God’s Law and Divorce

The Gospel passage from Mark this morning is difficult for anyone who has gone through the pain of divorce.  It is also hard for people who live in faithful partnerships of marriage with another person of the same sex. What is the gospel account’s purpose in having Jesus telling the Pharisees that the Law of Moses permitting divorce is to be overthrown because it is against God’s law? 

This exchange between Jesus and the Pharisees is comparable to a couple of lawyers cross-examining a witness.  The Pharisees who were religious leaders asked Jesus whether it was lawful for a man to divorce his wife.  Doesn’t Jesus recall that the Law of Moses was clear about this?  Remember it’s about a man divorcing his wife, not about a wife divorcing her husband.  In the ancient world wives were regarded as property of their husbands. A woman who was divorced had no choice but to return to her father’s home. 

Jesus knew the rule of law that was operative in his time.  Maybe the legalistic Pharisees knew it more precisely.  Jesus, however, replied that Moses allowed for divorce because of their "hardness of heart."  His point was that the Pharisees had forgotten about their right relationship with God.  He said to them, "You ask me a question about the law; I insist on telling you about the requirements of the law of God."

In effect Jesus is saying, “Look at God's original blessing on humankind in creation and what God intended for human relationships.  They are to seek their true selves and find real joy to the end that what God has so put together, what God has joined, no one may separate or divide."  Jesus in his discussion with the Pharisees did what he so often did: he turned things upside down by teaching them that God is above all laws and all the legalistic requirements of religious leaders.

There are many stories in the New Testament about Jesus coming to the defense of women.  Women and children were vulnerable and had little or no standing in their society.  The questions the Pharisees asked were not questions we might ask today; they were questions relevant to the issues and concerns of the first century.  Jesus said that God made the Pharisees and everyone for relationships that are equal but the Pharisees were preoccupied in talking about separations and divorce.  His message was about God and how God is to be loved with heart, mind, and soul. 

The central message of their exchange focused on Jesus’ concern for right relationships, for fairness and equality so that "no one" should separate "what God has joined together."  Male and female together are made in the image of God; relationships and behavior should reflect that. 

No narrow legalism, or prescription of do's and don'ts, or a collection of proof texts are to be used to justify our decisions.  We are not to live as those who are trapped by inflexible and insensitive laws.  Relationships matter.  We are to live supported by a structure of community and mutuality that takes relationships seriously.  As human beings, women and men, we are called to our deepest fulfillment in equality and in a common life through which each person becomes a more authentic self by growing, giving, loving and caring.

Should a relationship be broken irrevocably then the issues of fairness, equality, and kindness in working through separation must take precedence over acrimony and adversarial positioning.  The problem is never just a matter of law.  Divorce is a civil matter and a legal act, but the problem goes beyond that; it is a fractured and broken relationship.

So Jesus pushed the Pharisees to go behind the question of separation and divorce.  We should also push ourselves to go behind the literal interpretation of myths and legalisms that block constructive and committed relationships today.  We should examine the basic question of the meaning of life and what it is to be created female and male in the image of God.  If we do this we may expand what we know about how to live mutually and responsibly in relationship with one another and with God.

Finally, to make his point as clear as possible, the Gospel narrative continues the concern for those who are vulnerable.  People were bringing little children to Jesus so he could touch them.  The disciples saw this as an intrusion so they spoke sternly.  But Jesus was indignant and said, “Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs.” 

Then Jesus “took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them.”  The point is that faith in God is about loving one another, receiving God in faith just as children are received, touched, and blessed.  “It is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs.”  Amen.