Mark 10:1 - Meaning and Application

Our Lord Jesus was an itinerant preacher. He did not stay long in one place, because the whole land of Canaan was his parish, or his whole field of work. So he visited every part of it and instructed even people in the farthest corners. Here we find him in the region of Judea, on the far side of the Jordan River to the east, just as we had recently found him in the far western borders near Tyre and Sidon. His travels were like the sun’s path, and nothing is hidden from its light and heat.

First, the people came to him in large crowds (Mark 10:1). Wherever he went, they gathered around him again. He taught them again, as he had done before in these parts. Preaching was Christ’s constant practice. Wherever he came, he did what he was used to doing. In Matthew, it says he healed them; here, it says he taught them. His miracles confirmed and supported his teaching, and his teaching explained and highlighted his miracles. He taught them again. Even those whom Christ has already taught still need to be taught again. Christian teaching is so full that there is always more to learn, and our memory is so weak that we need to be reminded of what we already know.

Second, the Pharisees, the religious leaders who were jealous of his growing influence, disputed with him and tried to block his work in every way. They wanted to distract him, confuse him, and turn the people against him.

They began with a question about divorce (Mark 10:2): “Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife?” This would have been a good question if they had asked it honestly, with a humble desire to know God’s will. But they asked it to test him, looking for a reason to accuse him no matter how he answered. Ministers must stay on guard, so that people do not trap them while pretending to ask for advice.

Christ answered them with a question of his own (Mark 10:3): “What did Moses command you?” He asked this to show respect for the law of Moses and to prove that he had not come to destroy it. He also wanted them to compare Moses’ writings carefully and honestly, not just pick one part and ignore another.

They gave a fair summary of what they found in Moses’ law about divorce (Mark 10:4). Moses did not command divorce. He allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and send his wife away (Deuteronomy 24:1). If a man chose to do this, he had to do it in writing, hand it to her, and then let her go, never to return to her again.

Christ answered by standing on the same teaching he had already given in Matthew 5:32, that whoever puts away his wife, except for sexual immorality, causes her to commit adultery. He explains this by showing two things.

First, the reason Moses allowed divorce was such that men should not have taken advantage of it. It was allowed only because of the hardness of their hearts (Mark 10:5). In other words, if they were not allowed to divorce their wives, they might go so far as to murder them. So anyone who uses that permission should admit that his heart is hard enough to need it.

Second, Moses’ own account of marriage gives a reason against divorce so strong that it almost amounts to a prohibition. So if the question is, “What did Moses command?” (Mark 10:3), the answer is this: although he allowed divorce for a time because of the Jews’ hardness of heart, he also gave a lasting reason against it, one that applies to all the children of Adam and Eve, and that is what we must follow.

Moses tells us, first, that God made human beings male and female, one man and one woman. That meant Adam could not put away his wife and take another, because there was no other woman for him to take. This also pointed all his descendants in the same direction, showing that they must not do so either. Second, when this man and woman were joined together in holy marriage by God’s ordinance, the rule was that a man must leave his father and mother and cling to his wife (Mark 10:7). This shows not only how close the marriage bond is, but also how lasting it is. He is to cling to his wife, not separate from her. Third, the result of this union is that, though they are two, they become one flesh (Mark 10:8). Their union is the most intimate that can be, and, as Dr. Hammond says, it is a sacred thing that must not be violated.

Fourth, God himself joined them together. He did not only, as Creator, make them suited to comfort and help each other. He also, in his wisdom and goodness, appointed those who are joined together to live together in love until death parts them. Marriage is not a human invention, but a divine institution, and so it must be treated with reverence. It deserves even more careful honor because it is a picture of the spiritual, inseparable union between Christ and his church.

From all this, Christ concludes that men should not separate from their wives, whom God has brought so near to them. The bond that God has tied should not be lightly broken. Those who divorce their wives for every small offense would do well to think about what would happen if God dealt with them in the same way. Compare Isaiah 50:1 and Jeremiah 3:1.

Finally, Christ spoke with his disciples in private about the same matter (Mark 10:10-12). It is a great help to have personal time with Christ, not only about gospel mysteries, but also about moral duties, so we can understand them better. Here only one part of that private teaching is recorded: the rule Christ gave in this case. It is adultery for a man to put away his wife and marry another. He sins against the wife he has sent away, because he breaks the bond and promise he made to her (Mark 10:11). He also adds that if a woman puts away her husband, that is, if she leaves him by agreement and marries another, she commits adultery too (Mark 10:12). It makes no difference if she says her husband agreed to it. Wisdom and grace, holiness and love, ruling in the heart, will make commands easy that the carnal mind finds like a heavy yoke.