Rules, Rules, Rules

These are some thoughts on this Sunday's gospel that I shared electronically with the people of St. Timothy Lutheran Church. 

Gospel: Mark 10:2-16

2Some Pharisees came, and to test [Jesus] they asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” 3He answered them, “What did Moses command you?” 4They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her.” 5But Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote this commandment for you. 6But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ 7‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, 8and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

  10Then in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. 11He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; 12and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”

  13People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them. 14But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. 15Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.” 16And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them.

Rules, rules, rules. Has Jesus just laid down another rule for us? I’m not a fan of divorce, but it certainly isn’t the worst thing in the world and there are times when it can be good thing. But is that the real issue? Remember that the Pharisees were testing Jesus, trying to trick him and trip him up. Jesus’ response was to this one specific question and as usual, he turned everything upside down. 

In that day, in Jewish culture, a woman could not divorce her husband, whereas, the husband could divorce his wife for no good reason at all. When Jesus is alone with his disciples, he speaks of of a woman divorcing her husband. He has changed the paradigm! 

Then when it comes to children, remember that in that time, they were not valued. What Jesus does is again overturn the paradigm of the time stating that the kingdom of God belongs to the undervalued and those on the margins of society. These are the ones Jesus blessed. 

So, is this passage really about divorce and children, maybe somewhat, but I think that Jesus is drawing us to the bigger picture, that women and children are accepted and valued, not dismissed as inferior to adult men. Let’s think about how we shall value those that others look down upon. 

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