Mark 10:1-12 | Romans 8:1-4
Jesus’ words concerning divorce and adultery are nothing to mess around with. The question arises from the Pharisees not because they care about these particulars of the law, but because they are trying to test Jesus. Nonetheless, Jesus uses the opportunity to demonstrate the original intent of God (an ideal) and then the reason for the law (human stubbornness). Mark isn’t as quick to the conclusive necessity of grace, but in the overall example of Jesus, it is understood.
God has intentions.
The law is a boundary.
Humanity can’t fully live up to it.
Christ is the grace-filled solution.
God’s design is the most beautiful.
The law helps in part.
Humans still mess up.
Jesus covers it all.
Mark 10:1-12
Jesus left that place and went beyond the Jordan and into the region of Judea. Crowds gathered around him again and, as usual, he taught them. Some Pharisees came and, trying to test him, they asked, “Does the Law allow a man to divorce his wife?”
Jesus answered, “What did Moses command you?”
They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a divorce certificate and to divorce his wife.”
Jesus said to them, “He wrote this commandment for you because of your unyielding hearts. At the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. Because of this, a man should leave his father and mother and be joined together with his wife, and the two will be one flesh. So they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore, humans must not pull apart what God has put together.”
Inside the house, the disciples asked him again about this. He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; and if a wife divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”
Romans 8:1-4
So now there isn’t any condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. God has done what was impossible for the Law, since it was weak because of selfishness. God condemned sin in the body by sending his own Son to deal with sin in the same body as humans, who are controlled by sin. He did this so that the righteous requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us. Now the way we live is based on the Spirit, not based on selfishness.
Prayer
God,
We have daily reminders that we don’t measure up, that we can’t do it, that we’re failures. We’re good at telling each other, hearing it from each other, and living poorly as a result.
Thank you for your grace that calls us beyond failure. Help me live into it today.
By your spirit & in Christ,
Amen.