We'll go with that.
Good evening, church.
Let's turn to Mark 10, verses 1 to 16.
In the words of the priest from the princess bride,
marriage is what brings us to Geza tonight.
It's page 845.
And it goes as follows.
And he left there and went to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan.
And crowds gathered to him again.
And again, as was his custom, he taught them.
And Pharisees came up.
And in order to test him, asked,
Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?
He answered them,
What did Moses command you?
They said,
Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and to send her away.
And Jesus said to them,
Because of your hardness of heart, he wrote you this commandment.
But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female.
Therefore, a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife,
and the two shall become one flesh.
So they are no longer two, but one flesh.
What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.
And in the house, the disciples asked him again about this matter.
And he said to them,
Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her.
And if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.
And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them.
And the disciples rebuked them.
But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them,
Let the children come to me.
Do not hinder them.
For to such belongs the kingdom of God.
Truly, I say to you,
Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.
And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them.
Let's pray.
Heavenly Father, I thank you for this time that you have allowed us to gather in worship.
Lord, I ask that as the word goes forth that you bless it,
that you soften the hearts of the hearers.
Lord, by your spirit, continue to shape each of us into the image of your son.
As we seek to obey what you tell us to do, Lord.
I pray these things in the name of your son, Jesus Christ,
and by the power of your Holy Spirit.
Amen.
So, in going through the book of Mark,
we've been keeping an eye on who Christ is
and what it means for us to follow him.
In these few verses,
we get some specific teachings
and some specific guidelines.
Not only what it means to follow him,
but how to do it.
He does that in chapter 10 by reversing expectations.
Two statements.
The two shall become one,
and adults are to be as children.
When we dive into chapter 10,
we see the Pharisees trying to trap Jesus.
Verse 2.
And the Pharisees came up in order to test him,
and they asked him,
is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?
So, what is this trap?
The first thing we're going to have to learn about
is what Jewish people were talking about
in this divorce issue.
There are essentially two camps.
One would say that a man can divorce his wife
for any cause whatsoever,
even if she burns his food.
The other would say
that divorce can only take place for a serious offense.
Specifically, premarital sex would be one of them.
So, Jesus seemingly has two options.
He could answer yes,
but if he answers yes,
he's going to be vocally aligning himself with one party,
and members of the other party could stir up opposition.
But if he says no,
he could be accused of trying to negate the law of Moses,
which is not on the list of best things to do
in front of Jewish authorities.
So, all things considered,
the Pharisees have got him.
Jesus is backed into a corner
with nowhere to turn, right?
Oh, no.
Jesus does not fall into that trap.
Instead, he digs right to the heart of the issue.
What the Pharisees meant as a political maneuver,
Jesus uses as an opportunity
to reveal to us the divine intention of marriage.
As with all of Jesus' teachings,
we get a glimpse into the mind of God.
What does he say?
Well, he begins by turning the question back on the Pharisees.
He says,
What did Moses command you?
They respond with their understanding of Deuteronomy 24,
that Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce
and to send her away.
But why did Moses allow that?
According to Jesus,
it was because of their hardness of heart.
Note Jesus' consistency in tone and focus.
The questions posed are general.
Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?
Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce
and to send her away.
But Jesus' response is personal.
What did Moses command you?
He gave this commandment because of your hardness of heart.
You can feel the Pharisees squirming.
First of all, he's saying
that the general teaching on divorce
is neither ideal
nor is it indicative of God's purpose for marriage.
Like much of the Mosaic law,
while it is good and holy,
it's not the fullness of God's will for his people.
In essence, the talking about divorce
is an allowance made
because of Israel's and our sinful hardness of heart.
Too often we, like the Jewish people
of Jesus' time and before,
see divorce as an unfortunate occurrence,
but one that is necessary
when we fall out of love
or find ourselves having irreconcilable differences.
But that's not the paradigm that Jesus is setting here.
His teaching is clear from the next few verses,
starting in verse 6.
But from the beginning of creation,
God made them male and female.
