Matthew 18:23-35 ~ Teachings about divorce
Once again the Pharisees ask Jesus a “how-much-can-we-get-away-with” kind
of question—“What’s the least we have to do to comply with the law?” Such is
the nature of legalism. The law becomes an end in itself, rather than a means
toward a specific end, namely a Godly life.
Jesus’ teachings in particular, and the Jewish law in general are
descriptive, rather than prescriptive. Jesus’ kingdom parables always begin, “The
kingdom of heaven is like…” The Pharisees’ most frequent approach is, “What
must we do to get it?” Jesus has said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, the
meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness…” The Pharisees ask, “Is it
legal to divorce?” Jesus has said, “If you want to gain your life you must lose
it.” The Pharisees ask, “What if… ?”
In this instance, the attitude is this: “I’m going to divorce my wife.
How can I do that without going to hell?” [That’s really not a fair paraphrase
of what those 1st century Pharisees asked. “Heaven” and “hell” didn’t
mean the same thing to them that it means to most post-reformation Christians
today; so I’ve updated the question to reflect what today’s Pharisees are
asking.]
What we’re dealing with is the old universal wisdom that always has said
goodness is rewarded and evil is punished. The Job narrative (perhaps the
oldest portion of Judeo/Christian Scripture) is a rebuttal of that ancient
wisdom, and Jesus’ own words negate the reward/punishment model when he says “God
causes the rain to fall on the just and the unjust” (Matthew 5:45).
Jesus says (Robinson
paraphrase) that marriage is a reflection of God’s created order. It is a
matter of the nature of humanity, not an invention of human laws and rules. By
extension, since humans are created in the image of God, who is eternally
faithful, it is natural that humans also be faithful in their relationships.
Bottom line: marriage is a
natural reflection of creation because it is a reflection of the unity that
holds all of creation together. Divorce, then, is unnatural, because it goes
against God’s will and intention that all created things participate in the
harmony of God’s creation.[1]
The Pharisees preferred the
law of Moses, which allowed them to do what they already had decided to do. Go
ahead and do it. We can always find a loophole later.
It’s really not about
divorce. It’s about integrity. Relationships die, just as individuals die. No
righteous God would desire or demand that a person remain in a totally abusive
relationship.
The status of women in that
culture was a gross violation of God’s intention for the unity of all things. Women
were chattel, with no rights. A single woman was viewed as flawed, and a
divorced woman was even worse. Single, divorced and even widowed women were
vulnerable and virtually without protection.
So, for Jesus, it’s really not about
divorce. It’s a much broader concern. It’s about how we humans relate in a
created universe in which unity and harmony is the will of our creator.
If I am to follow Jesus, my
concern will be about mending and healing broken relationships, rather than
dismissing them because they’ve become inconvenient. [And, again, there’s a
world of difference between inconvenient in intolerable.]
That's the way it looks
through the flawed glass that is my world view.
Together in the Walk,
Jim
[1]
The clearest statement of this Divine intention may be Ephesians 1:8b-10, “With all wisdom and insight 9 he
has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure
that he set forth in Christ, 10 as
a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in
heaven and things on earth.”
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