LET NO MAN SEPARATE (MK 10:1-12)
Prayer:
O Jesus, you have come to restore creation as it was in the beginning.
Imagination:
Picture Jesus explaining his ideals to his disciples.
Context:
Jesus believes that through the power of the Kingdom of God, all creation can be restored to God’s original plan. His critics cite Moses’ teaching about a decree of divorce, (an attempt to give some ordering to moral decay). Jesus believes his Kingdom can remove divorce itself.
Gospel Text: (Read slowly, possibly aloud.)
Some Pharisees came to test Jesus. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife?” Jesus replied, “What did Moses command you?” They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a bill of divorce and put her away.” Jesus answered, “He gave this command because of the hardness of your heart. But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. For this reason, a man shall leave his mother and father and shall cleave to his wife. The two shall be one flesh. They are no longer two, but one flesh. What God has joined together, let no man put asunder.”
Later, Jesus said to his disciples. “Whoever puts away his wife and marries another commits adultery against her. If the wife puts away her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”
Thoughts: (Read all. Ponder those that attract you.)
- The Pharisees’ question is not sincere, yet it opens up a very important topic.
- Jesus reveals his vision of God’s Kingdom on earth.
- Moses was shortsighted. He tried to resolve the problem by a legal maneuver of a written paper.
- Jesus sees the whole picture. Divorce is a distortion that results from man’s sinfulness.
- Jesus wants to restore the whole world to what was at the beginning – an ordered humanity.
- In the Kingdom, God and man are joined again. In this way, husband and wife can have an ordered relationship.
- Even with a civil divorce, the union remains and marrying another is adultery.
Affections: (When one touches your heart, use your own words.)
- O Lord, how confused human life has become. Only your grace can untangle my life.
- Your Kingdom is powerful. It touches my feelings and my decisions.
- Unite me to the Father. Let my life be “as it was in the beginning.”
- With you, Jesus, all things are possible.
- Help me to live my life without compromise.
- Help my marriage and bless my spouse.
Resolutions: (Possibly you might want to make your own.)
+ I will be faithful to the Lord in all pre-marital and marital relationships.
+ I will ask the Holy Spirit to help me live purely.
Thought for the Day: (To recall your meditation.)
What God has joined together, let no man put asunder.