Therefore, a man shall leave his father and mother
and hold fast to his wife,
and the two shall become one flesh.
So they are no longer two, but one flesh.
What therefore God has joined together,
let no man separate.
One can imagine Jesus hitting the Pharisees
with this statement
and dropping the proverbial microphone.
What began as an attempted trap
actually results in an accusation
and the invoking of divine authority.
I want us to catch what he's just said.
The central idea of Christ's statement
is that marriage is a divinely ordained institution.
The agent in these verses is God.
God created us male and female.
When it says that the man shall hold fast to his wife,
that's a passive verb.
The man will be joined to his wife,
presumably by God.
In saying that the two are no longer two,
but one flesh,
Christ declares God's intention
for marriage is permanence.
The divine pairing of the vows
and sexual consummation in marriage
seals the deal.
This is not a thing that you just get into
because, well, we've been dating for a while
and it's the logical next step.
If you're going to get into this,
you better be good and sure you're in it for life.
Till death do you part.
Christ puts the lid on this in verse 9
when he says,
what God has joined together,
let not man separate.
The contrast made here is between God
and what God has done
and man and what man seeks to do.
Seeking to separate what God has joined?
Do we see the perversity in that?
Do we see that this is literally
the tearing of a one flesh union?
This is why the halls of divorce courts
are the most miserable halls of a courthouse.
This is the scriptural reason
for the fact that the three most stressful events
in a person's life,
according to the American Institute of Stress,
are the death of a spouse first,
which is God breaking the union,
and divorce and marital separation
in spots two and three.
What takes place in a divorce
is not that two people disagree
and peacefully go their separate ways.
What God has joined,
man has sought to separate.
And chances are,
we have all,
in one way or another,
suffered the effects of that trauma.
Desiree and I,
over winter break,
got into watching
My Strange Addiction on TLC.
It's a show where individuals
suffer from strange,
often dangerous,
compulsive behaviors,
like eating couch cushions
or drinking gasoline
or bathing in bleach.
Just all kinds of ridiculous things.
But there are three major reasons
why these behaviors started.
It could have been
the death of a family member.
It could have been sexual
or physical abuse.
But the most common one
was divorce of their parents.
As children witnessing
the breaking of a covenant,
something inside them snapped.
Witnessing what is essentially portrayed
as decapitation scripturally,
the separation of the husband as head
from the wife as body,
is not something that anyone
walks away from without scars.
Of course,
this does not elevate divorce
to some kind of unforgivable sin level.
In all such situations,
Christ reaches out
when we turn to him in repentance.
When he met the woman at the well
in John 4
and referred to her past five husbands
and the current man that she lived with
who was not her husband,
he still offered her living water.
But I hope we see from this
that divorce is not to be taken lightly.
Ideally,
it ought not even be a Christian option.
But how in the world do we do that?
When the disciples hear these words in Matthew,
they respond saying,
if such is the case of a man with his wife,
it's better not to marry.
How can married couples,
specifically Christian married couples,
uphold that standard?
And no remarriage?
Doesn't that seem unnecessarily restrictive?
Not just that,
what about single people?
All this talk about marriage
seems to be leaving them out, right?
Well,
let's see why this leads into a discussion of children.
Verses 13 through 16.
And they were bringing children to him
that he might touch them,
and the disciples rebuked them.
But when Jesus saw it,
he was indignant and said to them,
let the children come to me,
do not hinder them,
for to such belongs the kingdom of God.
Truly I say to you,
whoever does not receive the kingdom of God
like a child
shall not enter it.
So after saying these things about divorce,
people are bringing their children to Jesus,
and the disciples shoo the children away.
After all, they're children,
and this is the Messiah.
I mean, Jesus just,
two chapters ago,
Jesus just came down off of a mountain,
having been transformed
with radiant, blazingly white clothes.
Surely Jesus has better things to do
than deal with snot-nosed kids.
As Pastor Greg pointed out last week,
children are helpless,
needy,
and they make a mess all the time.
Surely Jesus doesn't have time for them, right?
