Depending on the King - Mark 10:1-16

Over the last little while I've been reading through some of CS Lewis's novels and in the last holidays I read his novel called The Great Divorce. Now with a title like that you might think that the topic of the book is about divorce and marriage, that it might be exploring those things. However, it's actually a novel about heaven and hell and it's been an influential book for CS Lewis fans. It's not written as a theological treatise on hell, it is a novel, but it does seem to reveal something of the way that Lewis understood why it is that some remain eternally separated from God. And in the novel at least, through various conversations of different characters, Lewis is showing that it's people's choices and their attitude toward God, they're refusal to come to him that maintains their separation from him. Well in a similar way, you could be forgiven for thinking our sermon today is going to be about the topic of divorce and marriage. I mean that's the heading there at the start of chapter 10. Not that those headings were in Marx original text, they've been added in later. But isn't that the presenting theme today? Isn't today's passage all about divorce and the circumstances in which that may be permitted or not? Well I want to say that today's passage is actually bigger than that. It's bigger than our questions about divorce. In fact like in CS Lewis's novel, it's really about the question of our attitude toward Jesus and what that means for whether or not we enter his kingdom. So it's this question about entering the kingdom. Now this is what we started to hear about last week at the end of chapter 9. Jesus gave us those very strong warnings about taking sin seriously so that we do enter his kingdom rather than being separated from him. And as we continue into chapter 10 today, well we continue to listen to Jesus teaching and this is the question that is being asked. How is it that we will come to him? With what attitude will we come so that we enter his kingdom so that we are welcomed in? And if you thought the warnings from last week were strong, we'll take a look at the words that John just read to us a moment ago in verse 15 of chapter 10 today. This warning that Jesus gives us there, he says, "Truly I tell you anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." Friends that is a strong warning. It's all people. Everyone regardless of age or education or status, it speaks about everyone's eternal destiny in the kingdom of God. So while we will talk about divorce this morning, if you come to get all your questions answered about divorce, I want to say up front that that is not the main theme. The main theme is about how do we enter the kingdom? What attitude are we coming to Jesus? And I think we see that that is the main point because what we have recorded for us now in this next section of Mark's Gospel is a series of different people who approach Jesus. And what Mark highlights is the difference in attitude in how they come to him. We're just going to look at the start of chapter 10 today where we see this really stark contrast between two groups, the Pharisees who come to test Jesus and then the little children who come to be blessed by Jesus. Straight after that, and we won't get to this until next week, but next week is the next in the series is this rich man who comes to Jesus and asks that question directly, "What must I do to inherit the kingdom of God?" And sadly, he goes away sad because he cannot receive what Jesus says to him. But the contrast we'll consider today is with the Pharisees and their approach to Jesus, how they come to Jesus to test him with hard hearts and then the little children who receive Jesus who come to him with childlike dependence. They'll be our two main points as we compare them, but let's begin here by noticing the location where this teaching takes place. So take a look at how it begins there in 10 verse 1. It says, "Jesus then left that place and went into the region of Judea and across the Jordan." And again, crowds of people came to him and as was his custom, he taught that. So as we started to see last week, Jesus is now making his way toward Jerusalem where he'll be handed over and crucified and on the third day rise again. And he's been speaking plainly about that as he's been teaching his disciples up in the more remote northern area of Israel. But now he's beginning his journey south and he travels as we see today into the region of Judea on the far side of the Jordan. And the significant thing to note here about this location is that this is the territory of King Herod. And we've heard about King Herod a couple of times in Mark's Gospel. Most recently in chapter 6 where we've told about how John the Baptist was executed by Herod. And the reason why was because of the things that John had been saying about Herod's marriage, that it was unlawful. Herod was married to Herodius, kind of confusing. Indeed, he had been previously married to Herod's brother before she divorced him in order to marry Herod. And John spoke up about that. And that's what led to those horrible scenes at that banquet where Herodius asked, or got her daughter to ask for John's head on a platter. Well, Jesus now comes into Herod's territory and crowds of people are coming to him and he's teaching them. He's teaching them about all kinds of things to do with the kingdom. But we're aware that not everyone is happy with Jesus and what he's teaching. Again, earlier in Mark, right back in chapter 3, we heard about how the Pharisees had begun to plot with the Herodians about how it could be that they might kill Jesus. Now if you were plotting how it is that you could take Jesus down, well, as Jesus now arrives in Herod's jurisdiction, well, what would be a better question to ask than to put him on the spot with a tricky question about divorce? That's the context. And one wrong word from Jesus here, and it's game over. He'll be put in prison. He'll be facing the same fate as John. So that's the context. And that leads us to then this first group who come to Jesus and their attitude. The Pharisees who come to test Jesus with hard hearts. So let me read again from the start of chapter 10. It says Jesus then left that place and went into the region of Judea and across the Jordan. Again crowds of people came to him and as was his custom, he taught them. Some Pharisees came and tested him by asking, is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife? Now there are probably all kinds of people asking all kinds of different questions of Jesus. I'm sure he didn't mind a bit of Q and A. But there's a real difference, isn't