Once again, a hard word from Jesus this last week in the gospel of Mark. In regards to divorce, Jesus takes a more rigorous stand than even the strictest teachers of his day. It seems that Jesus refuses to abandon the dream of God; that in spite of human brokenness and evil, the renewal of all things is still possible. Some of us evade or diminish this vision by ignoring the perfect law of God and saying it doesn't apply. Some of us evade or diminish this vision by 'gaming' the perfect law, and trying to tweak it to fit our own inadequacy. (This is what the Pharisees seem to do regularly in the gospels.)
But, and here is the important point, Jesus never diminishes the implicit hope in God's word. He wants us to stand in the beautiful and blinding light of the law of God. It might kill us (morally speaking) but it is the only light in which we can begin to understand God's grace.
If we don't hold God's law as high as Jesus does, Jesus' saving death is made irrelevant. Anything that 'gets us out of it' - that diminishes and weakens the clear vision of God presented in the law undermines our need for God's grace.
In the issue of divorce, Jesus holds that marriage is representative of God's vision of human flourishing and impossible to undo. When we attempt to find a way to make divorce 'okay' we are preferring our patchwork redemption over God's perfect promise of redemption.
We should simply admit that we are unable and trust that God is able. Here is where the humble, confident Christian is born.
What an incredibly difficult word - but it offers hope instead of false promises. I am very curious to hear if any of you had a take on how Larry and I tackled this passage.
Some other resources:
A very helpful book on this issue is called 'Divorce and Remarriage in the Bible'. It addresses a number of the practical, pastoral issues not covered in the sermon on Sunday. The author also has a website that addresses further issues.
Andy Stanley also has a helpful sermon on this issue. You can find it here.
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