Again, wrong.
Jesus got mad at the disciples
for pushing them away.
And he got mad because the disciples,
as is often their problem,
especially in the book of Mark,
don't get it.
And they don't get it
in the same way that we often don't get it.
They don't understand
that to enter into the kingdom of God,
in order to be able to do
what Christ tells us to do,
what he desires us to do,
we must receive the kingdom of God
as a child would.
We must be like children.
So what does that mean?
I can tell you what it doesn't mean.
It's not a reference to innocence.
We've got a cultural understanding
of children as innocent creatures
that's unhelpful
and unbiblical.
And I'm sure that anyone here
who has children
can back me up when I say,
well,
just from, you know,
studying the habits of babies,
that babies are little selfish monsters.
Gifts from God, of course,
according to Psalm 127,
a heritage from the Lord,
but from birth,
we know their and our sinful nature.
Crying and whining to get what you want,
willful disobedience,
no care for whether the parents are sleeping,
or the fact that it's four o'clock in the morning
and the baby's woken you up
every 45 minutes.
That doesn't sound innocent to me.
So what is Christ saying here?
He's saying that we, like children,
must act in continuous dependence
on our loving Father.
This goes back to what Greg said last week
about children.
They're helpless, needy,
and they make a mess all the time.
Is that not us?
Are we not helpless when we face situations
that we can't control and don't understand?
Are we not constantly needy?
Do we not make constant messes,
whether in our relationships
or in our personal lives?
But the advantage that we have
is that, as John says,
to all who received Christ,
who believed in his name,
he gave the right to become children of God.
To receive the kingdom of God as a child
is to live a life
where you consistently remind yourself
of your dependence on the power,
love, and support
of your heavenly Father.
To go back to this portrayal as children,
when we soil ourselves in sin,
it is the Father who cleans us up.
As a matter of fact,
that's why he sent his son.
His son got down and dirty,
sharing with us our experiences of pain,
hunger, and thirst,
and ultimately being brutally tortured,
humiliated, and killed.
But he did that to save us.
He did that because we were helpless
to save ourselves.
And by that sacrifice,
he reminds us,
as he says in John 15, 5,
apart from me,
you can do nothing.
So how does this help us
with the preceding scripture
about marriage and divorce?
Well, it's a reminder
of our dependence
on our loving Father
for the strength and resolve
to consistently do
what he wants us to do.
When you get two sinful people
into a marriage,
which is every marriage,
a deep, profound,
and intensely personal relationship,
stuff gets real complicated
and real messy real fast.
But this is at its core
a question of discipleship.
We need to consistently
remind ourselves
of the grace and forgiveness
that he shows us
when we repent
so that we can show
that same grace and forgiveness
to our spouses.
We must remember
the love that he showed us
so that we can show
that same love to our spouses.
We must remember,
believe in,
and meditate on his death
so that the husband and wife
in Christian marriage
can die continually
to themselves
for one another.
We don't get married
for self-actualization.
We don't get married
to foist our own selfishness
on another person
demanding that they satisfy us
or we roll out.
Therefore,
they are no longer two,
but one.
What God has joined,
let no man separate.
Christian marriage
is meant to exemplify
Christ's relationship
with the church.
Permanent,
uniting,
divinely ordained,
and beautiful.
And that's where
I want us to end.
The beauty.
Paul calls marriage
a mystery
that refers to
Christ's relationship
with the church.
Now,
when we hear
the word mystery,
we think a whodunit
or something that's
mysterious,
inaccessible,
out in the ether somewhere
and we'll never figure out
what it's about.
That's not,
that's not how mysteries
function in scripture.
When we see a mystery
in the New Testament,
it refers to something
that we couldn't have
figured out
but something that God
had to reveal.
In many cases,
it's something hinted at
in the Old Testament
and more fully revealed
in the New.
The meaning of marriage
is just such a mystery.
So,
married people,
how is your marriage
to image Christ's
relationship with the church?
