Divorce
10 Jesus then left that place and went into the region of Judea and across the Jordan. Again crowds of people came to him, and as was his custom, he taught them.
2 Some Pharisees came and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?”
3 “What did Moses command you?” he replied.
4 They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away.”
5 “It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law,” Jesus replied. 6 “But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.’[a] 7 ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife,[b] 8 and the two will become one flesh.’[c] So they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”
10 When they were in the house again, the disciples asked Jesus about this. 11 He answered, “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. 12 And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery.”
The Little Children and Jesus
13 People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. 14 When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15 Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” 16 And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.
The Rich and the Kingdom of God
17 As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.’[d]”
20 “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”
21 Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
22 At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.
23 Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!”
24 The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is[e] to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
26 The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?”
27 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”
28 Then Peter spoke up, “We have left everything to follow you!”
29 “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel 30 will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”
Today I want us to start with the last story and work our way back. I think it gives us clarity.
So what is the rich guy asking for?
What is the overall lesson, or principle that Jesus is trying to get across to him?
Then the story of the children.
What does Jesus teach us in this story?
How are these two stories connected?
Now lets tackle the first story about divorce.
Right off the bat we are told by the author what was going on in this line of questioning. It should not be ignored. This question was a question meant to entrap Jesus. Jesus is not answering a question of a person who is struggling in a broken marriage. Jesus is not answering someone who has divorced and is questioning the legitimacy or the morality of it. Jesus is answering a hostel question. This is important. I don't think we can take his response to answer the question for those who are struggling in a broken marriage.
There are also a couple things that we need to know here about divorce.
What do we know about divorce in this time?
How was it used?
Who did the divorcing?
How prevalent was it?
One commentator wrote that to hear what Jesus said to the disciples would be like Jesus today saying, "if you sell your car and buy a new one, you are a thief." That is how messed up marriage and divorce was.
Jesus here is answering those trying to trap him, by taking it back to the heart issue.
If you remember, Jesus didn't care if his disciples washed their hands in the ceremonial way, and here he says, what they allow you to do you can't do.
The Pharisees saw divorce in terms of what can we get away with instead of what is God asking of me. Jesus was taking them, taking us back to not what we can get away with but what he is calling us to.
We know that Jesus also talked about murder in terms of simply hating someone.
Jesus is calling in these three stories us to more!
What are some takeaways for us?
We are called to live a life that it in service of others. We as Christians are called to more! So much more! We are called to give more, to sacrifice more, to listen more, to be more unselfish, to trust more, to comfort more.
We are called to....
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