Mark 10 - 4.29.26

Scripture

Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate. (Mark 10:9)

Observation

Jesus clearly teaches about God’s design in marriage in this chapter. In the beginning of creation, God performed the first marriage between Adam and Eve (Mark 10:6). Today, when a man and a woman get married, they are not signing a contract. They are entering into a covenant before God. It is God who solemnizes marriage. It doesn’t matter if the marriage was arranged (as in the Eastern culture) or was entered into through love and dating (as in the western culture). It is God who seals the covenant of marriage. The man and the woman leave their parents, and become one (Mark 10:7). Marriage is for life. “What God has joined together, let no man separate” - this is God's commandment (Mark 10:9). We are not permitted to break what God brought together. Only God can dissolve a marriage, by the death of one of the two people in it, and then the other person is free to marry. 

Application

There is a heavy spiritual assault on marriage today. Culture has desensitized us to the sacred solemnity of marriage. Hollywood glorifies pre-marital sex and makes it appear normal. Marriage seems to be an after-thought in movies. When disagreements arise, it is easy to walk away and look for another mate. That is not God’s will. 

God hates divorce (Malachi 2:16). Some Christians try to spiritualize divorce by saying, “He (she) was not God’s will for me”. That is a baseless excuse. If you are married, God expects you to honor that covenant. Joshua and the children of Israel entered into a covenant with the Gibeonites, against God’s will. They did not ask for counsel from God, and entered into it based on their own wisdom (Joshua 9:14,15). However, centuries later, King Saul violated this covenant by attacking the Gibeonites, and God’s judgement came on Israel (2 Sam 21:1). Later, we see King David repenting and doing the restitution to receive God’s forgiveness for this sin (2 Sam 21:14). 

We are called to love and forgive - and that includes our spouses. Let us look to God’s definition of love. Love is patient and kind, love does not envy or boast. It is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way. It is not irritable or resentful. It does not keep a record of wrongs. It does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things (1 Cor 13:4-7). 

This is not to condemn you, if you have divorce in your past. All of us have done things in our past, which we are not proud of. You have repented. You were washed, you were sanctified, and you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God (1 Cor 6:11). There is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus (Rom 8:1). God is able to take all the broken pieces of our past (all of us have broken pieces), and make it all work out for good. God makes all things work out for good for those who love God and those who are called according to his purpose - “all things” include your mistakes (Rom 8:24).

Prayer

Dear Father, I pray for the married couples in the church. I pray that you will help us to resist the enemy who comes to steal, kill and destroy what you have given us (John 10:10). Help us to submit to you and resist the devil, knowing that when we do so, he will flee from us (James 4:7). Help us to guard what you have given us as most precious. Help us to love as you have loved us, and forgive as you have forgiven us. I pray for the young people in the church. I pray that they will guard their bodies as the temple of the Holy Spirit. Help them to keep themselves pure for their future marriage partners. Help us to be the bride without a spot, that you are seeking when you come (Eph 5:27). Help us to be holy as you are holy (1 Pet 1:16). In Jesus’ name, I pray, Amen.

- Asha Chacko George