The constant
self-sacrificial love
that is the cornerstone
of your relationship
with Christ,
the fact that he died
for you
when you were still
his enemy,
that is to be
the defining factor
of your marriage.
That dynamic
empowered by the Holy Spirit
is the glorious glue
that holds you together.
It has its unique challenges
but it also has
its unique rewards.
The world needs to see that
and our church
needs to see that.
Now,
for the single,
to the engaged
like myself,
this seems perhaps
like an exaltation
of human marriage
above all else.
So,
here's another secret.
Jewish marriage
came in three stages.
First,
the couple would get engaged
which would be a contract
to marry each other
at a future time.
The next step
would be betrothal
where the couple
is considered
legally married
but they don't have
conjugal rights yet.
The bride lives
with her parents
while the bridegroom
goes to prepare
a place for her.
Some of you can already
see where this is going.
The last stage
of the marriage
is the actual
wedding feast
after which the couple
consummates their marriage.
One could see
the gospel work
in three stages as well.
Christ has been
promised to us
from the Old Testament,
we might say,
from the law
and the prophets.
In his death
and his resurrection,
he has secured us
legally,
but we don't quite
have conjugal rights yet,
so to speak.
Paul says in Romans
3, 21 to 25,
But now the righteousness
of God has been
manifested apart
from the law,
although the law
and the prophets
bear witness to it.
The righteousness
of God through faith
in Jesus Christ
for all who believe.
For there is no distinction,
for all have sinned
and fallen short
of the glory of God
and are justified
by his grace
as a gift
through the redemption
that is in Christ Jesus,
whom God put forth
as a propitiation
by his blood
to be received
by faith.
This redemption
in Christ Jesus,
whom God put forward
as an atoning sacrifice
for our sin,
when we receive it
by faith,
we are declared
just.
That's what justified
means for us.
By faith,
we are legally declared
not guilty,
not on our own merit,
but on the all-sufficient
merit of our Lord
Jesus Christ.
All of that is to say,
as the betrothed spouse
is legally married,
so have we been
legally acquired
by our heavenly bridegroom.
And as Christians,
we eagerly await
to be reunited
to our Lord
and to enjoy
his presence
for eternity.
As single Christians,
we have a unique opportunity
for, as Paul says,
undistracted devotion
to the Lord.
And I assure you,
Christ has more for you
in his person
than any other person
on this earth.
You see,
human marriage
is meant to be permanent
as long as both parties
are alive.
But when we die,
that's actually
when the real feast begins.
That's the real marriage
that we're a part of.
As Christians,
by faith
and by utter grace,
we have entered
into this marriage.
And it's the Holy Spirit's
cooperative work with us
that's basically
just wedding prep.
sanctification is just that.
Preparing ourselves
and being prepared
for our wondrous bridegroom.
Marriage is what
brings us together.
But not just human marriage.
We're talking about
the marriage
that we have
with our Lord and Savior,
Jesus Christ.
And as Christians,
regardless of our
marital state,
that is the reality
that should animate us
and excite us,
motivating us
to live the lives
that God commands us
to live through Christ
and enables us to live
by His Holy Spirit.
Let's pray.
Heavenly Father,
we thank you for
purchasing us
with a price.
Lord,
all of us have
sinned and fallen
short of your glory.
But Lord,
by faith,
when we take hold
of Christ's sacrifice,
we know that
when you look at us,
you no longer see
us and all of our flaws
and all of our
constant sin, Lord,
but we have been washed
by the blood of Christ.
Lord,
I pray for all those
present here
that you continue
to wash them,
continue to forgive
each and every one of us
as we continue
to struggle
in this age
that we're currently in.
But Lord,
I ask that you continue
to prepare each
and every one of us
for that glorious
wedding feast
that we have
to look forward to.
Lord,
for the married couples,
bless their unions.
Lord,
remind them
that their marriage
is an image
of Christ
and the church.
And as Christ
would not leave
His church,
I pray that
that same commitment
is present
in each of the marriages
here, Lord.
For the single Christians
here, Lord,
I pray that
I pray that our devotion
to the Lord
continue to grow.