there, between asking a genuine question and trying to trip someone up. You see it in press conferences, with everything that's been happening in Parliament in the last week or so. You can hear it when a reporter is asking a genuine question. Or when they're just asking a question in order to trip someone up. And that's what the Pharisees are doing. They've come to test Jesus. They come with this very pointed question which no doubt Herod is also very interested to hear the reply, is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife? Now ask anyone who has thought deeply about the ethics of marriage and divorce and when it might be the divorce is appropriate or not. It is very hard to give a straightforward answer. I mean it's the kind of question where every situation has its own complexities and to put someone on the spot and to ask them to give you a simple yes or no. Well that is their trap. So what will Jesus do in this situation? Well Jesus often does. He answers their question with a question. And he asks them about the scriptures. What did Moses command you? He replied. He puts it back on them and they sort of give an answer. See Jesus asks what did Moses command? They answer about what did Moses permit. In verse four they said Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away. Now the part of the scriptures that the Pharisees are referring to here is this verse, these verses from Deuteronomy 24. So let me just read that section to you. It says this, if a man marries a woman who becomes displeasing to him because he finds something indecent about her and he writes her a certificate of divorce, gives it to her and sends her from his house and if after she leaves his house she becomes the wife of another man and her second husband dislikes her and writes her a certificate of divorce, gives it to her and send them to the community. from his house or if he dies. Well then her first husband who divorced her is not allowed to marry her again after she has been defiled. That would be detestable in the eyes of the Lord. It's a bit hard to follow on a first reading isn't it? But you see as the Pharisees here, as they answer Jesus, well they are technically right in what they say. In the law Moses gave a permission for divorce on the grounds of some sort of indecency. But the thing is that's not really what this law in Judaism II-24 is about. The intention is actually to protect women by prohibiting a husband from remarrying his former wife if she was married in the interval. It seems to prevent the woman from being treated like some kind of object who a man can divorce and marry at his will. And this twisting of the law's intent shows to us the Pharisees attitude, which Jesus points out here in verse 5. Here's his reply. He says, "It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law." Now notice who Jesus addresses there. He doesn't say because their hearts were hard. He says, "Your hearts were hard." Not just the people back in Moses' day, "Your hearts." See, hard-heartedness is the problem. And it's a problem just as much in Jesus' day as in our day. And what does hard-heartedness look like? Well, it looks like testing Jesus rather than trusting Him. It looks like hearts which fail to listen to God's Word and instead twist it instead. It's hearts that seek to lower the bar when it comes to obedience. Hearts that seek to limit what needs to be cut off that we thought about last week. And this is what the Pharisees are doing. Because one of the things that's going on in the background here is that at this time there is a debate going on within Judaism about what constituted justifiable grounds for divorce. And it's really an argument about how to interpret and apply that first verse from Judaism on a 24. If a man marries a woman who becomes displeasing to him because he finds something indecent about her, the question is what is meant by "displeasing" and "indecent"? And basically there was two schools of thought. There were those who argued that it was only some gross indecency. They constituted grounds for divorce, something like sexual unfaithfulness. While others had a much broader interpretation of what that phrase "something indecent" might include. And Adon Carson in his commentary quotes that one example given about something that would count as something indecent for those who had this broader interpretation was something as simple as an improperly cooked meal. They would be enough to give grounds for divorce. And so you see this is the debate that's going on in the background. And the Pharisees are actually very much in the camp of those who have this broad lack's view of divorce. You might have heard of Josephus who wrote some very important historical records of Judaism at the time. He was a Pharisee, himself divorced, and he held the view that divorce was permitted. And this is quoting from him for any causes whatsoever. And so these Pharisees come to test Jesus. Jesus, where do you come down on this? Which school do you belong to? But notice that he doesn't get drawn in. Rather as he teaches here beyond the Jordan, and perhaps we're meant to see him as the new and better Moses at this point, what he does is he reminds them of God's intention and purpose for marriage. So in verse 6 he says, "But at the beginning of creation, God made the male and female. For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. So they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate." Whenever I take a wedding, which is always a real joy and privilege, you've got to do a tim and faith not that long ago, the way that we begin the service is by reading out the purposes of marriage, which are one, lifelong companionship, two, a safe place for children to be born and raised, and three, the proper place for sexual intimacy. And all of that you can find in Genesis chapter 2, which we read earlier and which Jesus quotes from here. And the primary purpose of marriage is that it is given by God to be a permanent commitment between a husband and wife, and it reflects the commitment which God has made to his people. And so it is not to be easily separated. This is what Jesus does. He wants to remind the Pharisees of God's purpose for marriage. This is what they should be seeking to live out and obey. And for those of us here who are married, this is what we should be seeking to live out and obey. But instead what the Pharisees do is they want to minimise the extent to which gods were to apply to them. They seek to justify themselves in their actions, but Jesus exposes their hard heart, to exposes their wrong attitude toward Him and God's Word. Now here in Mark's Gospel