JESUS TEACHES US ABOUT MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE
The Gospel of Mark #32
Pastor Dennis Clanton
Woodland Church
September 27, 2023
(Mark 10:1–9, NLT) “Then Jesus left Capernaum and went down to the region of Judea and into the area east of the Jordan River. Once again crowds gathered around him, and as usual he was teaching them. Some Pharisees came and tried to trap him with this question: “Should a man be allowed to divorce his wife?” Jesus answered them with a question: “What did Moses say in the law about divorce?” “Well, he permitted it,” they replied. “He said a man can give his wife a written notice of divorce and send her away.” But Jesus responded, “He wrote this commandment only as a concession to your hard hearts. But ‘God made them male and female’ from the beginning of creation. ‘This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.’ Since they are no longer two but one, let no one split apart what God has joined together.”
Divorce was a concession to human fallenness and a safeguard for the protection of women.
(Malachi 2:13–16, Message) “God was there as a witness when you spoke your marriage vows to your young bride, and now you’ve broken those vows, broken the faith-bond with your vowed companion, your covenant wife. God, not you, made marriage. His Spirit inhabits even the smallest details of marriage. And what does he want from marriage? Children of God, that’s what. So guard the spirit of marriage within you. Don’t cheat on your spouse. “I hate divorce,” says the God of Israel. God-of-the-Angel-Armies says, “I hate the violent dismembering of the ‘one flesh’ of marriage.” So watch yourselves. Don’t let your guard down. Don’t cheat.”
God hates divorce, not divorced people
God hates divorce because it breaks faith
1. Divorce breaks faith between God and you
2. Divorce breaks the faith of the ‘one flesh’ of your marriage
3. Divorce breaks faith between your children and you
Masculinity and Femininity joined in marriage have to do with the image of God in us
Three Promises made in the Marriage Covenant
(Mark 10:7–8, NLT) “‘This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.’ Since they are no longer two but one,”
1. A Promise of Loyalty
2. A Promise of Intimacy
3. A Promise of Worship
(Mark 10:9, NLT) “Let no one split apart what God has joined together.”
(Ephesians 5:25, The Message) “Husbands, go all out in your love for your wives, exactly as Christ did for the church—a love marked by giving, not getting.”
“If people can be divorced for incompatibility, I cannot conceive why all of us are not divorced. I have known many happy marriages, but never a compatible one. The whole aim of marriage is to fight through and survive the instant when incompatibility becomes unquestionable. For a man and a woman, as such, are incompatible.” – G. K. Chesterton
Act fast when there is a stress fracture
(Matthew 5:23–24, Message) This is how I want you to conduct yourself in these matters. If you enter your place of worship and, about to make an offering, you suddenly remember a grudge a friend has against you, abandon your offering, leave immediately, go to this friend and make things right. Then and only then, come back and work things out with God.”
Preventing a Divorce
1. Focus less on yourself
(Philippians 2:3, NLT) “Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves.”
2. Focus more on God
(Matthew 1:19, Phillips) Joseph, her future husband, who was a good man and did not want to see her disgraced, planned to break off the engagement quietly.
God’s best is one man and one woman for life
(1 Corinthians 7:13–16, Message) “If you are a woman with a husband who is not a believer but he wants to live with you, hold on to him. The unbelieving husband shares to an extent in the holiness of his wife, and the unbelieving wife is likewise touched by the holiness of her husband. Otherwise, your children would be left out; as it is, they also are included in the spiritual purposes of God. On the other hand, if the unbelieving spouse walks out, you’ve got to let him or her go. You don’t have to hold on desperately. God has called us to make the best of it, as peacefully as we can. You never know, wife: The way you handle this might bring your husband not only back to you but to God. You never know, husband: The way you handle this might bring your wife not only back to you but to God.”
The “one flesh” union is torn apart by adultery and abandonment
(Matthew 19:9, Message) “I’m holding you to the original plan, and holding you liable for adultery if you divorce your faithful wife and then marry someone else. I make an exception in cases where the spouse has committed adultery.”
(1 Corinthians 7:15, NLT) “But if the husband or wife who isn’t a believer insists on leaving, let them go. In such cases the Christian husband or wife is no longer bound to the other, for God has called you to live in peace.”
Remarriage is not permitted:
1. To seek another spouse.
2. If there is no evidence of the fruit of repentance and brokenness that caused the divorce.
3. If the restoration of the marriage remains a viable option.
God permits remarriage for:
1. Adultery
2. Abandonment
Before you remarry:
1. Repent
2. Reconcile
3. Remain single until you are peaceful and balanced