Mark 10:1-12
“But Jesus responded, ‘He wrote this commandment only as a concession to your hard hearts. 6 But ‘God made them male and female’[b] from the beginning of creation. 7 ‘This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife,[c] 8 and the two are united into one.’[d] Since they are no longer two but one,9 let no one split apart what God has joined together.’” v. 5-8
The Pharisees are trying once again to trick/corner Jesus by asking a controversial question. This time the question is centered around the concept of Divorce. If you have ever experienced divorce you know how difficult it is. The Pharisees looked at divorce more as a legal matter where Jesus addresses it more as a spiritual matter. Here is what the Life Application Study Notes said today,
God allowed divorce as a concession to people’s sinfulness. Unfortunately, the Pharisees used Deuteronomy 24:1 as a proof text for the sanctioning of divorce. Jesus explained that divorce was not God’s ideal; instead, God wants married people to consider their marriage permanent. Don’t enter marriage with the option of getting out. Tour marriage is more likely to be happy if from the outset you are committed to permanence. Don’t be hardhearted like these Pharisees, but be hardhearted in your determination, with God’s help, to stay together.
That said, we know that in our world, divorce is sometimes necessary (for physical survival, for well-being of children, etc.). Jesus clearly gave God’s ideal for marriage priority over Moses’ permission for divorce. Jesus did not cancel Moses’ teaching, however. For possible exceptions, see Matthew 5:32 and 19:9, where Jesus permitted divorce when the spouse had been unfaithful; and 1 Corinthians 7:15, where Paul recognized divorce when the unbelieving partner leaves the marriage. Divorce is wrong; it serves a holy union. But divorce is permitted. Jesus did not elaborate on the permissible reason, but his high view of marriage surely requires that divorce be a last resort to avoid greater disaster.