we don't hear the response from the Pharisees, rather we quickly move on to how the disciples ask Jesus about this in verse 10. So then it says, "When they were in the house again, the disciples asked Jesus about this." He answered, "Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery." Well how we to understand this teaching from Jesus? I think firstly we should recognise that Jesus is not in these few verses here giving a complete teaching on marriage and divorce and remarriage and when they may be appropriate. We need to look at all of God's revelation in the Bible to understand that. And my understanding is that there is a place for divorce. It's never God's desire. It's never the desire of any couple on their wedding day. It's always something that causes much grief. But there is a place for it because we live in a world that is stained and broken by sin. And sometimes marriages get so broken by sin that divorce becomes necessary. Now as a church we want to help people and support married people in their marriages. The default should be that marriage is a lifelong commitment. And so we want to push back against the easy divorce that is present in our day and which was present in Jesus' day. But I also want to say that we don't want anyone to be unsafe in their marriage. And if that is you then please do reach out for help. Our current is here this morning. Our current is our safe ministry representative. Her details are in the newsletter and on our website if you need to be in touch with her then do that. And for those of us who have been divorced, well friends I want to say divorce is not the unforgivable sin. And what Jesus wants is to restore and renew as we seek to follow him as his disciples. Now maybe that I've just raised more questions for you than given answers and I'm very happy to keep speaking with you about these things if you do want to take that up. But I do want to say that the main point of Jesus teaching here is not actually about the ins and outs of divorce. But it's about how the Pharisees have the wrong attitude toward Jesus and what that means for their eternal destiny. They have hard hearts and they don't come to Jesus to listen. They come to test him and to justify themselves and choosing to treat Jesus like that means choosing to remain outside of his kingdom. So what then does the second episode as we continue in verses 13 to 16 show us? Well here we see the real contrast because here we see the right attitude receiving Jesus with childlike dependence. Take a look there from verse 13. It says people were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them. But the disciples rebuked them. Now if you were here last week I mean you're probably thinking what is going on with these disciples. I mean have they not been listening to Jesus at all? Just in last week's passage Jesus was teaching them in Peter's house and he took a child in his arms to give them an example of who who it is that they should welcome and serve, and now they stop the children from coming to him. It says that Jesus is indignant. That's not a common word. It means that he's angry. But what is he angry about? I mean, is he angry because they stop the children? Or is he angry maybe because of what this reveals about the disciples that they still don't get it? That they seem to have hard hearts. Well, like last time Jesus uses this as a teaching opportunity. So in verse 14, it says, "When Jesus saw this, he was indignant, and he said to them, 'Let the children come to me and do not hinder them for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly, I tell you anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.'" That's a strong saying of Jesus, isn't it? That if you and I, if we want to enter the kingdom of God, then we must receive it like a little child. So we need to understand what that means. So what does Jesus mean? But what aspect of child likeness does Jesus have in mind? There's been different suggestions. You might have heard some. Is it the ignorance of children? Now, they don't question things. They just accept things as they are told. Is it the innocence of children? Well, as a parent of little children, I'm not sure if innocence is highly likely. And ignorance is not really a trait that's commended at all in the Bible. I think what it's about is dependence. Little kids know that they need help. And they don't mind asking for it. And that's what stands out here among all of these other examples. We've seen the disciples two weeks ago, how they forgot to pray, trying to do it in their own strength, as they're occupied by their own thoughts of status and greatness. We see the Pharisees with their hard heart who justify themselves in their sin. Next week, it's going to be the rich man who can't give up his possessions. And Jesus will say, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God. Hard because you must come like one of these little ones, because you must repent. You must admit that you need help. You must come on your knees seeking forgiveness. You must humbly depend on him for grace and blessing and life in his kingdom. I read one comment this week which said this, that the difficulty of entering the kingdom is not because the bar is too high for us to climb over, but because it is too low for us to crawl under. Unless we stoop low like a little child, we are excluded. And why is the kingdom of Jesus like this? Because the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve. And to give his life as a ransom for many, entrance is given, not earned. So will you come like a little child? Here's how an old hand puts it, nothing in my hand I bring. Simply to your cross-likely naked come to you for dress. Helpless. Look to you for grace. Stained by sin to you I cry. Wash me, save you or I die. So this is the question, will we come to Jesus like that? Will we come as a little one, recognizing that we have no right to come? But humbly acknowledging our need for forgiveness and grace, seeking that we might, as it were, be taken in his arms, that he might put his hands on us and bless us. Jesus says that the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Let me pray. A father in heaven, we do want to thank you this morning for the Lord Jesus and his teaching. And most of all we want to thank you for his cross and his gift that we might not perish but have everlasting life in him. Brothers, we see how he took children in his arms and placed his hands on them and blessed them. Then we pray that we would come to him like that, that we would come as those helpless children and depend on his mercy and his grace. And we are starting Jesus' name. Amen.