Genesis
2:7-8,18-24, Hebrews 2:9-11, Mark 10:2-16
- on the Gospel - Jesus'
Teaching on Divorce
Some
Pharisees came to Jesus, and to test him they asked, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his
wife?" (Mark 10:2). What is going on here? Why is it a
test? Well, to start with, the Pharisee never had any doubts about the
dissolubility of marriage. The Law of Moses took the lawfulness of divorce and
remarriage for granted and all the Pharisees accepted that. It says:
If a man takes a wife, and after they are married she is
unpleasing to him because of something objectionable in her, let him give her a
statement in writing and send her away from his house. And when she has gone
away from him, she may become another man's wife. (Deuteronomy
24:1-2)
The
only disagreement among the various schools of the Pharisees was: What is the
meaning of this "something objectionable" that a husband would find
in his wife to justify divorce? The conservative school of Rabbi Shammai said
it meant only a case of scandal, like adultery. The liberal school of Rabbi
Hillel said it meant any case of annoyance, "even if she has burned his
supper." And the even more liberal school of Rabbi Aqiba said that the
woman did not have to be guilty of anything in particular; that the man simply
no longer fancied her was enough reason for divorce. This was a trap because if
Jesus took sides with one school of thought, he would antagonise himself with
the others.
In
reply Jesus went above the law as given in Deuteronomy to the mind of God as
revealed in Genesis. He went from the law of Moses to the plan of God in
creation. From the beginning of creation, he said, God ordained husband and
wife to live in unity. "Therefore
what God has joined together, let no one separate" (Mark
10:9).
Jesus'
reply underlines two important points. First point, Jesus treats the woman as a
person. Some earlier Jewish tradition regarded the woman more or less as
property of the man to be disposed of at will. In fact, here for the first time
in Jewish literature we hear not just of the man divorcing the woman but also
of the woman taking the initiative to divorce the man (verse 12). Jesus treats
the woman as a legal person of equal standing with the man. Second point, Jesus
is interested in teaching not legal statements but moral principles. They asked
him whether divorce was permissible, his reply was that the mind of God is for
husband and wife never to divorce. The asked him about what was lawful, he told
them what was best for them. They asked him about a legal position and he told
them the divine provision. They asked what was possible and he told them what
was the ideal. They asked what they could do or not do and he told them they
should always aim at. They asked about what was lawful and he taught them what
was best for them. For in Christ "All
things are lawful, but not all things are helpful. All things are lawful, but
not all things build up" (1 Corinthians 10:23).
With
this ideal in mind Jesus reinterprets the Mosaic provision that a man could
divorce his wife by giving her a letter of divorce. In intent, it was not a
permission to divorce. It was rather Moses making allowance for the people's
"hardness of heart." This implies that Moses knew the divine ideal
for husband and wife and still did not enforce it but rather made room for the
shortcomings of his people. In fact, viewed against its cultural background,
the provision to divorce with a letter was not to facilitate separation of
husband and wife but to protect the indissolubility of marriage.
What
form of divorce did the Hebrews practice before Moses gave them the law? It was
probably the same "triple express" rule that obtained among their
Semitic neighbours, whereby a woman was considered divorced if her husband
pronounced a divorce formula three times in the presence of two male witnesses.
By oral statement alone a divorce could be concluded in an instant in a fit of
anger. But requiring a letter of divorce in a culture where only the temple
priests could read and write meant that a divorce process could take months to
conclude. This would give the couple time to sleep over it, and friends and
family members to mediate and resolve the conflict. The demand for a letter of
divorce saved many marriages that would have ended in a hasty divorce in the
old "triple express" system.
