When a chapter in the book of Mark spans about four pages in a Study Bible, you know it covers a lot of ground. I thought about writing devotionals/blog entries for portions of the chapter ... and perhaps I shall do that in the future, but I am choosing the plow-thru-it tact today.
Those old Pharisees attempt to trap Jesus again at the beginning of the chapter, where they bring up the lawfulness of divorce. What Jesus says next is harsh. He basically says that nobody should tear apart a marriage. He admitted that Moses only granted that to the people because of the hardness of their hearts. In those days, I bet most the women were on the short end of the harsh treatment stick in that scenerio. In today's wrecked marriages, both sides of the gender aisle are getting attacked and emotionally trashed by the other party. Jesus said matter-of-factly that, when someone divorces and marries another commits adultery. This is a tough saying; and, with the percentages of marriages staying together these days being around the 50% mark, it addresses a lot of people.
Some folks will look at this and couple it with Paul's description of the "type of people" that don't inherit the kingdom of God (in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11), where Paul mentions adulterers on that list. Then he goes on to tell the believers in Corinth that, "such were some of you." Some might imply that to mean that adultery, like any other sin, can be forgiven by the blood of Jesus; but ongoing sin that is practiced on a regular basis (like a remarried man and woman acting like a married couple) would be a disqualifier for the kingdom of God. If this were so, it would be a huge new doctrine that would shake a lot of people up. If that were so, it would need to be supported in many other parts of Scripture. (It's dangerous, as you well know, to base a belief system on one or two verses.) God is really good about the whole counsel of His Word spelling out the major doctrines or belief systems that believers would hold dear. In the context of this letter to Corinth, which was filled with people that boasted about how grace covered them from all sin and how they were able to participate in all these freedoms. "In fact," they were recorded as bragging, "one fella sleeps with his step-mom ... and it's okay." Paul was probably making a couple points here. One was that a believer is a changed person and the fruit or result of their changed life is they no longer walk in (and practice deeds of) darkness, but in light. Two was that there were consequences of certain behaviors that lead to bondage. It would not be a good idea to get tangled up in that kind of mess.
I bet that half the times Paul looked at the possibility of getting married and fulfilling his sexual desires in that way, he might have been jealous and envious. The other half of the time he probably thanked God that he wasn't married and having to deal with the huge responsibility of making a committment (often) made during youth last throughout the years of your life. It's a big deal.
If adultery kept a believer out of heaven, though, it would have a hard time wrestling with the kingdom principles brought up in the parable Jesus told about the Prodigal Son. The point the father was making was that his love was unconditional. The older son seemed to think he was earning his father's love with all of his hard work; never knowing that he had it all this time and could have had kill-the-fatted-calf parties every weekend if he wanted. The love between a parent and a child is incredible and, though sin may bring heartache and even separation, the identity is rooted in their birth.
At this point I will reverse direction and say, "That's it! We'll pick up Mark.10 tomorrow (Lord willing)."
Posted by Doug Van Pelt at November 11, 2008 11:14 AM