Mark 10:1-12, Jesus Teaches on Marriage

The subject of family came up through a tricky question raised by some Pharisees.  They were testing Him (v2).  They were not particularly concerned with Jesus view on the matter, other than to try to pigeon-hole Him.

The question came from Deut. 24:1, where Moses said in the Law, When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some uncleanness in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house, …  The question was, what is meant by “uncleanness?”  There were two schools of thought in Judaism.  The school of Shammai said that unchastity was the only moral reason, the only form of “uncleanness,” that warranted divorce.  The school of Hillel held that essentially anything could be called “uncleanness:” the wife burnt the toast, she wouldn’t clean the camel barn, her hair was turning gray, or whatever. 

Before we note Jesus’ answer, those two answers are prominent today.  I know of a lot of pastors and evangelical scholars who would say that “immorality” is the only allowable reason for divorce for Christians.  On the other hand, in our society, we essentially have “no fault” divorce.  You don’t really have to have a reason.  So Jesus did not follow either school but rather returned to the very beginning of marriage, which was in God’s plan of creation in Genesis.

FIRST, JESUS TAUGHT THAT MARRIAGE WAS INTENDED TO BE A LIFELONG RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ONE MAN AND ONE WOMAN.

Jesus did not mention the “one man/one woman” issue because of the present-day abuse of marriage.  He mentioned it (10:6) because it was the plan from the beginning (Gen. 1:27; 2:23-25). 

The key idea in their “relationship” was that the man and woman were to be “one flesh.”  Paul referred to this in 1 Cor. 6:16 when he was speaking of sexual sin: “Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For “the two,” He says, “shall become one flesh.””  The sexual connection of husband and wife is not the sum-total of their relationship, but it speaks of the depth of their union.  There is the joining of two people, two wills, two souls, and two bodies.

The “lifelong” aspect is seen in Jesus conclusion: Therefore, what God has joined together, let not man separate (10:9).  The prophet Malachi said that God hated divorce (Mal. 2:13-16).  The prophet recognized that it was a means of dealing “treacherously” with one’s spouse.  That was at the base of the rabbinic disagreement mentioned above.  Those asking the question likely had a vested interest, wanting to have “guilt-free” permission to get rid of one wife so he could marry another.  Anyone who has been part of divorce knows the prophet is right: there is a lot of “treachery” involved in the process of separating what God has joined together.