Mark 10:5-6
One
of the tendencies we have is to find the exception to the rule and then figure
out a way to expand them so that we can do the thing we are told not to do. We
put a meal on the business expense account, even though the ‘client’ we met
with was just an old friend with no interest in the business. Or maybe we
contact an old flame when relationship bumps seem too much just to see how they
were doing. Or we get an extra email account just to make it less confusing. We
tell ourselves ‘they wouldn’t/couldn’t/don’t understand’ so that we can build
connections we feel we need.
We
also try to build in wiggle room by the way we define the terms of our
discussion. If we say that the Bible culture was so different from our culture
that things we read must be interpreted (dismissed), then we can rewrite the
mandates of Scripture to say anything we want them to say and thus excuse our
behaviors. Marriage no longer is between a man and a woman, but between any
number of people who want to create ‘family’, because we all have the right to
love whom we love. Or do we?
The
religious folks of Jesus’ day wanted to redefine marriage as well. They did
this by expanding the command of Deuteronomy 24 which spoke about an undefined
indecency that gets discovered after marriage and the provision to dissolve the
marriage permanently. The point of the command is that there could be no
reforming of the first marriage after a second marriage had occurred. The
command was not about the dissolution of marriages, but about getting back
together with your Ex.
But
the religious folks wanted to take this very specific command and expand it to
allow the dissolution of marriage for any reason, or at least any reason on
their very long list of reasons. They wanted to take the intent, the permanency
of the marriage bond, and remove it from the equation. They wanted the ability
to obtain a “get out of marriage” card that could be used at their discretion.
And once divorce becomes an option, the permanency of the marriage bond becomes
obsolete.
Jesus
takes them back to the origin of marriage, the LORD Himself. It was God’s
design with God’s defines specifications. We have no right to modify those
specifications. Male and female. Boy and girl. They are a matched set. Their
parts fit perfectly.
Male
and female exist for one primary purpose: babies! The creatures of the earth
teach us this. The LORD had Adam name all the creatures. They each had their
match. Adam and Eve were such a match. They fit in with all the other animals,
male and female. They could have babies, like all the other animals.
As
soon as we take this primary definition away from marriage, then we dismiss God’s
voice in our lives. We must choose to stay within His lines. There is freedom
there, and bondage outside.