Marriage And Divorce Questions Answered Series

Mark 10: 1 – 12

Marriage and Divorce Questions Answered

Then He arose from there and came to the region of Judea by the other side of the Jordan. And multitudes gathered to Him again, and as He was accustomed, He taught them again. 2 The Pharisees came and asked Him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” testing Him. 3 And He answered and said to them, “What did Moses command you?” 4 They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce, and to dismiss her.” 5 And Jesus answered and said to them, “Because of the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept. 6 But from the beginning of the creation, God ‘made them male and female.’ 7 ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, 8 and the two shall become one flesh’; so then they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.” 10 In the house His disciples also asked Him again about the same matter. 11 So He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her. 12 And if a woman divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”

The apostle Matthew wrote about these comments of our Lord Jesus Christ also in chapter 19 of his book, so let’s also see what he put down on paper,

Matthew 19:1-9 19 Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these sayings, that He departed from Galilee and came to the region of Judea beyond the Jordan. 2 And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them there. 3 The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?” 4 And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? 6 So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.” 7 They said to Him, “Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?” 8 He said to them, “Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. 9 And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery.”

Our Lord Jesus now begins His ministry in Judaea. Each of the pronouncements that follow continues the theme of the teaching of our Master Lord Jesus. His pronouncement on divorce overturned the teaching of the Rabbis and stressed the permanence of marriage and His call to a new beginning,

Having stressed the importance of what is done in His Name, bringing out the supreme importance of His Name, Jesus commences His journey to Jerusalem by moving down into Judaea and Beyond Jordan.

Then He arose from there and came to the region of Judea by the other side of the Jordan. And multitudes gathered to Him again, and as He was accustomed, He taught them again.

The last journey to Jerusalem was now under way, although there was at this stage no sense of urgency, and our Lord Jesus therefore commenced a ministry in Northern Judaea and in Beyond Jordan where great crowds gathered.

Take a look again at the statement ‘And as He was usually accustomed to do He taught them.’ This indicates that He continued His ministry as He usually did. It reminds us that we should recognize that His ministry has been continual, even when not mentioned. So satisfied that His ministry in Galilee over a number of years was complete He had now returned South again. This small note emphasizes that our Holy Lord Jesus preaching ministry continued in progress even while He was teaching His disciples.

In the example of His ministry that now follows our Supreme Ruler Adoni Yeshua not only gives important teaching on marriage and divorce, but also stresses His position as One Who can speak with unique authority on the significance of God’s word. Indeed it cannot be overemphasized what a totally different view of life Jesus introduces as obligatory on all, the kind of life only livable by those who come under the Kingdom of God.

Before we take a look at what our Lord says about divorce and marriage I would like to comment about things that you are probably not aware of. As a Pastor, I get hit with a lot of issues on this subject. Some people come in quite wounded from the way other churches have handled their situations, while others should have been excommunicated from their churches. Some churches have let couples divorce because of all kind of reasons, abandonment, abuse, addiction, and mistakes. The list could go on and on.