This coming Sunday is the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time. In the privacy of a house, the disciples question Jesus about “this” – presumably, “what God has joined together, no human being must separate.”  Jesus has taken the question back to the divine intent. One way to understand the unstated question is that the disciples are not asking about divorce per se, but the broader question of all the things that cause the separation of what God has joined. Jesus declared without qualification that a man who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her. The use of the word “adultery” directs the disciples back to the absolute command of God (Ex. 20:14) and clarifies the seriousness of the issue. But to be clear, Jesus is not saying that divorce and remarriage is the only circumstance that lead to adultery, but it is of the same gravitas. Continue reading →

This coming Sunday is the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time. Thus, Jesus moves the dialogue to a deeper question and asks about what God intended in the creation:  “But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female. 7 For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother (and be joined to his wife), 8 and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, no human being must separate.” Continue reading →

This coming Sunday is the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time. As noted in the preceding section, the question is none too genuine. Both Jesus and the Pharisees – and anyone listening in on the dialogue – know that Dt 24:1, part of the Torah (Law), is the basis for the practice of divorce: “When a man, after marrying a woman and having relations with her, is later displeased with her because he finds in her something indecent, and therefore he writes out a bill of divorce and hands it to her, thus dismissing her from his house.” As ever, the Pharisees’ question has little to do with marriage or divorce, but concerns teaching authority (and their desire to trap Jesus so that they will be able to bring charges against him). Continue reading →

This coming Sunday is the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time. It is clear that it is lawful for a man to divorce his wife. However, the law as written did raise an important question: “What constitutes ‘something indecent?” There were different answers to that question. R.T. France (The Gospel of Mark, 378-88) has a paragraph full of quotes about the marriage: Continue reading →

This coming Sunday is the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time, lectionary cycle B. Although not included in our reading, Mark 10:1 indicates that Jesus is again on the move: “He set out from there and went into the district of Judea (and) across the Jordan. Again crowds gathered around him and, as was his custom, he again taught them.” Jesus is leaving his native Galilee and is on the road to Jerusalem. The tense of the verbs indicate that these are crowds that are habitually following Jesus. Perhaps these people were following Jesus in Galilee, have crossed the Jordan, and are moving towards Jerusalem. Continue reading →