Sunday 07 October 2012

Background

Divorce is a very sensitive subject, and one that arouses strongfeelings amongst Christians in particular - not least becauseJesus' teaching about it seems so uncompromising. It appears inslightly different forms in the Gospels of Matthew (Matthew 19:1-12), Mark and Luke (Luke16:18), and Mark's account (the earliest) is probably theclosest to what Jesus actually said. We need to look at this verycarefully. One of the 613 commandments of the Jewish law allowed aman to divorce his wife if he found "something objectionable abouther" (Deuteronomy 24:1). A wife had no such rights(verse 12 was almost certainly added later in the more gentile(non-Jewish) context of Mark's church, because Roman law gave womenmore rights). The husband owned his wife - in the Exodus version ofthe tenth commandment her value was placed below that of his house,but above a slave, ox or donkey (Exodus20:17). A second-hand wife was worth even less, being 'damagedgoods'. Men wanted to marry virgins. Her father might take herback, but otherwise she, and her children, would be destitute.Young women in that position might well be forced intoprostitution, or other kinds of exploitative relationships, havingnowhere else to turn.

No wonder this was a controversial aspect of Jewish law - hencethe question - and Jesus, even more controversially, rejected thiscommandment outright. His overriding concern was for 'the littleones', the vulnerable and marginalised, and this concern tookprecedence over the Jewish law - a major theme in Mark's Gospel,especially in his attitude towards women at the margins of society.A man should not divorce his wife, because to do so wouldpotentially make her a social and religious outcast. So Jesus'teaching needs to be understood in the context of first-centuryJewish society before we try to apply it today.

This understanding is clearly reinforced by what follows -Jesus, again controversially, welcomes "little children" (v. 13)(and, presumably, their mothers) into what should have been anexclusively adult male gathering. And he says, forcefully, that thekingdom of God, in a radical subversion of all 'proper' religiousthinking, belongs to them. The kingdom truly belongs to the 'littleones', both metaphorically and literally.

To Ponder

• If Jesus' real concern was to protect vulnerable women, howmight his teaching about divorce be applied today? Should women (ormen) be forced to endure loveless, abusive or exploitativemarriages? Is it right that, in many parts of the Christian church,the divorced are still treated as 'second class citizens',regardless of the reasons for their divorce?

• "Jesus' teaching needs to be understood in the context offirst-century Jewish society before we try to apply it today." Doyou agree? What problems might this pose for those who want toassert that 'the Bible says…'?

• "…for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs"(v. 14). If that is true, what are the implications for the Churchif it is called to follow 'best kingdom practice'? Why do you think'church membership', for example, is usually restricted toadults?