Until Death Parts Us – Mark 10:2

Some Pharisees approached Him to test Him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?”

Mark 10:5
But Jesus told them, “He wrote this command for you because of the hardness of your hearts.

Do the deceptive motives of the Pharisees have any impact upon the truth shared by Jesus in this instance? I don’t believe so; however, their motives do serve as a contrast to what is truly at the heart of marriage: honest, heart level commitment. These questioners reveal the lack of such in themselves by their trivializing of marriage in an attempt to trap Jesus. He knows their hearts and the heart is where the problem with most failed marriages resides. The certificate of divorce that Moses allowed was for the benefit of the abandoned wife not for the indulgence or absolution of the self centered husband.

The conniving, deceptive heart will not participate in a covenant of love that by its very nature requires honesty, transparency, vulnerability and commitment in order to work.

Marriage between one man and one woman is God’s idea. It is a picture of the relationship of the Trinity and the three-fold nature of love. A triangle with God at the top and man and woman at the corners. It is the gift of experiencing a love relationship like His. He gives us the opportunity to participate in His life in a way like no other. We best respect and live this truth.