses 10 to 12
In these verses the disciples privately ask Jesus again about divorce and He gives them some further teaching on the matter. In Verses 11 to 12, Jesus is saying that, if a man or a woman divorce illegally and marry someone else, they are committing adultery. This is because, in God’s eyes they are still married to the person they divorced. This does not apply when they get divorced on the grounds that we have already identified.
And Finally
Bear in mind that if you divorce someone on the grounds that God permits or if your partner dies, you are free to remarry as long as the person you marry is not still married in God’s eyes.