Popular
understanding of this story comes more from the later version in Matthew's
Gospel than from the earlier version in Mark. As a result, it is important to
underline these three points. (1) The exceptive clause that we find in Matthew
19:9, to the effect that a man could divorce his wife on the grounds of
"unchastity" is not found in Mark, or in Luke either. Jesus was more
interested in teaching the ideals of marriage as indissoluble, not in offering
practical legislation. (2) Jesus did not condemn the separation of husband and
wife, what he condemned was divorce and remarriage. Sometimes it might be
necessary for people in dysfunctional and abusive marriage relationships to
walk away from the marriage so long as they continue to consider themselves
married to their first partners and do not attempt to remarry. (3) If one
entered into a marriage without sufficient knowledge or consent, or discovers
that one of the partners was incapable of living a married life, he or she
could file for annulment and the Church would re-examine the case and declare
whether the marriage was valid or void from the beginning. If the marriage is
found to be invalid from the beginning, it is declared null and void and the
partners might be free to enter into new marriage relationships. The Church
does not consider separation or annulment divorce.
In
our world today, where Christian marriage and family is in crisis, it is
important for us believers to understand and uphold what Jesus taught about
marriage, even if we might fall short of the ideal in our own personal lives.
- on the Epistle - Perfected Through Suffering
We do see Jesus, who for a little while was made lower
than the angels, now crowned with glory and honour because of the suffering of
death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. 10 It was
fitting that God, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many
children to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through
sufferings.
(Hebrews 2:9-10)
The
saying that Jesus was made perfect through suffering can be misleading. Some
Christians have inferred from this verse that self-inflicted suffering or pain is
good. As a result, this verse has been invoked to justify self-flagellation and
other forms of self-punishment. Whatever the merits of such self-imposed
disciplinary measures, the author of Hebrews is making a different point here.
One
reason why we misunderstand the statement that Jesus was made perfect through
suffering is the understanding of perfection that we bring to the text. We
often come to the text with a Greek philosophical understanding of perfection,
where to be perfect means to be ideal in every respect, to be altogether
excellent, to be absolutely free from any flaw or defect. The Hebrew
understanding of perfection, which is behind the Epistle to the Hebrews, is
somewhat different. In this Hebrew understanding, to be perfect means to be ideally
suited for a particular purpose. Here perfection is understood as relative to
an end, and not absolute as in Greek thought. Therefore, the statement that
Jesus was made perfect through suffering should be understood as saying that on
account of what he suffered, Jesus became ideally suited for the purpose for
which he came, namely, to be "the pioneer of our salvation" (verse
10). Here is a story to illustrate how suffering made Jesus the ideal architect
of our salvation.
A
man put up a sign in front of his house that read: "Puppies for
Sale." Soon after, a young boy came in to inquire. "Please,
Mister," he said, "I'd like to buy one of your puppies if they don't
cost too much." "Well, son, they're $25."
The boy looked crushed. "I've only got two dollars and five cents. Could I
see them anyway?" "Of course. Maybe we can work something out,"
said the man. The lad's eyes danced at the sight of those five little balls of
fur. "I heard that one has a bad leg," he said. "Yes, I'm afraid
she'll be crippled for life." "Well, that's the puppy I want. Could I
pay for her a little at a time?" The man responded, "But she'll
always have a limp." Smiling bravely, the boy pulled up one pant leg,
revealing a brace. "I don't walk good either." Then, looking at the
puppy sympathetically, he continued, "I guess she'll need a lot of love
and help. I sure did. It's not so easy being crippled." "Here, take
her," said the man. "I know you'll give her a good home. And just
forget the money."
In
this story we see a young lad who has been made perfect to be the ideal
caregiver of the crippled puppy through what he suffered, namely his personal
handicap. Because he has experienced lameness, he is now in the best position
to understand and help the lame puppy. In the same way, Christ, by embracing
the human condition and experiencing the hardships, weaknesses and temptations
of human life, became the perfect candidate to help us along the way of
salvation. "For we
do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but
we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin"
(Hebrews 4:15).
This
is good news for us struggling sinners. Sometimes, we are tempted to despair,
like Judas, thinking that our Lord, Jesus will not understand and forgive us
after we have betrayed him once again. But he will understand and he will
forgive if, like Peter, we refuse to give up on ourselves. The Letter to the
Hebrews leaves us, then, with these words of encouragement, "Let us therefore approach the throne
of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in
time of need" (Hebrews 4:16). When last did you approach
God's throne of grace with confidence to receive the mercy you need in your
sinfulness and the grace you need in your weakness?
Wow. I always check on you before I preach
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