MARK 10:1

The Bible says in Mark 10:1, “And he arose from there, and comes to the coasts of Judea by the farther side of Jordan: and the people resort unto him again; and, as he was wont, he taught them again.” Jesus was a teacher. He was the Savior of the world, but He was also a teacher. When He looked at people, He saw them as sheep without a shepherd, and He had compassion on them. Jesus knew that what people needed the most was to hear the truth: the truth about salvation and the truth about many other subjects concerning human attitudes and behavior.

In the next eleven verses Jesus teaches some important principles about marriage and divorce. In Mark 10:2-9 the Bible says, “And the Pharisees came to him, and asked him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife? Tempting him. And he answered and said unto them, What did Moses command you? And they said, Moses suffered to write a bill of divorcement, and to put her away. And Jesus answered and said unto them, For the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept. But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife; And they two shall be one flesh; so then they are no more two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder.”

In some passages in the Bible it is extremely important to understand who is speaking and who is being spoken to. This is one of those passages. Jesus was speaking to the Pharisees. Of course, one of the problems of the Pharisees was that they did not understand the scriptures. They often twisted the scriptures and gave a meaning to certain passages that fit their own interests. Those who twist the scriptures will make one of two kinds of errors. They will either forbid things that they should not forbid, or they will permit other things that they should not permit. They are either too legalistic or too permissive. Often the Pharisees were too legalistic, but on the subject of marriage and divorce they were too permissive.

Jesus said, Yes, there was an allowance for divorce in the Old Testament law, but evidently the Pharisees had been abusing that permission. Whenever you get on a biblical subject, you want to make sure that you emphasize things the way that they should be emphasized. If you do not emphasize the right things in the right way, then you will be taking away from the message of the Bible. Yes, divorce is permitted in certain situations, but divorce should be the exception and it should be a rare exception. One part of true Christianity is the striving to reach an ideal. Because of the Bible and the teachings of Jesus we have a great and wonderful ideal that has been set before us to reach for and to look to. You will never do any better than what your goals are, and one of the good things about Christianity is that it gives us great and wonderful goals for our lives. It tells us what to strive for in this life as well as the next. Jesus told the Pharisees that when one thinks of marriage, one should start not by thinking of the possibility of divorce, but by thinking of what marriage should be.

And Jesus said that the way to find out what marriage should be is to simply go way back to the beginning of the human race and look at the first marriage. God did not bring Adam and Eve together and then say, “By the way, in case things do not work out, just go ahead and get divorced and I will create a second woman for Adam and a second man for Eve.” Of course not. God brought Adam and Eve together and they stayed together for the rest of their life. The ideal principle of marriage was given very clearly by Jesus. He said, “But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife; And they two shall be one flesh; so then they are no more two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder.”

When someone first comes into the world, the closest human relationship is the parent-child relationship. But later in life the closest human relationship is the male-female relationship in marriage. That’s the way that life was meant to be for most people. The only exception to this are a minority of people who do not get married, of which the Apostle Paul was one. Where does divorce come into this? The point that Jesus was making is that in the ideal situation divorce does not come in at all. That’s why Jesus said, “What God has joined together, let not man put asunder.”

That’s the ideal. But because of the weakness and failure of man, there are exceptions to the ideal. Even in the law in the Old Testament, which is very strict and unbending, there were allowances for divorce. We know that in other places in the New Testament adultery and desertion and perhaps physical abuse are given as justifiable reasons for divorce (see First Corinthians chapter 7). The point that Jesus is making here in Mark chapter 9 is that divorce should not even be considered by many people because they should be striving towards the great ideal of one man and one woman joined together for life. Evidently the problem existed during the time of Christ that exists today: there have been too many divorces. As a matter of fact any divorce that is not justified in the eyes of God results in adultery. Jesus makes it very clear, that if you divorce someone unjustifiably and marry another then you commit adultery.

Probably there have been many such unjustifiable divorces in our day and age; and therefore, many people committed adultery when they were involved in such a divorce and married another. Where does that leave them now, now that they are married to another? That’s an important question. When you think of those who have been divorced, remember that some of them bear no blame for the divorce because it was the fault of the former spouse. But even if it was due to their own fault and failure and sin, there is such a thing as forgiveness. And forgiveness means just as much for adultery or an unjust divorce as it does for anything else. If someone is forgiven, they have been justified. Forgiveness is so complete that God looks at a forgiven person as if they had not sinned. This is true for any sin, and this is true concerning any sin or failure regarding marriage and divorce.

Once someone has been divorced and remarried, they cannot change the past. For any sins that they have committed, they need to repent and ask for forgiveness. They need to make sure that in their current marriage to the best that is in them, that they regard the marriage the way that Jesus said to regard a marriage. Jesus said, “And they two shall be one flesh; so then they are no more two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder.” It is your current attitude about marriage that is the principal thing. You must understand and be committed to the sanctity of marriage, both yours and everyone else’s. In the book of First Timothy are given the qualifications for a pastor, and it says in First Timothy 3:2, “A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach.” Notice that it says that a pastor must be “the husband of one wife.” This means literally a one-woman man. It does not mean someone who has never been divorced. Rather it refers to the attitude of the man towards women. He should be a one-woman man. That is, he is a person who has come to the point in life where he is committed to one and only one woman. He is not interested in other women romantically. The life that he now lives is an example of the principle that Jesus taught. “What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder.”

An unjustified divorce is not a greater sin than any other sin. It can be forgiven totally and completely just like any other sin. That’s one of the wonderful things about the message of Jesus, any given day you can have a new start with the past forgotten and cleared away. How kind and how merciful God is to give us such blessings. There is no greater blessing than the blessing of forgiveness. But if you have asked for forgiveness, make sure that you now adopt God’s way of looking at things, and God’s way of looking at marriage.

Jesus taught us about marriage and divorce, and He also taught us about children. The Bible says in Mark 10:13-16, “And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them: and his disciples rebuked those that brought them. But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Permit the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein. And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them.” There is a lot to be learned just from this one interaction between Jesus and children.

Of course, we notice immediately the contrast between the disciples and Jesus in their attitude to these children. No doubt if the disciples had been asked, they would have said that they liked children and that they knew that children needed to be treated well and needed to be loved and accepted. But in a moment when the disciples were busy with what they considered more important things, they had no time for the children. Jesus had time for the children, and Jesus will always have time for you. One of the things that Jesus said concerning children was, “Permit the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not.” No one should ever forbid or hinder or put a stumbling block in the way of children coming to know Jesus. Some day when human beings are judged for their sins, those who kept children from coming to Jesus will be shown to be among the greatest of sinners.

Jesus also said concerning children, “For of such is the kingdom of God.” If you want to get one of the best pictures of what heaven is like, just look at a group of sweet, young children. Heaven is full of children. There are no children in hell. All children who died before they were accountable for their own decisions went to heaven. This statement by Jesus is one of the things in the Bible that shows that to be the case. What is one of the reasons for the death of a little child? One reason is because God wants that beautiful, happy face to be safe with Him forever in paradise.

Not only is heaven full of children, but any adult who gets to heaven has to become like a child in a certain way spiritually speaking. Jesus said, “Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein.” Notice that Jesus said that the kingdom of God must be received. This is consistent with other parts of the scripture that make it clear that salvation and going to heaven is a gift that God offers everyone. Of course, with any gift that is offered to you, you can either receive the gift or reject the gift. The choice is yours. God offers you heaven. He offers you salvation. He offers you forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ. But you must receive it in order for it to come into your possession. Why is it that some people will not receive such a great gift? The reason is because they do not have enough of the qualities of a child. They are too proud or too self-sufficient or too hardened in their hearts. If only they could be more like a child, Jesus said. A little child has no problem putting their hand into the hand of someone bigger and stronger and wiser than they are. If you were more like a child, you would have no trouble looking up to Jesus and depending on Him and trusting in Him for your salvation. You would easily and gladly receive Christ and the kingdom of God.

In this passage of scripture we notice the same thing about Jesus that was seen in Mark chapter nine when He interacted with children. It says here in Mark chapter ten concerning Jesus and the children that came to Him, “And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them.” How much Jesus loved the little children, and how much they loved him! Parents should notice once again that Jesus did not use His hands and arms to strike the children, but to hold them, to caress them, and to love them. Jesus is an example for all things in life, including being an example to parents on how to treat their children.

Jesus received the little children into His arms. He will receive you also if you will come to Him and receive Him in prayer.

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