Mark 10: 2-16
C.S. Lewis (1898-1963) died over 60 years ago.
- Born in Ireland and educated in England…he lost his mother at an early age.
- He served in World War I…
- Turned to atheism for answers.
- He spent his life in academia and was ultimately…as he put it in the title of his autobiography…Surprised by Joy.
The Lord be with you
And also with you
CS Lewis’ return to Christianity led to a stream of Christian books that continue to challenge…inspire and convert many skeptics to this day.
- Toward the end of his sojourn on earth…he met the love of his life…Joy Davidman (1915-1960).
- Joy was an American admirer who sought him out.
- Their love story was capped with her heroic struggle against cancer…
- And after her death in 1960…Lewis wrote one of his greatest works…a slim volume titled A Grief Observed.
- The book was so personal Lewis published it under a pseudonym.
- His friends…observing first-hand his struggles with grief…
- Gave him copies of his own book…hoping it would provide him with comfort.
The one jarring note in this love story was the struggle Lewis and Joy Davidman had in getting married during Joy’s battle with cancer.
- Davidman was a divorcee…and many clergy…some of them Lewis’ close personal friends…
- Refused to perform the marriage ceremony because of Jesus’ words regarding divorce and remarriage.
- At last…though…the couple found a sympathetic clergyman and the two were married before Joy’s death.
Perhaps no words by Jesus have been interpreted so literally and so misinterpreted so painfully.
- Women who flee brutal domestic violence are nevertheless told they cannot remarry.
- And must remain single parents…necessitating working two or three jobs.
- Some Christians who divorce and remarry discover they are not welcome in the church they loved.
- Others attend church but do so as second-class citizens…
- Unable to become full members or to take part in certain aspects in the life of the church.
- Some feel driven away from Christianity entirely.
OK then…here’s the thing:
- Some Pharisees asked Jesus: “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?”
- According to Mark…they asked the question to test Jesus.
- To trap him…those asking the question were not interested in the issue of divorce.
- They were interested in spinning any answer Jesus might give to make him look bad…to trap him.
So…Jesus answered their question with a question:
- “What did Moses command you?”
- Their response gets to the heart of the matter.
- They said: “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her.”
“Moses” was a term used to refer to the Torah…the first five books of our Bible…Genesis through Deuteronomy.
- There are…starting with the Ten Commandments…612 laws in those books of the Bible.
- Some…like the ten commandments…are foundational.
- Some expand on the ten.
- And some are what are known as case law…written to address specific cases…and not necessarily every instance.
So…what was Moses addressing in that statement?
- In Deuteronomy it says: “Suppose a man enters into marriage with a woman…
- But she does not please him because he finds something objectionable about her…
- So…he writes her a certificate of divorce…puts it in her hand…and sends her out of his house.
- She then leaves his house and goes off to become another man’s wife.”
Well…straight forward and cut and dried…right?
- Please the man or get out.
- Indeed…there are some men who would use this law to become tyrants in their homes…
- With a biblical warrant for their actions.
- But the devil is in the details.
That word “objectionable” whose translation of this passage appears in the Word Biblical Commentary…reads:
- “Because he finds in her some shamefully expressed thing or an obnoxious thing or a naked thing.”
- What seems to be implied is public…lewd activity…
- Not some question of whether dinner is served at 5:05 instead of 5:00 o’clock sharp.
The Deuteronomy passage is an item of case law designed to address a specific problem.
- And not meant to be used universally or literally for all marriages.
- And the text assumes that it is normal and natural for the woman to remarry.
- Jesus knew they were quoting this so far out of context that they might as well be operating from another religion’s book altogether.
OK…this is important…the passage assumes that the wife will marry another.
- She is not barred from further marriage.
- And now listen…there are additional words in this passage that directly address abuse by men:
- “Then suppose the second man dislikes her…
- Writes her a certificate of divorce…puts it in her hand…
- And sends her out of his house.
- Her first husband…who sent her away…is not permitted to take her again to be his wife after she has been defiled.
- For that would be abhorrent to the Lord…
- And you shall not bring guilt on the land that the LORD your God is giving you as a possession.”
So then…men cannot divorce and remarry their spouses as a way of swapping wives…nor as a way of draft dodging.
- What? Let’s read the next verse:
- “When a man is newly married…he shall not go out with the army or be charged with any related duty.
- He shall be free at home one year…to be happy with the wife whom he has married.”
You hear that? You don’t marry a woman…get a year free from military service…
- Swap wives so you get another year’s exemption.
- And then remarry your first spouse so that you get yet another free pass.
- And perhaps by this time the war is over anyway.
So…there it is…since women were in a vulnerable position in first-century Judea…Jesus created a case law of his own:
- Stop abusing women by misusing Deuteronomy.
- Instead…care for your spouse.
When Jesus says we need to become like a little child…he is suggesting we ought to stop having such a high opinion of ourselves…
- Thinking we are God’s gift to humanity…and to stop acting like dictators.
- Our value comes from God’s eyes.
- And fortunately…God’s eyes are the eyes of love.
Jesus himself is a model of how this should be done:
- When Jesus met the Samaritan woman at the well…
- Divorced five times and living with her current companion…
- He saw her as someone who could hold up her end of a complex dialog.
- An outcast who had the potential to evangelize her whole village.
No one should go into marriage thinking: “At the first sign of trouble I’m bailing.”
- Yet…there are abusers and users…tyrants and those who want to drag others into their damnation.
- But most of all…if we believe in death and resurrection…
- Then the death of divorce should lead to hope and new life.
- Offering grace…hope and love to the vulnerable among us.
- That is what I call gospel.
- That is what I call Good News.