Transcript:
One hundred years ago, it was taboo to get divorced. Remarriage was also greatly looked down upon. People who were divorced were shunned and often had trouble finding employment.
In recent decades attitudes about divorce and remarriage have completely flipped. Today, both are common and society sees nothing morally wrong with either divorce or remarriage.
Unfortunately, evangelicalism has followed the culture into a mindset of apathy regarding both divorce and remarriage. Both are common within Christianity. Many Christians do not have any convictions about the sinfulness of getting remarried after divorce.
Some Pharisees asked Jesus about divorce. Apparently, it was a hot topic in 1st century Judaism. Jesus stated clearly that remarriage after divorce is adultery. 21st century Christians need to recapture a Biblical outlook regarding this subject.
After traveling through Galilee, Jesus and His disciples entered Capernaum. Jesus taught about being last in order to be first, receiving children, and not being or having a stumbling block.
Mark 10:1 ¶ And standing up, He went from there to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan; crowds gathered around Him again, and, according to His custom, He once more began to teach them.
Judea was the region near the Dead Sea. Statements like “beyond the Jordan” were spoken from the perspective of Jerusalem. In this verse “beyond the Jordan” refers to the area on the other side of the Jordan River from Jerusalem.
It was around 75 miles / 120 km from Capernaum down to the area around the Dead Sea. That journey would have taken at least three days. It would have been mostly an easy journey. They walked down the Jordan River valley which was broad, level, and slightly downhill.
Mark 10:2 ¶ And some Pharisees came up to Jesus, testing Him, and began to question Him whether it was lawful for a man to divorce a wife.
Notice the word “test”. The Pharisees were not interested in learning about divorce, they were trying to discredit Jesus.
Mark 10:3 And He answered and said to them, “What did Moses command you?”
Leviticus 21 contains prohibitions against priests marrying divorced women. Leviticus 22 allowed a priest to help a daughter who was divorced. These provisions acknowledged that divorce was a reality in the Old Testament time period, including when the Israelites left slavery in Egypt.
Mark 10:4 And they said, “Moses permitted a man TO WRITE A CERTIFICATE OF DIVORCE AND SEND her AWAY.”
The reference to a certificate of divorce is found in Deuteronomy 24.
Mark 10:5 But Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote for you this commandment.
Divorce was allowed because of hard hearts. That alone indicates divorce should be discouraged and rare.
Mark 10:6 But from the beginning of creation, God MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE.
Mark 10:7 FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER,
Mark 10:8 AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH; so they are no longer two, but one flesh.
Mark 10:9 What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.”
Jesus taught that divorce is not good. It should be avoided.
Today, we live in a culture where divorce is very common and acceptable. Many Christians have adopted an indifferent attitude about divorce. This should not be. Christians should strive very hard to avoid divorce. God intended marriage to be permanent, and no matter what happens in society, Christians should always have the mentality that we should do everything possible to prevent divorce. We should not be apathetic about it.
Mark 10:10 ¶ And in the house the disciples began questioning Him about this again.
Mark 10:11 And He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her;
Mark 10:12 and if she herself divorces her husband and marries another man, she is committing adultery.”
The Mosaic Law clearly prohibited adultery. That is one of the ten commandments. When Jesus said remarriage after divorce is adultery, His disciples clearly understood that it is wrong.
This is another area where evangelical churches have abandoned Biblical values. Adultery is wrong. Remarriage after divorce is adultery. Thus, getting remarried after getting divorced is wrong.
However, this happens a lot within evangelicalism, and many church members are indifferent to it. They either do not know or do not care that Jesus prohibited remarriage after divorce.
While divorce itself is a necessary evil and not always avoidable, remarriage after divorce is avoidable and should be avoided. Churches need to once again adopt the mindset that remarriage after divorce is adultery; therefore, it is wrong.
Before I move on, I want to acknowledge that Matthew 5 allows remarriage if the divorce was the result of adultery. Mark did not mention that exception so I will not discuss it here.
Mark 10:13 ¶ And they were bringing children to Him so that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked them.
Mark 10:14 But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and said to them, “Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
Mark 10:15 Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.”
Mark 10:16 And He took them in His arms and began blessing them, laying His hands on them.
Mark 10:17 ¶ And as He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and began asking Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
Mark 10:18 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.
Mark 10:19 You know the commandments, ‘DO NOT MURDER, DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, DO NOT STEAL, DO NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS, Do not defraud, HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER.’”
Mark 10:20 And he said to Him, “Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth up.”
Mark 10:21 And looking at him, Jesus loved him and said to him, “One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”
Mark 10:22 But at these words he was saddened, and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property.
This story is perplexing because it appears Jesus was basing salvation on works, or on giving away money. The issue was not giving away money so much as the man’s unwillingness to obey Jesus. Jesus was not saying everyone needs to give away their wealth. Jesus only told this specific man to give away his wealth. Jesus did that because Jesus knew the extent to which this man could not bear to part with his money.
Mark 10:23 ¶ And Jesus, looking around, said to His disciples, “How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!”
Mark 10:24 And the disciples were amazed at His words. But Jesus answered again and said to them, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!
Mark 10:25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
Rich people have many more reasons than poor people to rely on themselves and their possessions rather than rely on God. Poor people have nothing except God.
Mark 10:26 And they were even more astonished, saying to Him, “Then who can be saved?”
Mark 10:27 Looking at them, Jesus said, “With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.”
Divorce and remarriage are very common today, even within Christianity. However, anyone who remarries after getting divorced is committing adultery. Thus, it is wrong.
Divorce is not always avoidable. Sometimes people are in a very bad situation and they need to divorce and get out of it. However, marriage is not something that ever has to happen. Therefore, while the Bible allows divorce, it does not allow remarriage after divorce. The only exception is the one found in Matthew 5.
Many Christians are passive about this topic. They either don’t know or don’t care what the Bible has to say about it. However, since Jesus said remarriage is adultery, this is a topic we cannot be passive about. We need to know what the Bible says. We need to care about this topic. We need to have convictions regarding what Jesus said about divorce and remarriage.
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“Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com.”
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