Marriage and divorce
It is now the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time and today’s gospel reading comes from Mark 10:2-16 on perhaps the most famous topic that the Jews and Christians have been talking about for 2,000 years and even more today. It’s about marriage and divorce. So let’s first read what our Lord taught us.
“2 Some Pharisees came and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” 3 “What did Moses command you?” he replied. 4 They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away.”
“5 “It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law,” Jesus replied.
“6 “But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.7 ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, 8 and the two will become one flesh. So they are no longer two, but one flesh.9 Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”
“10 When they were in the house again, the disciples asked Jesus about this. 11 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.”
“13 People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. 14 When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15 Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” 16 And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.”
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So the issue of marriage and divorce has a rich history. In the Bible we do not have to look far. We recall that John the Baptist told King Herod that it was unlawful for him to take his brother Philip’s wife Herodias and marry her. In Leviticus 18:16 it says that you may not have sexual relations with your brother’s wife because she belongs to your brother. Herod could have married another woman, but not the wife of Philip.
In Romans 7:2-37 St. Paul states that very clearly that even in the face of adultery, only death can dissolve the marriage bond.
In short, God does not close his eyes on contemptuous marriages or same-sex marriage. Therefore, I do not expect that the Catholic Church will change this teaching by our Lord Jesus Christ. In the next paragraph “When they were in the house again, the disciples asked Jesus about this. 11 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.” So if our Lord did not change the teaching of God the father, who are we to change this teaching?
Today people are getting married while many married couples are getting divorced. All of them know that marriage can only be dissolved by “Till death do us part.” Most of these people think that since the laws of their nations allow for divorce many of them get divorced. Little do they realize that the punishment for violating God’s laws is Gahanna. So get your divorce and suffer the consequence in the afterlife.
In the final passage in today’s gospel, we read, “13 People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. 14 When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15 Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” 16 And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.”
Clearly, in God’s plan, those who have no importance to men were of great importance. Indeed man’s ways are totally different from God’s ways. So we are better off obeying God’s laws than the laws of man.
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For email responses to this article, write to [email protected]. His columns can be accessed through www.philstar.com.
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