Plans are changing rapidly so I won't say how long this will last, but for the remainder of this week I plan to put into action something I've been considering for a long time. When we have long gospel readings on Sunday it is difficult to get into everything in the text. I usually focus on just one or two things. I've thought about posting reflections on the other things we haven't covered. In the spirit of that idea, each day this week let's look at a scene from Matthew 19-20. Today we'll look at 19:1-12. I'm not going to include the Bible text here. I presume you have a Bible available to you - or you can find the verses online. I suggest you read from a literal translation and not a paraphrase. So use something like New Revised Standard Version (what we use on Sundays) or New International Version. King James is good too, but you may get tripped up on the language. Revised Standard Version is also good but the language is also getting a bit dated. I'd avoid The Living Bible and the like. They're good scholarship but they're paraphrases. While that makes them easier to read, the farther you go from the Greek text the more you distant you are from the author and the more you are getting the interpretation of the translator.
Jesus teachings here on divorce, remarriage, and human sexuality may seriously challenge us. These words have quite often been used as the law for Christian marriage, but that is missing both the context and what Jesus intended.
The overall context in the story is to root our lives in God’s grace rather than in legalism. Marriage in Jesus’ day was quite different than today. First, there weren’t really wedding ceremonies. It’s not exactly clear from history exactly how the marriage of a common person would begin, but in general it was community acknowledgement that a couple was together. And divorce was not a legal affair requiring lawyers and courts. Marriages themselves weren’t recorded in a central legal register and thus they were easy to end. In Roman culture either a man or a woman could initiate divorce. In Jewish culture it was only the man, and he could do so for any reason he chose. ANY reason! (I've joked before that if a man didn't like his wife's meatloaf that was grounds for divorce!) Divorce basically meant walking out - or getting kicked out. That was it. Ultimately it made marriage very shaky, especially for the woman.
Jesus’ teachings
about marriage and divorce are not rooted in legality but in the nature of
creation. In other words, he makes the
roots much deeper. This isn’t just a
legal arrangement.
Indeed if you compare a marriage to, let's say... a contract you would sign with a contractor to replace your house roof, you would find the arrangement quite different. At least I hope so! You probably don’t make deep emotional attachments to your
contractor. And if you do, then you have
a problem! You can hire and fire a contractor without
a whole lot of emotional impact.
Relationship between spouses go much deeper. Beginning or ending a marriage is a
significantly emotional time.
In the same way
Jesus roots marriage and divorce in something deeper than legality, it is also
a mistake to apply his words in a legalistic way – a legalistic way of
accepting or forbidding. Jesus’
teachings on divorce show up in Mark’s and Luke’s gospel as well. Only in Matthew is this escape clause about
infidelity.
But even take
that case. Would you really say to a
friend whose marriage is ending under those circumstances, “Hey, don’t worry
about it. You’re fine. Just find someone else to marry.” Of course you wouldn't say that! Perhaps you would say that about finding
someone else to replace your house roof, but not ending a marriage.
You see, even
when it is "justifiable" it still hurts.
That is the deeper truth Jesus is getting at. Jesus’ teachings acknowledge that. God’s created intentions have been broken.
So does that
mean, as some Christians have taught, that divorce and remarriage means people
will burn in hell for all eternity?
Well, did Jesus
actually say that?
No.
Over and over again Jesus' teaching drive us to recognize our need for God's grace. Matthew 19-20 work together as a unit. We aren't done with this topic of divorce at all, but I am going to leave it there for today. We need to explore the next two scenes, which we will see tomorrow, before we can return to the topic of divorce.
For the rest of this post let's look at the very curious teachings in verses 10-12 about eunuchs. Biblical scholars scratch their heads over these verses. Indeed in those days some pagan religions did have a practice of literal castration for religious purposes. Most scholars DO NOT think that is what Jesus means here. That's a relief!
I believe Jesus means those who are members of the community who choose to remain celibate in order to commit themselves fully to Christian work. (This is one of the foundational texts the Roman Catholic Church uses in their understanding of the priesthood.) While marriage and family life were highly valued by Jesus and Matthew's church as a gift from God - and that was the normal life of most people - some people, such as prophets or missionaries, would remain unmarried. Freed from the burden of providing for spouse and children they could focus on a specific calling.
When seen in this light we discover that both paths - having a family, or remaining without a family for the sake of the gospel - are God given and God blessed ways to live.
Tomorrow we'll continue to expand what a life of grace looks like when we meet a man who knows the rules; and who knows how to live by them.
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