Teaching About Divorce

 

Mark 10:1-12

 

Teaching About Divorce

“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.”

Two of the men God used to bring me to the understanding of my lack of a relationship with Jesus Christ, were Jim Seed, and Johnny Anderson.  Both of these men had wives that left them because they put Christ first in their lives.  Both men were men of integrity and servants to others, and both hated the stigma of having been divorced.

I understand that often people have no understanding of what love is and marry an image in that the man is handsome or the woman is good looking, one may be wealthy, or they may be clever, only to find out they are not what you thought you were getting.  Most of the time it is the woman that believes she can change the man, but people do not change because you want them to.

One of the biggest reasons for divorce in the Christian Church is one is a follower of Christ and the other is not.  But the main reason is what Jesus told the Pharisees; “Because of your hardness of heart, he wrote you this commandment. Jesus is referring to Moses and the question He asks about the Law.  I’ cannot explain how blessed I am to be married to a lady like Jan, she is the love of my life, and it all because of Jesus Christ.  It was years before I learned to love her, I was often harsh with her, yet I believe I was in the right.  But Jesus and God the Father have shown me what love is and today I would do anything for my bride of almost 55 years.  

I’m aware that the reason Jesus is hated by many in the USA and all who are His followers is that He has made clear what marriage is, and it is only between a man and a woman.   He also tells us that divorce is wrong, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her, and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”

Now both of the men I talked about remarried, and they did not bring adultery into the marriage, for their wives divorce them.  One is dead, the other is very much alive and married to a godly lady.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice