Mar 10:6 | KingComments | STEP | The Pharisees forget that they are up against the only wise God. The Lord does not let Himself be tempted to make a choice. Any choice would be wrong. Instead, He catches those who pretend to be wise in their own craftiness ( ). He answers their question with a counter-question with which they, with all their knowledge of the law, will have no difficulty. They know perfectly well what Moses said about situations in which a man would want to send his wife away. But their answer already shows their wrong way of reading Scripture. The Lord has asked what Moses has commanded, but they speak of lawfulness. In doing so, they suggest that a certificate of divorce is not necessary, but merely recommended. The Lord then sets the cause of the commandment that Moses gave before their attention. The commandment has to do with the hardness of their hearts. He speaks of the commandment as being given to them, “you”, here and now and not just to a people long ago. The commandment given a long time ago comes from God and has lost nothing of its power. So it is with the cause. The cause is not only the hard heart of the people at the time, for they have just as hard a heart. The Lord speaks of “your heart”. Moses does not allow anyone to send his wife away. But if anyone does, he must give her a certificate of divorce stating the reason for her rejection. Furthermore, if she has become another man’s wife who also dislikes her, he may not take her back. It is all meant as a protection for the woman, so that the man who intends to send her away will think twice before he does it ( ). It is therefore a foolish question to suppose that someone can send his wife away and that it is only a question of what reason. The Lord brings marriage back to its origins. Moses never said that anyone should send his wife away. And what was given under the law as a restrictive provision is excluded under grace. The commandment had become necessary because man had deviated from God’s original plan of marriage. As with all things, it is of the utmost importance to go back to the origin of marriage. This word is unabated today. God created man in a masculine and feminine form, no more and no different. This is the starting point and basis of marriage. Its denial (in unmarried cohabitation) and its change (in same-sex marriage) is a contempt for God’s institution. It is a great dishonor to God. The Lord quotes what is written in Scripture ( ). Therein is the path along which marriage is established. This path cannot be denied unpunished and this order cannot be changed unpunished. A man leaves his father and mother to form a new unity with his wife that is expressed in the becoming ‘one flesh’. By “so they are no longer two, but one flesh,” the Lord emphasizes that a man and a wife in marriage are no longer independent persons living side by side, each with his or her own interests, but that a marriage makes them a complete unity. Marriage leads to a complete entanglement of interests. One can do nothing without affecting the other. In marriage nothing is private anymore, but everything is shared with the other, without any secret. The Lord’s answer is that no one should ever send his wife away. The unity between man and wife is established because of the unifying bond of marriage. God is the Originator of marriage. He has placed this inseparable bond of marriage around a man and a wife. That is why it is sin and foolishness if someone wants to divorce his wife or her husband.

‏ Mark 10:6

Divorce and Remarriage

The Pharisees forget that they are up against the only wise God. The Lord does not let Himself be tempted to make a choice. Any choice would be wrong. Instead, He catches those who pretend to be wise in their own craftiness (1Cor 3:19). He answers their question with a counter-question with which they, with all their knowledge of the law, will have no difficulty.

They know perfectly well what Moses said about situations in which a man would want to send his wife away. But their answer already shows their wrong way of reading Scripture. The Lord has asked what Moses has commanded, but they speak of lawfulness. In doing so, they suggest that a certificate of divorce is not necessary, but merely recommended.

The Lord then sets the cause of the commandment that Moses gave before their attention. The commandment has to do with the hardness of their hearts. He speaks of the commandment as being given to them, “you”, here and now and not just to a people long ago. The commandment given a long time ago comes from God and has lost nothing of its power. So it is with the cause. The cause is not only the hard heart of the people at the time, for they have just as hard a heart. The Lord speaks of “your heart”.

Moses does not allow anyone to send his wife away. But if anyone does, he must give her a certificate of divorce stating the reason for her rejection. Furthermore, if she has become another man’s wife who also dislikes her, he may not take her back. It is all meant as a protection for the woman, so that the man who intends to send her away will think twice before he does it (Deu 24:1-4).

It is therefore a foolish question to suppose that someone can send his wife away and that it is only a question of what reason. The Lord brings marriage back to its origins. Moses never said that anyone should send his wife away. And what was given under the law as a restrictive provision is excluded under grace.

The commandment had become necessary because man had deviated from God’s original plan of marriage. As with all things, it is of the utmost importance to go back to the origin of marriage. This word is unabated today. God created man in a masculine and feminine form, no more and no different. This is the starting point and basis of marriage. Its denial (in unmarried cohabitation) and its change (in same-sex marriage) is a contempt for God’s institution. It is a great dishonor to God.

The Lord quotes what is written in Scripture (Gen 2:24). Therein is the path along which marriage is established. This path cannot be denied unpunished and this order cannot be changed unpunished. A man leaves his father and mother to form a new unity with his wife that is expressed in the becoming ‘one flesh’.

By “so they are no longer two, but one flesh,” the Lord emphasizes that a man and a wife in marriage are no longer independent persons living side by side, each with his or her own interests, but that a marriage makes them a complete unity. Marriage leads to a complete entanglement of interests. One can do nothing without affecting the other. In marriage nothing is private anymore, but everything is shared with the other, without any secret.

The Lord’s answer is that no one should ever send his wife away. The unity between man and wife is established because of the unifying bond of marriage. God is the Originator of marriage. He has placed this inseparable bond of marriage around a man and a wife. That is why it is sin and foolishness if someone wants to divorce his wife or her husband.