Mark 10:2-12 “Some Pharisees came and tested him by asking, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?" 3 "What did Moses command you?" he replied. 4 They said, "Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away." 5 "It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law," Jesus replied. 6 "But at the beginning of creation God 'made them male and female.' 7'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, 8 and the two will become one flesh.' So they are no longer two, but one. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate. 10 When they were in the house again, the disciples asked Jesus about this. 11 He answered, "Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. 12 And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery."
Mark 10:2- 9 is a strong illustration of the religious spirit and its struggle for control of the human heart. The Pharisees in this passage are coming to test Jesus in regard to his commitment to a biblical doctrine. Verse two makes it clear that the foundation of the question that they present to Jesus is a desire to test Him in regard to His doctrine more than a desire to learn truth from Him. This is a sad reality in regard to the operation of this spirit. When this spirit begins to gain influence over the heart of man the focus of a life shifts from living in a relationship with God that is pleasing in His sight to one that is focused on external obedience. It is no longer concerned with heart issues but rather with the letter of the law, a focus that as Paul states in 2 Co. 3:6 results in death, “the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.”
Jesus’ response to the testing of the Pharisees is to redirect them from their dysfunctional focus progressively to a heart focus. Verses 3-9 are a powerful demonstration of the skill of turning a poisoned question into a heart searching encounter. Jesus does not immediately rebuke the root condition in the lives of the ones testing Him. Instead, Jesus changes the nature of the discussion. The Pharisees ask a legal question and Jesus begins by responding on their own terms. He forms His response by causing them to consider the words of Moses. “What did Moses command you?” Jesus asks them. His response firsts addresses their focus on the law by causing them to provide the foundation for His answer. The Pharisees respond with the words of Moses and Jesus is now free to focus on the heart of Moses!
The words of a God versus the heart of God, this is the chronic tension of the spiritual life! The Pharisees consistently demonstrated a strong commitment to the letter of the scriptures without consideration for the heart of the scriptures. When we read the words of God without considering the heart we open the door for a deep deception to begin to damage the heart of God within us. As Paul said, “the letter kills, but the spirit gives life!” The answer of Jesus to the inquiry of the Pharisees goes deeper than they were prepared for. They are seeking to test His commitment to the words of Moses. But Jesus’ answer is rooted in the heart of God behind them! The Pharisees are content to know what Moses said, Jesus is committed to pointing them towards what Moses meant!
In this exchange in Mark 10 the Pharisees provide the legal position of Moses as they discuss with Jesus the issue of divorce. They seemingly cling to this position as grounds for putting away a wife any time she does not meet their expectations. It is as if they are seeking to justify a culture of ownership of a wife with no accountability for the relationship that comes with marriage. Jesus wastes no time in addressing this wrong foundation in verse 5 where He states, “it was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law.” Jesus quickly turns their focus from one of self-justifying legalism to one of heart reflection. Imagine the reality that Jesus is presenting to them in this passage. Moses created a law permitting men to divorce that was not rooted in this being God’s desire for man but rather because man is hard hearted!
The painful reality that Jesus is addressing in His response to the Pharisees is that there is a great distance between the standard of God and man’s heart readiness to live it! The standard of God says that a man and woman become one and should not be separated but the heart of man is so hard and distant from the true spirit of God in so many cases that the through Moses the Father established a concessionary law as it were to allow for man to receive a divorce. This passage should compel every hearer to examine their life in search of those places where we have allowed the letter of the word to be our standard rather than the heart of God behind it!
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