East of the Jordan. This little tidbit is important in understanding why Mark says the Pharisees were trying to trap Jesus. This is the same region where John the Baptist preached. John challenged King Herod because the King’s wife Herodias had divorced the King’s brother Phillip, so she could marry the King. John essentially charged that King Herod was unfit to be the King of Israel. Mark is suggesting that the Pharisees are trying to draw Jesus into this same discussion in hopes Jesus will meet the same fate as did his cousin John.
Jesus responds to the Pharisees, but not with the details they were hoping for. Those he saves for later when he is alone with his disciples. Jesus is saying that God’s intention is for man and woman to become one through marriage. He also notes that because of the hardheartedness of humans this standard was often missed and that even Moses (as well as the Apostle Paul) recognized exceptions to maintaining marital unity. It is also important to note that divorce as the term is used in Jesus’ time can also be understood as abandonment. In a society where women were dependent on their husbands or families for support, when a man divorced his wife it could well leave her destitute.
In the Jewish law there was not a provision for women divorcing their husbands. For Jesus to include women as divorcing their husbands was a direct reference to King Herod’s wife, Herodias.
Implicit in Jesus referring to God’s intentional will for marriage is that with the coming of the Messiah God is providing the means for his will to be fulfilled.
“For God is working in you,
giving you the desire
and the power to do what pleases him.”
Philippians 2:13
What word or phrase in these verses
attracts your attention?
Reflect on that word or phrase.
What insights come to you?
How does this passage touch your life today?
7-Nov-11 Mark 10:17-31
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