That for all of us
our relationship
with you
is first and foremost.
Lord,
I pray these things
in the name of
your Son,
Jesus Christ,
and by the power
of your Holy Spirit.
Amen.
So,
after every
sermon
in the evening service,
sorry,
you can be seated.
I'm sorry,
that was my fault.
So,
after every
evening service,
we have
a question
and answer
portion.
So,
you may ask
whatever question
you wish.
It can be about
the passage,
it can be about
anything that came up
over the course
of the sermon,
anything at all.
Yes,
yes.
Yes.
I was commanded to,
that's what I,
but,
but second part?
Okay,
so,
first of all,
why this one?
As I said,
I was commanded to.
This was the weekend
that Desiree was going
to be in town.
I had chosen
another week.
I told her that.
She said she was going
to be in town this week,
so I'd better be
preaching that week.
And it just happens
to be the weekend
of Valentine's Day,
which is also
a sermon on divorce,
so it's just like,
okay,
I guess this is happening.
As for how it's,
as for how it's affected
me,
going into,
so,
so going into,
you know,
proposing and going
into the engagement
and all that,
my first,
my first emotion
has always been
excitement
and anticipation.
As I've continued
to do this,
specifically doing this,
doing this kind of prep,
it was sobering for me
in seeing what,
what Christ says
marriage is.
Ideally,
in,
in it being the picture,
in it being the picture
of Christ's relationship
with the church,
like,
that's a,
that's a really,
really big deal.
It's made me really
even more excited,
but it's,
but,
but that excitement
is also,
it's present with
a very,
very deep soberness
about the,
just,
just the,
just the magnanimity
of the,
of the institution
that I'm in,
that I'm entering into.
But for me,
what's been really important
for me,
and this is what
initially prompted me
to,
to propose,
was essentially
when the Lord
revealed to me
that the,
that,
that the two of us
would bring more glory
to him together
than apart from one another.
And at that,
and at that point
I was like,
okay,
well I just gotta buy this ring
and go ahead and do this.
So,
at that point,
there it was.
But,
but,
but this,
but this preparation process
has,
it's,
it's sobered me,
it's sobered me deeply.
As I,
as I,
as I think about the commitment
that I'm gonna make
and 160 days.
Yeah.
What's that?
Uh.
Main Wohn-
Mm-hmm.
Does marriage have any meaning?
I think, and I think this comes from,
it comes from, I mean, what Christ says in Mark,
and also what Paul says in Ephesians,
but I think that we as Christians
must be willing to stand on the fact
that marriage does have meaning.
And I think we have to stand on that
because it's a model of Christ's relationship
with the church.
And so as such, that's not something
that we can sacrifice.
And I really think that the burden
is really on us specifically
because God has told us what marriage is about.
And so as such, the marriages in the church,
that's something that we have to be willing to commit to.
A knowledge that when I enter into this,
I'm entering into something
that is to represent Christ's relationship
with the church.
So in that sense, yes,
marriage absolutely does have meaning.
And I think that we as the church
have a unique responsibility
to really be an image of that.
Because, I mean, I deeply believe
that it's only by the power of the Holy Spirit
that marriage can be as beautiful
as God meant for it to be.
And so, and we as the body of Christ
have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us.
And so I think that's something
that we need to consistently uphold.
Yeah.
What is the best way to cut this path
on people that are divorced to take this path?
Yeah.
Sure, sure, sure.
So what is the,
or what's the best thing for couples
who are divorced to deal with this passage?
So one of the things,
and this is,
I mean, Paul talks about this too,
but the message of it is
that there are essentially two things,
two things to do if you are divorced.
You either remain unmarried
or you're reconciled to your husband.
One of the things that,
and I think this is another thing
that I think the church needs to be
really adamant about
is that the single life is not
a torturous,
unsustainable life.
It's,
and I,
and I tried to,
I tried to touch on this
a little bit in the sermon,
but the single,
the single person as single
has a,
has a unique opportunity
to image Christ's relationship
with the church.
