Mark 10:11-12 He answered, “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. 12 And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery.”
In this day and age where “snowflakes” seem to have risen to positions of power, almost anything you say can be taken as a micro-aggression. I guess there aren’t enough aggressions happening, so we have to protect against micro-aggressions. These aggressions are so small you have to use a microscope to see them! But I digress. It can be difficult to navigate in a world when free speech isn’t permitted. I guess the USA is catching up with the rest of the world!
But we need people to be able to speak freely and sometimes bluntly. Not every truth can be soft-pedaled. Some truths hit you square in the nose, and there is no way to deliver it without offending. Truth is often offensive.
Jesus is approached with a moral question. This question still lingers in the world today. But in a world with no moral absolutes, no truths that transcend place, culture, time, or people group, truth is like jello, never able to be nailed down. So when truth is proclaimed, there is no wiggle room to get out from under the obligations of the truth.
Jesus is asked about divorce by the religious leaders of His day. They are looking for a fight. They come with the intent of tripping Him up. They aren’t after Truth, they just want some reason to oppose Him and arrest Him. They want Him silenced! (Sound familiar?)
Our text concludes this interchange on the subject of divorce. Mark puts down the barebones of His discussion. He gets to the relevant points quickly. He has told the questioners that God’s design was for a man and a woman to stay married for life. No exception clauses. Again, He was addressing the religious leaders who thrived on exception clauses.
And then when Jesus gets alone with His disciples, He speaks the words of our text above. Since the union of husband and wife is for life, if divorce and remarriage happens, then the offending individual is committing adultery against their first partner. This is the reality from Scriptural perspective. No exceptions.
This General Principle is simple: sexual intimacy is allowed in one relationship only. Outside that safety net, there is trouble brewing. Think about the results of divorce and adultery in the people you know. Think about the affects on the individuals and on the children, family, friends and culture. Dropping a hand grenade into a crowded room creates less damage!
And so, Jesus wants to spare everyone the damage that sexual promiscuity brings. He wants people to follow God’s design from the beginning. Designers know the best functioning of the design. We need to trust Him.
I know that some people reading these words are offended by the truth contained here in, but sometimes truth does hurt. Perhaps we need to, as a society, or at least as a believing fellowship, engage in a collective “Ouch!” to relieve the tension. Then we can get to the job of repentance and obedience.
The Arnold Journey 