Mark 10:1-5 New International Version
Divorce 10 Jesus then left that place and went into the region of Judea and across the Jordan. Again crowds of people came to him, and as was his custom, he taught them. 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.
Tuesday - October 4
This is a hard passage because we like to think that we are good and full of potential for good things. In other words, we have faith in ourselves. In ancient Palestine, Jewish rabbis taught that a man, but not a woman, could initiate a divorce for any reason, including if she cooked badly or he was attracted to someone else (seriously, those were considered legitimate). While that might seem a bit shocking, it is quite common today, too. This is what we call a “no fault” divorce. But divorce, no matter the kind, was never God’s design or will. Human sin destroys marriages. This is hard, but all divorce is a result of our hard, sinful, dead hearts. We are not as good as we think we are. We need a savior who forgives us and gives us a new, living heart of love and mercy. Good thing we have one!