And so,
and so both options,
whether it is remaining unmarried
or,
or being reconciled,
or being,
or being reconciled to your spouse,
in both situations,
there is,
there is an image of Christ
in the church
that you are to,
that,
that we're to shine forth.
And in,
and in all those cases,
we always seek reconciliation
as the first,
as,
as the first option.
But sometimes that's,
sometimes that doesn't,
that doesn't work out.
But our commitment to the Lord
is first,
is first and foremost.
And so that's,
that's the,
that's the response to that.
But one of,
but,
but also as I said,
I don't want it to seem like
divorce is some kind of
unforgivable sin that like,
if you're,
if you're divorced,
we kick you out of the church
and we're no longer fellowship with you.
That's,
that's absolutely not
the way that we,
the way that we ever want to,
want to approach it.
As I was saying,
you know,
it's a,
it's a painful,
it's a deeply,
deeply painful process.
And we as the church
should be willing to come up,
to come alongside one another
through that,
through that pain,
praying for one another.
So.
Yeah,
Matt.
Yeah,
so why don't you touch on
just in your answer,
but our society
gives us a lot of
bad,
I mean,
we have good,
you know,
examples like this sermon
and God's words
tell us what a good marriage is,
but at that same time
we have our society,
you know,
bombarding us
with also,
you know,
their own marriage
of what marriage is like.
Yeah.
For example,
if you see on a new television show,
you look at a marriage,
it's usually the woman
who's calling this out
to the man
who just says there,
like,
yes,
David,
yes,
whatever you say.
there,
you know,
the law is good.
And the legalistic things
are not the law,
but what you should expect
and,
you know,
there's nothing
to do wrong with it.
And then,
on the flip side,
you know,
the church is not necessarily,
I mean,
I think it's better
at doing this,
but at the same time
as you were just talking about,
you know,
the church can,
especially certain churches
can really crush it,
but if you're not married,
you're somehow
a second class,
you know,
Christian type thing
or certain notions about marriage
can be messed up as well.
So, can you comment
on some of those things
and just how, you know,
what are the lies and pitfalls
that perhaps crashed through
your own personal,
your most commonly called
religious subjections.
It's up to you.
Sure.
Oh.
Traps that we are particularly
parallel.
Oh.
No, I want to do this.
No, this is, no,
I want to do this.
Yeah.
It was kind of, okay.
Okay.
I'll express an iteration of it.
So, I'll say, okay,
so like what is,
we'll say,
what's a big,
what's a big danger
that we'll say
that the church can fall into
when it comes to,
we'll say specific,
just marriage.
Let's just say
a danger to fall into
when it comes to conceiving of it,
preaching it,
whatever.
We'll do that.
Okay.
So, I think,
so we'll,
I'll just,
I'll just pick one
because there's all this stuff.
One is that,
that second class citizen thing
that you were,
that you were talking about before.
Because it's funny
when Paul,
when Paul is talking
to the Corinthians,
when you get all that,
you know,
it's,
it's better to marry
than to burn
and all that,
all that,
all that kind of stuff.
He's speaking to them
where marriage is seen
as a bad,
seen as a bad thing.
It's like,
you just don't,
don't do it.
To which his response is,
no,
it's a good thing.
While I would like you all
to be single
because then you could be like me
and you could have this
undistracted devotion
to the Lord,
I understand that there,
that,
that not everyone is gifted in that,
that not everyone is gifted
in that way.
Christ essentially says that
in the parallel passage
in Matthew 19
where he says that there are some,
there are some who have been eunuchs
from birth,
some who have been made,
some who were made eunuchs
by men
and some who have made themselves eunuchs
for the,
for the sake of the kingdom of heaven.
But,
the thing is,
and some,
and something that I,
that I,
that I wanted to emphasize here
is that
the single,
the single life
and the married life,
both of them have their,
have their,
have their unique challenges
and both have,
and both have unique benefits.
There are things that,
there are things that,
are much easier for single people
than for married people.
