Embracing the Kingdom

Is it lawful? That is what the Pharisees asked Jesus. Is it lawful?

It sounds like children asking, “Is it really true?” Or “did you really say that?”   Often when we ask those questions, we already know the answer, but are testing the boundaries, seeing if there is any wriggle room. The Pharisees are testing Jesus, they are not really interested in an answer, but in setting a trap.

The thing with the question is the Pharisees weren't really wanting an answer the Pharisees set out to test Jesus, because no matter what answer he gave it would be contentious.

What we call the Old Testament has a number of different sections in. The first five books are ‘Torah’ for Jewish people, it’s like the books of law. The various religious teachers had their own way of interpreting the law and the way it related to everyday life.

So the Pharisees set out to test Jesus, is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?

The people asking this question already knew what the Torah said, that a man is allowed to divorce his wife. But just as today there are people who will argue points of law on points of law, and what various words mean in various contexts, the interpretation of the Law of Moses was quite varied. So even though the Pharisees ask “is it lawful”, they already know what is in the law. The interpretation of this law varied from divorce is only allowed in cases of infidelity, to the other extreme of - if your wife is your dinner or displeases you in some way you can divorce her.

Notice only the man can divorce the woman. In Jesus response, he does say if she divorces her husband, this was permissible in Roman law, but not in Jewish law.

In his response to the question, Jesus talks about marriage and the importance of marriage, but he also says that if a man divorces his wife and marries another woman he commits adultery against his wife. The understanding at this time was that he was dishonouring her family, her father in particular, Jesus accords the woman honour.

Something about marriage: marriage at this time was not a result of courtship, romance, flowers, dancing, movies and meals; marriages were arranged between families, marriage was about property, honour and status. Therefore divorce was quite complicated. Today divorce is also quite complicated, though for different reasons.

What did it mean for a couple to divorce? For the woman, her life is turned upside down. This was a society where women needed to have a male to stand up for them; a father, a husband, a son. When a man divorced his wife, if father or brother was unwilling to take her in “the consequences for the woman were devastating -- familial and public disgrace, potentially severe economic hardship, and limited future prospects for her and her children. So Jesus' words were likely intended not to set up a standard by which to judge and stigmatize but rather to protect women who were so much more vulnerable before the law then men.”  [Love and Marriage Monday, October 01, 2012 David Lose ]

These days our questions are quite different, I can’t remember ever being asked if it’s okay to get divorced and still be a member of the church. I have known people who are divorced and wondered if they would still be welcome in the church.

Questions today seem to revolve around abortion, homosexuality, genetic testing, social media, and robotics. These and many of the issues of modern life are not issues that people raised with Jesus, so we need to look for some guiding principles for the real questions that we ask. And maybe we need to think about why we are asking those questions in the first place.

The second part of his reading we hear again of the disciples not understanding Jesus. Parents are bringing their children to Jesus to be blessed. As I mentioned in the last few weeks, children did not bring honour and held no status in society. The disciples decided that Jesus was too busy, too important, to deal with children.

I wonder how often our priorities are different to the priorities of Jesus.

One article I read this week offers an alternative interpretation of verse 15.  The Good News Bible reads: I assure you that whoever does not receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.” [GNB] this implies that we need to become like children to enter the Kingdom of God. Another way of reading the Greek is “Welcome the kingdom like you would welcome a child.”  [Mark G. Vitalis Hoffman working preacher October 2015]

Welcome the kingdom as you would welcome a child.

Divorce, embracing children, given the culture was so different, what has that to do with 21st century living?

As I look at these stories, I see a picture of Jesus who sides with the powerless, he wanted to protect women, who were not considered much more highly than property; Jesus who blesses the children, when his disciples think he’s too busy, too important, too tired.

In the reading from Hebrews we hear that even though God has spoken in a variety of ways, in Jesus we see the imprint of God, the reflection of God’s glory. I can remember hearing at one stage that Jesus is the best picture we have of God.

Jesus is the best picture we have of God, I wonder what these readings from Mark tell us about where we experience God;

• When we are strong?
• When we are suffering?
• When we are powerless?

The good news is that when society tells us we are not worth anything, when friends or family abandon us, when life seems to be one series of disasters after another, God does not abandon us.

This morning we will share in Communion together, a sign of grace, of God’s love. Today is World Communion Sunday, and some churches are thinking today about how we are all connected with churches right around the world through our faith in Jesus Christ; and through this common meal that we shared together.

As we reflect on the scripture readings I invite you to think about:

• What are the questions you struggle with?
• If Jesus is the best picture we have of God, what do we learn about God?