“Why then,” they asked, “did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?” Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, and marries another woman commits adultery.” – Matthew 19:7-9 (NIV).
Many times we hear the idea that “law” is an Old Testament concept and “grace” is a New Testament concept. Certainly the Apostle Paul boldly teaches in Galatians and Romans the freedom Christian believers have from the “law”, and isn’t this the “age of grace”? Frankly, grace and law will always be part of the believer’s life. From the beginning God has dealt graciously with his people, and from the beginning he has expected certain standards of conduct. Yet many people continue to believe that there is no law Christ expects us to abide by today. Back in seminary a classmate took the trouble to look up and record every command in the New Testament. His list was impressive, and if my memory is correct he found over 500 direct commands. Clearly, Jesus has high standards!
Today we try to ‘soften’ what it means to be a Christian. People think they can sleep with their boyfriend, or tell crude jokes with their friends, or get drunk on Friday night without it affecting their “spiritual walk”. Christian spirituality is something they “do” instead of being who they are. It is an aspect of their life instead of being the center and substance of it. Jesus will have no of it, and will have none of that sort in his kingdom. The implication here is that the new era of the present kingdom of God involves a return to the idealism of the Garden of Eden. The call of the kingdom is a call to the ethics of the perfect will of God, one that makes no provision for, or concession to, the weakness of the flesh.
God does not desire divorce, in fact he hates it [a]. Yet Jesus, like Moses, offers us that possibility. Therein lies the tension. Jesus calls us to live out the perfect ethic of his kingdom, yet he recognizes the (inexcusable) imperfection of his people. But he will not allow us to use our imperfection as an excuse—not on this issue. Although he is willing to make concessions for our sinful weakness [b], he is calling us to live in such a way that he doesn’t have to. Marriage is precious to Jesus. He wrote it into the very DNA of creation. It is precious and important to him perhaps because it is such a fitting symbol of his relationship to his people (the church—his bride). Your marriage is a priority of Jesus Christ. One of the most important standards Jesus has for his disciples is to be a loving, devoted spouse. The issue here isn’t about what Jesus is forbidding (divorce), but rather about what he is commanding (healthy marriages). When you begin to believe that, you will recognize that sometimes the most spiritual thing you can do is buy your spouse some flowers.
[a] Malachi 2:16
[b] As did Moses, see Deuteronomy 24:1, which is the passage the Pharisees have alluded to.
I heard an Evangelist say that in the gospels alone there are over 1,000 commands: Love your neighbor, sin no more, etc.
ReplyDeleteGood post.