The 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time, October 3, 2021

Mark 10:2–16

The Pharisees approached Jesus and asked, “Is it lawful for a husband to divorce his wife?” They were testing him. He said to them in reply, “What did Moses command you?” They replied, “Moses permitted a husband to write a bill of divorce and dismiss her.” But Jesus told them, “Because of the hardness of your hearts he wrote you this commandment. But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. So they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, no human being must separate.” In the house the disciples again questioned Jesus about this. 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 people were bringing children to him that he might touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this he became indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not prevent them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Amen, I say to you, whoever does not accept the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it.” Then he embraced them and blessed them, placing his hands on them. 

“The Pharisees approached Jesus and asked, ‘Is it lawful for a husband to divorce his wife?’ They were testing him.”  This is an interesting question in itself, and there is a bigger question the Pharisees are trying to answer by posing this question that makes this more interesting.  One aspect of the question they ask is that divorce was practiced everywhere one looked in the ancient world.  True, Augustine in Rome had attempted to prohibit it in the name of Roman virtue, but this did not last long.  Throughout history, it was taken for granted that a man and woman could divorce.  This had certainly been true in the Jewish Law, which extended back nearly two thousand years from the time the Pharisees posed this question.  Since the custom had become so well established, why would they question the Lord about it?  It was like asking why people should marry or have children.  Perhaps the Pharisees had picked up a clue as to the Lord’s doctrine on marriage from listening to him on other occasions.  Perhaps this was a subject used to learn how to debate.  Or perhaps this matter had arisen in Jewish society and people were actually talking about it.  Certainly, there are deeper theological ramifications for divorce.  The Prophets, especially Hosea, had spoken of Israel as the Lord’s unfaithful bride, and yet the Lord did not divorce Israel: he remained true to the covenant he had pledged though his bride had not.  Unfaithfulness on the part of one party does not release the other party to act unfaithfully.  Should not also a man and woman joined in marriage remain together permanently?

“What did Moses command you?” The Lord carefully explains his answer and the Pharisees allow him to do so.  How differently we act now, demanding yes or no answers from each other over complex questions!  The Pharisees answer the Lord’s question thus: “Moses permitted a husband to write a bill of divorce and dismiss her.”  The Pharisees answer carefully as well.  The Lord begins his explanation: “Because of the hardness of your hearts he wrote you this commandment.”  The Pharisees would have taken this as an ominous prelude.  The “hardness” of heart of which Jesus speaks comes as a result of fallen human nature, unaided by grace.  “But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. So they are no longer two but one flesh.”  At the time of the joining together of Adam and Eve, the two possessed an abundance of the gifts of God, such as an original harmony between the sexes, which would have made lifelong marriage the norm had they not lost this gift when they committed the Original Sin.  The commandment Moses gave the Israelites regarding divorce, then, amounted to an exemption to God’s original plan for humanity.  “Therefore what God has joined together, no human being must separate.”  This is the law for the time of grace.  God’s plan for humanity is restored with the coming of Christ, and grace enables men and women to live out their vows to each other.

We are not told of the reaction of the Pharisees.  They must have walked away thoughtfully, trying to understand the Lord’s teaching, and trying to find a way to argue against it.  The Apostles, though, had concerns and asked the Lord about this when they were alone. “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”  The Lord puts his teaching in very plain, practical terms.  But this stuns the Apostles.  We know from Matthew’s and Mark’s accounts of this discussion that they found their view of the world totally upended.  The Lord goes on to teach them, however, that not everyone is called to marriage, and there is no rule that says a man or woman must marry.  His teaching on marriage and divorce shocks them, and the fact that he has overturned an important part of societal life shocks them again.  This was not the Messiah they had bargained for.  This was One whose teachings would transform the world, of adopted.  

We argue sometimes about the Church’s teachings.  We should think, though, that if the Church teaches us doctrines that make life easy for us or that confirm our preferences, these would not be Christ’s doctrines.  We are still very much affected by Original Sin and so are predisposed to doing what is wicked.  The Lord bends us into shape with his Law, and this is sometimes a painful, difficult experience.  But with the help of God’s grace, we can live the life he planned for us from the beginning.