19 Pentecost
Tappiwa Huggins Gusha

Genesis 2:18-24/Mark 10:2-16

Some Pharisees came and tested him by asking, “ Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?”

This passage is one among many of those in which Jesus response was determined by the motive behind the question. I was trying to visualize this whole scenario. The writer of Mark does not tell us what Jesus was teaching about, but he clearly tells us that there was a large crowd following and listening to Jesus. But analysing the flow of this chapter, I’m convinced that Jesus was not teaching about marriage because the question on divorce fits nowhere in this periscope. I’m seeing Jesus after delivering a powerful message, posing to invite questions. Then, from nowhere, some Pharisees throw in their question, not a sincere question for that matter because the writer of Mark clearly tells us that “they came to test Jesus”. Their aim was expose Jesus. The Pharisees were fully aware that the crowd that was following Jesus had confidence in Moses and Jewish customs so asked Jesus a question that had a potential of making the crowd revolt against him in the event that He contradict the teaching of Moses. “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” But besides wanting Jesus to contradict Moses, what might have caused the Pharisees to think that they will caught Jesus off-guard in regards to marriage?

For them Jesus was dangerous to the institution of marriage and family. In Mark 3:31-34, Jesus redefined the family. In Jewish tradition, a family was defined according to blood ties but in Mark 3, Jesus abandoned his blood relatives and claimed that those who do the will of God were his brothers and sisters.

Noticing that this was not a sincere question but an attack, Jesus counter attacked them by asking, “What did Moses teach you?” This was a Rabbinic defence, it was one of the common technics of Jewish Rabbis to respond to a question by asking a counter question especially in a court of public opinion. In New Testament jargon we call it “challenge and riposte”, a game of “push and shove”. In his counter challenge, Jesus proved to the crowd that the Pharisees misunderstood not only the laws of Moses but God’s design for marriage. But this is not the first time Jesus rebuking the Pharisees for abusing the scripture, in Mark 7:8 & 9 Jesus said to the Pharisees, “ You have let go of the commands of God and holding on to human traditions, you have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions”.

“Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?”

Knowing their intentions, Jesus turned the conversation away from the legal foundation for divorce to God’s design for marriage. Jesus dismisses the law as a concession to human weaknesses and offers a different perspective rooted in creation narratives. Literally, it appears as if Jesus was condemning divorce but critically, we need to consider how Jesus made his case and what he intended to accomplish. These are some of the few things Jesus accomplished in his counter challenge:

i) He proved that he was fully aware of the traditional consequences a Jewish woman would face as a result of divorce which include limited access to income. Therefore, in Jewish context a divorced woman might become a destitute unless she had some sort of family support, Jesus was fully aware of the implications of divorce on children and also for the wounded hearts.

ii) Jesus proved that He was in agreement with Moses, the problem was not with Moses but the Pharisees themselves

iii) Jesus believed in the equality of man and woman. “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife” In their asking the Pharisees assumed that the right to issue a divorce certificate was a preserve for man but by referring to man committing adultery Jesus was saying even man may falter. But of much importance Jesus, in contrast with the Pharisees’ thinking as reflected in today’s OT reading that women were created from men, Jesus quoted Genesis 1:27, “So God created humankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them male and female”

However, not totally ignoring Genesis 2, especially verse 18 as it speaks to the reason why God designed marriage, “It is not good for the man or woman to be alone”. Marriage was designed to be a safe place for maturing the next generation. But what happens in cases of betrayal or abuses? We must deal with real situations facing people. Some then quote a verse for, “But God hates divorce” and I say yes, it might be true that God hates divorce but he does not hate those who divorce, God loves us unconditionally. Amen.