THE KIND OF GRACE THAT SAVES LIVES
Mark 10:2-16
20th Sunday after Pentecost, Year B (Lectionary 27)
Analysis by Matthew DeLoera
2Some Pharisees came, and to test him they asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” 3He answered them, “What did Moses command you?” 4They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her.” 5But Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote this commandment for you. 6But 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, 8and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”
10Then in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. 11He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; 12and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”
13People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them. 14But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. 15Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.” 16And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them.
From Wikimedia Commons
Through Jesus, peace is the true reality of human life, and for all “children of the world” whom faith opens our heart to recognize as “children of God.”
DIAGNOSIS: Enforcing Blind Laws
Step 1-Initial Diagnosis (External Problem): Judged
Exclusion seems to be the central theme of this passage. We first witness some Pharisees publicly seeking to test Jesus as to the “lawfulness” of divorce (v. 2), knowing full well the answer of Moses and the law: “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her” (v. 4). Yet, they seem to have no concern for the cascading losses such certificates brought to women – their rights, resources, property, children, and even community. This scene is followed by Jesus’ disciples attempting to block children from being brought to Jesus “that he
might touch them” (v. 13).
Some interpreters or commentaries might latch onto this passage for an overarching doctrine of marriage or might sidestep such controversy with focus upon the plight of children. But the issue is deeper. Exclusion is made the central issue by some of the ways in which this passage seems to be applied by many who call themselves Christian. Consider the many LGBTQ+ folks in our pews who will testify to this and other passages being used to delegitimize their relationships and to campaign for outlawing their ability to marry those to whom they hear God calling them. As for the issue of divorce, consider how many congregations still pressure abused partners to remain with their abusers; and should divorce finally happen for safety’s sake, they side with the abuser and thereby cut off the victim from community support. And as for the issue of children, consider how they are included or excluded in the life of the church, especially around access to our Lord’s Supper. All in all, it seems there is more that is separating and excluding us than uniting us.
Step 2-Advanced Diagnosis (Internal Problem): Divorced
Jesus’ questioners could have asked about the tragedy of marriages stressed and rupturing. Or, they could have asked about the plight of a woman who is divorced. Yet, they only ask about “lawfulness” (exestin, “authorized,” legally speaking). They care much more about their own liability and religious authority than about anything that regards their neighbors’ health, wellbeing, or equity. How much safer it is to believe that divorce is just a private matter between two people with circumstances being no one else’s business. In a similar way, Jesus’ disciples appoint themselves as religious gatekeepers without regard for the lives of those who seek blessing. Now, this doesn’t deny that Jesus also issues unyielding edicts; but notice that he’s addressing those who believe themselves to be “authorized” to judge and exclude, not those impacted by such judgments or exclusions.
How often are we so works-righteous in our thinking, believing ourselves “authorized” to level and enforce our own black-and-white judgments upon our neighbors? If we’re honest, do we ever really understand their circumstances or plights? It’s almost like we don’t want to know, because it suggests how little control we have over our own circumstances, or how easily we might also be judged and cast out in such a broken world as this.
Step 3-Final Diagnosis (Ultimate Problem): Cast Out
Despite the frailty of human relationships and commandments which seem cut and dried, Jesus declares to his questioners that no one is blameless. “Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate” (v. 9). He challenges their practice. Of course, the authorities of this world will not tolerate challenges or rivals for very long. As Jesus continues to proclaim an ultimate authority over against the authority of the law, he finally finds himself judged and cast out, nailed to a cross.
It seems difficult to suggest that Jesus is really just talking about marriage here. After all, how can the rupturing or forbidding of any human relationship ever not bear deeply upon all of God’s creation? Ultimately, we are all together made “one flesh” (v. 8) by both our createdness and by our shared inheritance, that is, sin. By our adulterous nature, we never escape judging and neglecting each other as we seek our own ends. God, however, will bring this to an end by judging and casting us out, because the God who joins together is also the God who separates.
PROGNOSIS: Confessing the Radical Grace that Saves
Step 4-Initial Prognosis (Ultimate Solution): Claimed as Children
In spite of how we judge and cast each other out in our own hard-heartedness, Jesus will not let all that be the last word for us. Through the cross by which he takes our judgment into death, he responds to us in the spirit of forgiveness. So he comes even to “children” like us, to take us up in his arms, to lay his hands on us, and to bless us (v. 16). As Jesus said, “whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it” (v. 15), and this is surely true for all of us as children of God.
In Luke’s gospel, we see how it is that Jesus never judges his killers, but instead prays, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing” (23:34). To Jesus, they are all “like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another” (7:31) – self-centered and unable to control themselves – and forgiveness the only remaining response. So here in Mark, his
boundless compassion for all would-be children, he refuses to let this be the last word, “for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs.” (v. 14) And when Jesus is raised from the dead, he says, “Peace be with you” (Lk 24:36).
Step 5-Advanced Prognosis (Internal Solution): Humbled by the Spirit
Through Jesus, peace is the true reality of human life, and for all “children of the world” whom faith opens our heart to recognize as “children of God.” So, he breathes on them and says, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained” (Jn 20:22-23).
Jesus fills us with his same Spirit, that we might trust and cherish this peace of forgiveness. Granted, what forgiveness covers is an accusation and judgment. But in this new Christ-centered spirit of peace, forgiveness marks us with his humility and compassion that grabs ahold of us and will not let us go.
Step 6-Final Prognosis (External Solution): Confessing the Truth of Grace
In this new vulnerability of grace, we genuinely want to know the plights and circumstances of our neighbors, just as we tell the truth and confess our own. Thankfully, we recognize our biases and opinions for what they really are, and we no longer feel compelled to make judgments. Instead, we simply care about our neighbors, because they hunger and thirst for the same things as us, and we want those for them more than anything in the world.
Breathing the Holy Spirit upon his disciples, Jesus commissions them – “As the Father has sent me, so I send you” (Jn 20:21). As his disciples, we go forth (even as religious leaders), never to merely judge and find fault, but to bear Jesus’ name to the world, that all may be reconciled to God as well as to one another.
Filled with the Spirit and sent forth, we tell this promising truth to a world hell-bent on imposing binary judgments upon human lives. They are not ours to approve or to cast out. Instead, we confess the good news of our most gracious Lord who refuses to let any of us go. Christ sees and saves, even claims us, in all our diversity and in defiance of all prejudices. This grace covers all manner of human relationships as a foretaste of the feast to come. Because these relationships matter for the beloved community, when two become one as an even greater blessing for their neighbors in ways beyond what we can imagine. Granted, some folks and even whole institutions will not take well to proclamation of such a radical grace. It brings a cost, as Jesus showed. Yet, this is exactly the kind of proclamation that literally saves lives, just so that we would finally know our life together in Christ.
