Mark 10:2-13 KJV
And the Pharisees came to him, and asked him, Is
it lawful for a man to put away his wife? tempting him.
And he answered and said unto them, What did
Moses command you?
And they said, Moses suffered to write a bill of
divorcement, and to put her away.
And Jesus answered and said unto them, For the
hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept.
But from the beginning of the creation God made
them male and female.
For this cause shall a man leave his father and
mother, and cleave to his wife;
And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they
are no more twain, but one flesh.
What therefore God hath joined together, let not
man put asunder.
And in the house his disciples asked him again
of the same matter.
And he saith unto them, Whosoever shall put away
his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her.
And if a woman shall put away her husband, and
be married to another, she committeth adultery.
And they brought young children to him, that he
should touch them: and his disciples rebuked those that brought them.
Even two
thousand years ago people were trying to excuse divorce. The Pharisees
instinctively knew divorce was a negative thing and thus their questioning the
Lord concerning it. Still, they sought their excuse.
The Lord's
response must be taken in context. He was not reversing Moses and the Law but
rather giving it perspective. Hearts are hard still today and so still today
divorces happen. Because of the grace of God divorce, though always tragic, may
be recovered from. Some of the greatest Christians I know, and some of the
happiest, have been through a divorce and a remarriage. Praise God for such
grace.
But this is
neither justification nor an excuse for divorce. Jesus said that divorce is
not the original plan of God and bears consequences that may not be reversed.
Because of the grace of God, there is a provision for the hardness of the human
heart but the follower of Christ will seek a new heart and not an excuse for
his old one.
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