Things that are much easier
for married people
than for single people.
And so,
one of the things
that the church,
one of the ways
that the church
can live that out
is by married people offering hospitality to single people
and single people offering hospitality to married people.
There's a capacity of time and flexibility that single people have
that married people don't.
There are resources that married people have
that single people don't have access to.
And if we're to be truly, I mean, as the body of Christ,
that's something that we should be willing to support one another in.
And single people, pray for the marriages in the church.
Because if this is meant to be an image of Christ in the church,
this is something that requires constant prayer.
And married people, pray for the single people in the congregation.
Because there are deep, deep, deep, intense struggles
that go on in the single person's mind.
Even whether it's dealing with kind of unchecked,
in some cases, just unchecked selfishness.
Because when you're on your own, you know,
I can do whatever I want in my apartment.
I don't know, like nobody knows.
And so, but that's dangerous.
And so there's a support in both arenas that needs to happen, I think.
Yeah.
Hi, Mindy.
Why does Moses allow the Lord?
Why?
Why does Moses allow the Lord?
Good.
Good, good, good.
So the question is, it's a difference between
what does Moses command and what does Moses permit?
So the commandment is whoever divorces,
like basically, like the commandment is never,
there is never a command to divorce in scripture.
Never a command to divorce.
Never a command, if someone does this, divorce them.
No.
The command is whoever divorces his wife
must write her a certificate of divorce.
Which is to say that it's an issue of justice.
If you marry, if you marries,
if a man were to marry a woman
and then just put her out on the street,
she would be utterly defenseless.
The certificate of divorce would allow,
would essentially allow her to remarry,
which is like, it's a safety,
it's a safety issue.
And so one of, so that's kind of one of the,
I think that's one of the things
that Jesus was referring to when he says,
he did this because of your hardness of heart.
It was because it's like, why would you put,
why would you, first of all,
why would you divorce your wife is the idea.
Because that's not what marriage was meant.
Marriage was never meant to have this kind of thing.
But the commandment to give a certificate of divorce
was specifically, you know,
to maintain that justice
so that women wouldn't be, you know,
left out defenseless.
But what Jesus is essentially doing here is he's,
I mean, he's showing us,
he's showing us the way that it's supposed to be.
And in that next part that we see about children,
he's giving us how that's supposed to happen.
He gives us the Holy Spirit
so that this can be a reality.
And I think that's,
I think that's where,
I think that's where we need to focus our attention.
Yeah.
But then it said in Mark that
if you are divorced,
you're not going to be there.
In other words,
if you're a certificate of divorce,
doesn't make a person safe
by allowing them to marry
and it has to be not.
Right.
So this is the,
and this is him dealing with,
there are a number of Jewish,
there are a number of Jewish schools at the time,
going back and forth about what this means,
who can divorce,
who can,
all that kind of stuff.
But if you look at just Jesus' response to the question,
where the question is,
is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?
It just seems that his answer,
if you had to choose between yes or no,
it just seems that his answer would be no.
In which case,
that,
this,
this is,
this is not even a thing that he,
that he wants Christians to even deal with.
The,
the answer,
the,
the question of the,
the question of the certificate
was an issue.
I mean,
that was,
it was an,
it was an issue for the Jewish people at the time.
And,
and it was,
let me think of the best.
Yeah,
I think that,
I,
I mean,
I really think the best,
I think,
I really think the best way to approach that is just that.
Christ,
Christ in his statement is saying,
this is not the way,
this is not the way that it's been,
that that it's been meant to,
that it's been meant to be.
All,
all those things that he was saying about a certificate of divorce
and all those things were allowances
because of their,
because of their hardness of heart.
But now,
in the church,
he's,
and now that he's been resurrected,
ascended,
and sent the,
and sent the Holy Spirit,
there's a new,
there's a new capacity for us to be able to do
what he's,
what he's commanded us to do.
So.
Okay.
And,
and I'll be,
I'll be around.
We can still continue this conversation.
Thanks,
guys.
Bye.
Thank you.